# Panettone Milan's sourdough Christmas cake. Milano, Lombardia. Desserts (Dolci). > Milan's Christmas cake: a tall dome of dough rich in butter and yolks, with raisins and candied orange and citron, leavened by lievito madre over two days, the natural fermentation Italian law has required of panettone since 2005. - Level of proof: Documented tradition (Tradizione documentata). A regional tradition documented in cookbooks and local practice, with no single official text. - Sources checked: 2026-10-27 - Published: 2026-10-27 - Page: https://nonnario.com/recipes/panettone/ ## In short - Leavened only by lievito madre, refreshed three times until it triples each time in about 4 hours: no baker's yeast. - Two doughs: the first rises 10–12 hours at 26 °C–28 °C to triple; the second adds yolks, butter, honey, citrus, raisins and candied peel. - Rounded tight into a paper mould, risen almost to the rim, then cut with a cross and a knob of butter on top, the Milanese finish. - Baked at 175 °C for 52 minutes for a 1 kg panettone, then hung upside down for 12–14 hours so the dome does not sink. - Above the legal minimums of 16% butterfat, 4% yolk and 20% raisins and candied peel. Also called: panatton, panettone milanese. Suitable for: vegetarian, as written. No meat, fish, lard or meat broth, as written. Some traditional cheeses are made with animal rennet. ## Where it comes from Panettone, panatton in Milanese, is Milan's Christmas cake: a tall, soft dome of dough rich in butter and yolks, studded with raisins and candied orange and citron. A legend places its birth at the court of Ludovico il Moro in the late fifteenth century, when a kitchen boy called Toni saved a burnt Christmas dessert with a sweet bread of his own, the ‘pan del Toni’; a likelier story derives the name from the ‘pan grande’, the big Christmas bread Milanese families brought to the table. The oldest certain record dates from 1599, when the Collegio Borromeo in Pavia gave its baker butter, raisins and spices for thirteen big Christmas loaves. The first printed recipe appeared in Giovanni Felice Luraschi's Milanese cookbook of 1853, candied fruit a year later in Giovanni Vialardi's, and the tall shape, risen in a mould, after the First World War. In 2007 the City of Milan entered panettone in its register of De.Co. foods. There is no official recipe. Since 2005 an Italian decree has reserved the name for a cake leavened by the natural fermentation of sourdough, with a round base and a cracked top cut in the characteristic way, and with at least 16% butterfat, 4% yolk and 20% raisins and candied citrus peel; since 2017 the butter must come from cow's cream. The text of Milan's De.Co. could not be found. We compared eleven sources and publish the most widely recognised version. The home recipes made with lievito madre agree on a starter refreshed two or three times until it has grown well (tripled in some, doubled in others); a first dough left to rise overnight; a second dough with more yolks, sugar, butter and salt, then the fruit; a rounding into the mould (pirlatura), a long rise in the mould, and cooling upside down. Most cut a cross on the top and put butter in it; some makers glaze the top with almonds instead, or add cream or citrus pastes. By our calculation these quantities give about 19% butterfat, 10% yolk and 23% fruit on the dough's dry matter, within the law. Every rise depends on holding the dough at 26–28 °C, so keep a thermometer beside it. - Defined by: Milanese tradition - Reference: Compared across 11 sources, listed below; this page publishes the most widely recognised version. ## Sources - [Gazzetta Ufficiale: decree of 22 July 2005 on certain baked confectionery, reserving the name panettone (Article 1 and annexes) (Italian)](https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/gu/2005/08/01/177/sg/pdf) - [Gazzetta Ufficiale: decree of 16 May 2017 amending the 2005 decree on baked confectionery (Italian)](https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2017/06/14/17A03926/sg) - [Dissapore: Iginio Massari's panettone made at home, with his lievito madre and refreshments (Italian)](https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/panettone-di-iginio-massari-fatto-in-casa/) - [Dissapore: Iginio Massari on five mistakes to avoid with a home-made panettone (Italian)](https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/panettone-fatto-in-casa-iginio-massari-5-errori/) - [Giallo Zafferano: panettone, recipe by pastry chef Alfonso Pepe (Italian)](https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Panettone.html) - [Dissapore: Mauro Morandin's panettone to make at home (Italian)](https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/panettone-ricetta-di-mauro-morandin-per-farlo-a-casa/) - [Scatti di Gusto: panettone at home, ingredients and timings by pastry chef Armando Palmieri (Italian)](https://www.scattidigusto.it/2014/12/10/panettone-ricetta-perfetta-a-casa/) - [YesMilano, the city's promotion agency Milano & Partners: panettone, Milan's Christmas cake, with a recipe (Italian)](https://www.yesmilano.it/articoli/panettone) - [City of Milan, Food Policy: the register of De.Co. food products, with panettone recognised in 2007 (Italian)](https://www.comune.milano.it/amministrazione/food-policy/risorse-e-materiali-di-approfondimento) - [Scatti di Gusto: who invented panettone? Three legends and a history (Italian)](https://www.scattidigusto.it/chi-ha-inventato-il-panettone-storia-leggende) - [Wikipedia: Panettone, its history (Italian)](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panettone) ## Ingredients For 20 servings, in metric units. ### For the lievito madre: each of the three refreshments - 50 g lievito madre (stiff sourdough starter), active (taken from the soft inside; the third refreshment gives the starter for the first dough) - 55 g strong 00 flour, W 280–320 (the same flour as the doughs) - 25 g water ### For the first dough - 100 g lievito madre, from the third refreshment - 400 g strong 00 flour, W 280–320 (P/L about 0.55) - 140 g water (at 22–24 °C) - 120 g sugar - 100 g butter, soft (cow's milk butter) - 120 g egg yolks (from fresh eggs, about 6 or 7; weigh them) ### For the second dough - 100 g strong 00 flour, W 280–320 - 2.5 g vanilla powder (ground vanilla, not vanillin) - 2.5 g lemon zest, finely grated - 2.5 g orange zest, finely grated - 100 g sugar - 25 g honey (acacia honey if you can) - 130 g egg yolks (about 7; weigh them) - 8 g salt - 150 g butter, soft but not melted - 70 g water - 200 g raisins (sultanas, rinsed the evening before) - 150 g candied orange, in cubes - 50 g candied citron, in cubes ### To finish - butter, a knob for each panettone ## Equipment - Stand mixer with a dough hook - Kitchen scale accurate to 1 g, and a small one accurate to 0.1 g for the vanilla and the zests - A narrow graduated glass for the spia, and a straight-sided container for the first dough - A warm place that holds 26 °C–28 °C (a proving box, or the oven switched off with only its light on) and a thermometer to check it - Cling film and a dough scraper - Two paper panettone moulds for 1 kg - A razor blade or scalpel - Probe thermometer - Four long metal skewers or knitting needles, and two supports of the same height (two pots or two chairs) to hang the panettoni from - Two food bags that close airtight ## Method Hands-on 1 h 36 min, cooking 52 min, 3 days from start to table. Three days, mostly waiting. Day 1: refresh the lievito madre three times, about 4 hours each, starting in the morning (4 hours more if it needs a fourth); in the evening rinse the raisins and make the first dough (about 30 minutes), which triples overnight in 10–12 hours. Day 2: the second dough (about 40 minutes), 40–60 minutes of rest, shaping, 6–7 hours of rising in the moulds, half an hour uncovered and 52 minutes in the oven; then the panettoni hang upside down overnight, 12–14 hours. Day 3: bag them. You need an active lievito madre, one that triples in about 4 hours (if you have none, start one well ahead, as the first step explains), and a warm place that holds 26 °C–28 °C. The quantities make two panettoni of about 1 kg. ### Day 1, from the morning: three refreshments of the lievito madre The starter must be strong: refreshed three times in a row, each time it should triple in about four hours at 28 °C. If it does not, the doughs rise slowly and poorly, and the panettone suffers. 