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Pandoro di Verona
Pandoro: Verona's golden star-shaped Christmas bread under a snow of icing sugar
Verona's answer to Milan's panettone has no fruit at all: just a tall, eight-pointed star of rich, yellow, vanilla-scented bread, baked in a fluted mould and dusted with icing sugar until it looks like a snowy mountain. Through Advent, Veronese families buy or bake one for Christmas Day and slice it across into star-shaped layers. The crumb is fine, soft and buttery, almost like brioche, and melts in the mouth. Making it at home takes a day and a night, with butter folded into the dough like a pastry. Chef's tip: shake the cooled pandoro in a large clean bag with the icing sugar, so every ridge gets coated.
- Total time
- 1440 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the starter
For the first dough
For the second dough
For folding and baking
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What you'll need
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Method
0/14 doneStep 1: Mix 1 ¾ oz strong white bread flour, ⅛ oz fast-action dried yeast and 3 ½ tbsp lukewarm water in a large bowl, cover and leave for 30 minutes, until bubbly.
30 minStep 2: Add 5 ½ oz strong white bread flour, 1 oz caster sugar, 1 egg and ½ oz butter and knead for 8 minutes to a soft, smooth dough. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 2 hours, until doubled.
128 minStep 3: Add 10 ½ oz strong white bread flour and 3 ½ oz caster sugar and knead, then work in 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks one at a time, waiting until each is absorbed. Knead for 10 minutes.
10 minStep 4: Add 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp lemon zest, then 1 ¾ oz butter in pieces, and knead for 10 minutes more, until the dough is shiny and stretches into a thin, see-through sheet.
10 minStep 5: Shape into a ball, cover tightly and refrigerate for 10–12 hours, overnight.
660 minStep 6: Flatten 3 ½ oz butter between two sheets of baking paper into a 15 cm square. Roll the cold dough into a 30 cm square, set the butter on it like a diamond and fold the corners over to enclose it.
Step 7: Roll into a long rectangle, fold it in three like a letter, wrap and chill for 20 minutes. Common mistake: butter and dough at different temperatures; cold butter shatters and warm butter oozes out, so both should feel equally firm.
20 minStep 8: Repeat the rolling, folding and chilling twice more.
40 minStep 9: Brush a 1 kg star-shaped pandoro mould generously with ⅔ oz butter and dust with 1 tbsp caster sugar.
Step 10: Shape the dough into a tight ball by tucking it under itself and drop it into the mould, smooth side down.
Step 11: Cover and leave in a warm place (25–81°F) for 6–8 hours, until the dough rises to the rim of the mould.
420 minStep 12: Heat the oven to 350°F (300°F fan). Bake on the lowest shelf for 10 minutes, then lower to 325°F (275°F fan) and bake for 35 minutes more, covering with foil if the top darkens. A skewer should come out clean.
45 minStep 13: Cool in the mould for 1 hour, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
60 minStep 14: Put the pandoro in a large clean bag with 1 ⅜ oz icing sugar, close it and shake gently until coated. Slice across into star-shaped layers.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 50 g
- Fat
- 21 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pandoro di Verona take?
- About 1440 minutes in total: 1395 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of strong white bread flour?
- Plain flour, same amount (the dough will be softer and rise a little less).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
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