The Never Ending Gift

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Oven-baked, filled with raisins, glazed orange peels,pockets of lemon cream, soft and delicious, and at times, NUTTY! ‘Tis the season for Panettone as soon as Thanksgiving leftovers leave the fridge.

Bring your aunt Wilma a holiday gift that will sit under the Christmas tree until the garbage man hauls it away. It is a sad reality: a gift widely given, but one that is not always received so eagerly. Just the other day I watched a Panettone sit at a holiday party in all of its dry-fruited glory. While smiles were exchanged and empty social gestures of thanks were made for this wonderful contribution, pieces of the cake were slowly torn off. Meanwhile, you mumble under your breath that you’d just rather have the cannolis.

Its not quite fruit cake, even though technically, it is- but it’s much more than just a dessert. Gifts and greetings are almost as abundant as the number of Panettone boxes that you can find in store-front after store-front in New York City. Pastel pink, yellow, blue, even brown, there are many different varieties of this dessert.
The city is filled with wonderful baked goods, and the Panettone is one that is very hit or miss despite their ubiquity. But the fact is that people buy them because it looks like a gift ready to be given. Every year, thousands of these red ribboned boxes fly off the shelf because you know anyone will be happy to receive a colorful and sweet gift – even if it means having dry candied orange peels in one’s coffee.

The popular dessert originally from Milan, Italy is enjoyed worldwide and can be found almost everywhere here in New York. See the map below for places Ive been to and recommend for good Panettone. The price for one cake ranges between $2.99 and upwards of $20. But from authentic pastry shops in the Bronx to midtown stores like Jack’s 99c Store in Manhattan, you can be sure to find a version of this traditional holiday dessert.

 


View Panettone in NYC in a larger map