1. **First refreshment** (Hands-on 5 min). Cut away the dry outer skin of your lievito madre and weigh 50 g from the soft inside. Knead it with 55 g of flour and 25 g of water into a smooth, firm ball. Pinch off a small piece, drop it into a narrow graduated glass and note its level: this is the spia, which shows when the starter has tripled. Put the ball in a covered container. Check: A smooth, firm dough, and a spia with its starting level marked. Tip: No lievito madre? Start one well ahead: knead 100 g of blended ripe fruit with 200 g of flour and 50 g of water, sink the dough in at least four times its weight of water at 20 °C–24 °C and keep it at 26 °C–28 °C for 48 hours, until it floats. If it has not floated, knead it with its own weight of flour and 40% of that weight in water and repeat; once it floats, keep refreshing it until it triples in about 4 hours. Or ask a bakery that uses one for a piece. 2. **Let it triple** (Rest 4 h; 26–28 °C). Leave the starter and its spia at 26 °C–28 °C until the spia has risen to three times its first level, about 4 hours. Check: The spia stands at three times its mark. Tip: Small amounts of dough rise more slowly: if yours lags, keep it a degree or two warmer, at 28 °C–30 °C. Tip: If it takes much longer than 4 hours, the starter is weak. Refresh 250 g of it with 200 g of flour and 100 g of water into a firm dough, and keep refreshing until it triples in 4 hours before you begin. 3. **Second refreshment** (Hands-on 5 min). Weigh 50 g from the inside of the risen starter and knead it again with 55 g of flour and 25 g of water. Start a new spia. Keep what is left over as your own starter. Check: A smooth, firm ball and a new spia. 4. **Let it triple again** (Rest 4 h; 26–28 °C). Leave it at 26 °C–28 °C until the spia has tripled, about 4 hours. Check: The spia stands at three times its mark. 5. **Third refreshment** (Hands-on 5 min). Once more, weigh 50 g from the inside of the risen starter and knead it with 55 g of flour and 25 g of water, with a new spia. Check: A smooth, firm ball and a new spia. 6. **Let it triple a third time** (Rest 4 h; 26–28 °C). Leave it at 26 °C–28 °C until the spia has tripled, about 4 hours. Meanwhile take the butter for the first dough out of the fridge, so it is soft when you need it. Check: The spia stands at three times its mark, in about 4 hours: the starter is ready. Tip: The method followed here also asks, in its advice, for four consecutive refreshments of 4 hours at 26 °C–28 °C: if the third was slow, give a fourth the same way and allow 4 more hours. ### Day 1, evening: the first dough 7. **Rinse the raisins** (Hands-on 5 min). Rinse the raisins in a sieve under running water, drain them and spread them on a clean cloth, covered, until the morning. 8. **Start the dough** (Hands-on 16 min). Put 400 g of flour, 140 g of water at 22 °C–24 °C and 120 g of sugar in the mixer bowl and knead with the dough hook at low to medium speed for about 16 minutes, until a dough has formed. Check: A firm, smooth dough that holds together round the hook. 9. **Add the butter, the starter and the yolks** (Hands-on 5–10 min). Weigh 100 g of the starter from the third refreshment. Add 100 g of soft butter, the starter in pieces and 120 g of yolks, a little at a time, letting each addition be taken up before the next, and knead until the dough is smooth. Check: Large air bubbles start to appear on the surface: the gluten is well formed. Stop before the dough turns very glossy, which means it has been overworked. Tip: In a professional mixer the whole first dough, the first 16 minutes included, takes no more than 25 minutes; a home mixer may need longer, so go by the bubbles. Tip: A long knead warms the dough: if it rises above about 28 °C, the butter begins to separate. Stop, chill the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes, then carry on. 10. **Let it triple overnight** (Rest 10–12 h; 26–28 °C). Put the dough in a straight-sided