Pandoro: Here's the recipe for making it at home.

Pandoro is a typical Christmas cake, born in Verona and traditionally eaten during the Christmas season. It's usually served dusted with vanilla-flavored powdered sugar, an image reminiscent of the snow-capped Alpine peaks at Christmas. 

This sweet bread, always in competition with panettone, is now loved throughout Italy.

Here is the recipe for an 800g mould

To make this recipe, it is important that all the ingredients are at room temperature.

First you need to prepare the yeast.

For this initial preparation the ingredients are:

• 15 g of yeast
• 80 g of Manitoba flour
• 15 g of granulated sugar
• 100 ml of warm milk

Pour the milk and yeast into a bowl and mix with a whisk until dissolved.

Add the sugar and flour, stirring constantly. Cover with cling film and let it rise for an hour.

Once the leavening time has elapsed, add the following ingredients:

• 230 g of Manitoba flour
• 220 g of 0 flour
• 150 g of sugar
• 50 ml of water at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 3 yolks
• 150 g of butter in pieces
• 6 g salt
• Grated peel of an orange and zest of a lemon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Pour the ingredients into a stand mixer, starting with the starter dough, to which the flours should be added first, then the whole eggs, the egg yolks, and the water.

Mix everything together for about ten minutes, then add the sugar, the butter a little at a time, the salt and the grated citrus zest, until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture.

At this point, pour the dough onto a work surface and make 6 folds, folding the dough in three.

If the dough is sticky, you don't need to add more flour, but it's a good idea to grease your hands to help you handle the dough better.

Form a ball, place in a buttered container and leave let it rise all night.

At this point, place the dough back on the buttered work surface and let it detach from the container on its own.

Now you need to make 3 more folds like the ones you made previously.

Butter a pandoro mold and place the dough inside.

Cover with cling film and let it rise for another 3 hours. 

When the dough has reached the edge of the mold it is ready to be cooked.in a preheated static oven at 180°C for 10 minutes and then at 160°C for another 25 minutes.

To make sure the cake is cooked, test with a toothpick.

Once cooked, remove it from the oven, cover it with a tea towel and let it cool completely.

Now it can be removed from the mold and sprinkled with icing sugar.

With this recipe the pandoro can be preserveto for 4 giorni at room temperature in a food bag.