With the holidays just around the corner, don’t you think it’s time to plan for your Christmas menu?

If you’re tired of the usual fruitcake, cheese and ham, then maybe it’s time to give a twist to your holiday feast.

In Milan, Italy, panettone is at the center of people’s Christmas table.

Susan Felt of Aztec Republic cited one of the legends of panettone.

“In one version, a young nobleman from Milan falls in love with the daughter of a baker named Toni. To win her hand, the young man sets out to impress her father. He disguises himself as a baker’s helper and winds up creating a delicate, dome-shaped sweet bread of fruits and nuts. The good people of Milan sample the delicacy and clamor for more of Toni’s bread.”

Hence, they named the bread “pane di Toni.”

Watch What’s Cookin’ with AHA episode with Chef Bong Ignacio, chef instructor of American Hospitality Academy Philippines who demonstrates how panettone is made.

But first, these are things you need to prepare for the panettone:

To make the sponge:

*Bread Flour 595 g
*Whole Milk 420 g
*Instant Yeast 35 g

To make the final dough:

Sponge 1.03 kilos
Bread Flour 1.2 kilos
Eggs 454 g
Whole Milk 360 ml
Sugar 262 g
Candied Orange Peel 227g
Candied Lemon Peel 227 g
Raisins 227 g
Golden Raisins 227 g
Salt 50 g
Glucose Syrup 35 g
Orange zest, grated 14 g
Lemon zest 14 g
Instant Yeast 14 g
Butter 340 g

Preparing the sponge:
1. Mix Flour, milk and yeast on low speed until blended.
2. Cover and ferment until sponge has risen for about 45 minutes at 24˚C.

Preparing the final dough:
1. Combine sponge, flour, eggs, milk, sugar, orange and lemon peel, raisins, salt, sugar, orange and lemon zest, and yeast.
2. Mix for 4 minutes on low level speed. Then, mix on medium speed for 2 mintues.
3. Gradually, add the butter. Then, mix on medium speed for 10 minutes.
4. Check whether the dough is soft and elastic.
5. Place the dough on a bowl. Cover it with plastic and put in a warm place for fermentation.
6. Ferment for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
7. After fermentation, put the dough into greased paper molds.
8. Bake in 350˚F/ 177˚C for 35 minutes.

Here’s a tip from chef Ignacio: “Use your senses. When you smell the aroma of the bread, take it out of the oven.”