container, mark its level, cover it with film and leave it at 26 °C–28 °C for 10–12 hours, until it has tripled. A spia in a graduated glass helps here too. Check: The dough is three times its starting volume. Tip: Do not start the second dough before the first has tripled: every hour missing here costs about three hours in the final rise. ### Day 2, morning: the second dough The whole second dough should take no more than 40 minutes in the mixer, 35 at best. Take out the butter in good time so it is soft. 11. **Add the flour and the aromas** (Hands-on 15 min). Tip the risen first dough into the mixer with 100 g of flour, 2.5 g of vanilla powder and 2.5 g each of grated lemon and orange zest. Knead for about 15 minutes, until it is smooth again. Check: Smooth and elastic again. 12. **Sugar and honey, with half the yolks** (Hands-on 5–7 min). Add 100 g of sugar and 25 g of honey with half of the 130 g of yolks, and knead until the dough is smooth and even again. Check: No streaks of yolk; the dough is smooth and comes away from the bowl. 13. **Then the salt** (Hands-on 3–5 min). Add 8 g of salt with a little more of the yolks, keeping the rest back, and knead until the dough comes together again. Check: The dough has re-formed round the hook. Tip: Salt always after the sugar, never before: the other way round leaves the dough too wet, and it needs a longer knead to recover. 14. **The butter, the last yolks and the water** (Hands-on 8–10 min). Add 150 g of soft butter, the remaining yolks and the 70 g of water, a little at a time, letting each addition be taken up before the next. Stop adding water if the dough turns slack. Check: Smooth and even; a piece stretched between your fingers thins to a film without tearing easily. 15. **Add the fruit** (Hands-on 3–4 min). Pat the raisins dry. Add them with 150 g of candied orange and 50 g of candied citron and knead at the lowest speed for 3–4 minutes, just until the fruit is evenly spread. Check: The fruit is spread through the dough, which is smooth and not torn. ### Day 2: shaping and the last rise 16. **Divide and round** (Hands-on 5 min). Weigh the dough and divide it into two equal pieces, each just under 1 kg. On the board, round each into a loaf. Check: Two loaves of the same weight. 17. **Rest the loaves** (Rest 40 min to 1 h; 28 °C). Leave them on the board at about 28 °C for 40–60 minutes. Check: The loaves have relaxed and spread a little. 18. **Round them tight (pirlatura)** (Hands-on 5 min). With lightly buttered hands, round each loaf again, turning it on the board and tucking the dough under itself until the surface is taut and smooth. Set each in a paper panettone mould for 1 kg. Check: A tight, smooth ball sitting in the middle of the mould. Tip: The name comes from pirla, Milanese for a spinning top: the dough is spun round on the board. 19. **The last rise** (Rest 6–7 h; 28 °C). Cover the moulds loosely with film and leave them at about 28 °C until the top of the dough is almost at the rim: 6–7 hours, depending on the warmth, the humidity and the strength of the dough. Check: The dome has risen almost to the rim of the mould. 20. **Let a skin form** (Rest 30 min). Uncover the moulds and leave them at room temperature for half an hour, so the surface dries into a thin skin. Meanwhile heat the oven to 175 °C, conventional setting, no fan, with a shelf in the lower third. Check: The surface is dry to a light touch. 21. **Cut the cross (scarpatura)** (Hands-on 3 min). With a razor blade or scalpel, cut a shallow cross from edge to edge across the top of each panettone, just through the skin, and put a knob of butter in the centre. Check: A clean cross on each top, with butter at its centre. 