So what's the story with panettone?

Several legends surround the creation of panettone. This mystery is part of its success; the rest is the love and quality of the ingredients chosen by the artisans!

We've put together a selection of stories about panettone for you, here they are:

The Burnt Cake:
On Christmas Eve, the Sforza family's chef accidentally burned the dessert prepared for the banquet. Toni, a kitchen assistant at the Duke of Milan's court, offered to make a cake using leftovers from the pantry: flour, eggs, sugar, raisins, and candied fruits. The enthusiastic guests wanted to know the name of this dessert, "Toni's bread." Since then, it has been called "pane di Toni," or "panettone."

The Devoted Lover:

Ughetto Atellani, a noble falconer from Milan, was secretly in love with Algisa, the daughter of a poor baker. To get hired as an apprentice and increase sales, he disguised himself and tried to invent a rich dessert, using the best flour from the mill, yeast, beaten eggs, butter, honey, raisins, and candied fruits. This cake was an extraordinary success; everyone wanted to taste it, and some time later, the two lovers married and lived happily ever after.

In the Middle Ages, it was common to celebrate Christmas with a richer bread than daily bread. A manuscript by Giorgio Valagussa, written at the end of the 15th century, bears witness to the log ritual. On the evening of December 24th, a large log was thrown into the fireplace, and three large loaves of wheat bread, a valuable commodity at the time, were brought to the table. The head of the family served a slice to all his guests, adding a slice for the following year, as a sign of continuity.

Another historical fact links the origin of panettone to the large Christmas wheat bread: until 1395, Milanese bakeries were only allowed to bake wheat bread during the Christmas period, to give as gifts to their regular customers. It was the bread of lords, a luxury bread (pan de ton).