This version looks really good. My family is Milanese. They came to this country in the early 1910's, and with them the Panetonne family tradition. Each subsequent generation had at least 3 people who would supply Panetonne at Christmas and Easter to the extended family.The final baker was my great Zia Millie. She passed away at age 95 in 1990. I am the keeper of the recipe. I try to bake 3 or 4 batches each Christmas season. Our recipe is very similar to the "no biga" recipe that is posted on this site. Most Italian home cooks here in the states would have baked these on the cheap. I can only imagine Millie's face if she saw me spending good money on something frivolous (in her mind) like Fiori di Sicilia. To save money, they went light on the candied fruits as well and we all used pignoli from the huge pine tree on our cousin's property. I am going to try your recipe above this year, and I am sure it will be lovely. I just find it funny sometimes how some of the basic foods from my childhood are now considered to be almost at the gourmet level.
December 8, 2013 at 1:08am