22. **Bake** (Cooking 52 min; 175 °C). Bake both panettoni together at 175 °C for 52 minutes, without opening the door. Check: The dome is a deep golden brown and a probe pushed into the centre reads 92 °C. Tip: 52 minutes is the time for a 1 kg panettone; the probe confirms it. Our guide: if the centre is still below 92 °C, give it 3–5 minutes more and probe again. Tip: If your oven cannot hold both moulds with room around them, make half the quantities, for one panettone; a smaller dough rises a little more slowly. ### Day 2 to day 3: cooling upside down 23. **Hang them upside down at once** (Hands-on 3 min). As soon as they come out of the oven, push two long skewers or knitting needles right through each panettone, parallel, a little above the base, and hang it upside down between two supports of the same height. Check: Each panettone hangs freely, its dome touching nothing. Tip: Upside down, the soft dome cannot sink as it cools. 24. **Leave them to cool and set** (Rest 12–14 h). Leave them hanging for 12–14 hours. Check: Cold right through, and the crumb has set. 25. **Bag them** (Hands-on 5 min). Turn them the right way up, pull out the skewers and close each panettone in a food bag, pressing out the air. Check: Bags closed tight, with no air inside. Tip: Air makes a panettone stale faster. Tip: It is good from the next day; some makers wait four or five days before cutting, so the dough takes on the scent of the fruit. ## Good to know - When: Christmas. In Milan it is also eaten on 3 February, the feast of St Blaise, protector against ailments of the throat. ([source](https://www.yesmilano.it/articoli/panettone)) - Keeping: Closed in a food bag it keeps for a week, and its scents come out after two days in the bag. It can also be frozen once baked. ([source](https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Panettone.html)) - Variant: Glazed with almonds: Instead of the cross and butter, the risen panettone is covered with a glaze of almonds, hazelnuts, sugar and egg white and sprinkled with sugar nibs before baking: the low, glazed panettone of Brescia. ([source](https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/panettone-di-iginio-massari-fatto-in-casa/)) - Variant: With bread dough and whole eggs: A home version for 3 kg leavens with 250 g of bread dough, built up with flour over about seven hours, uses whole eggs as well as yolks, and pours the rest of the butter into the cross after 5 minutes at 200 °C–220 °C. It has far less fruit than today's law requires of a panettone. ([source](https://www.yesmilano.it/articoli/panettone)) ## Common mistakes - A starter that does not triple in about 4 hours: the doughs rise slowly and poorly, and the panettone suffers. Refresh it until it does before you begin. - Starting the second dough before the first has tripled: every hour missing costs about three in the final rise. - A flour that is too strong: the dough is too rich in protein and its starches do not ferment properly. Stay within W 280–320. - Salt before sugar: the dough turns too wet. Sugar first, then salt. - Kneading too little: the dough stays uneven and tears, letting out the gas it needs. - Kneading until the dough is glossy: it is overworked. Stop when large bubbles appear on the surface. - Skimping on the fruit: the panettone comes out dry, with less scent and an uneven crumb. - Baking a 1 kg panettone longer than it needs: 52 minutes, and a few more only if the centre is still below 92 °C. - Cooling it the right way up: the soft dome sinks. ## Cooking it outside Italy - W, the strength of the flour, is printed on Italian bags; elsewhere choose a strong white bread flour, but not the strongest you can find, since an over-strong flour makes the dough too rich in protein for its starches to ferment properly. - Lievito madre is a stiff sourdough starter, kneaded like a dough with about half as much water as flour; a runny starter is not the same and will not follow these timings. - Raisins: sultanas, called golden raisins in the US. Candied citron is sold as citron peel; buy candied orange and citron in large pieces and cut them into small cubes yourself if you cannot find cubes. - Vanilla powder is ground vanilla pod; vanillin is not a substitute. - Paper panettone moulds are sold online by the weight of panettone they hold. --- From Nonnario, the documented recipes of Italy: https://nonnario.com/recipes/panettone/. Cite the recipe's page and the month its sources were checked; for the official text itself, cite the document listed under its sources.