I had made this panettone cake for my mother’s birthday, and for that reason I wanted to write this recipe in the post-holiday period as a panettone-recycling idea.
Well, you probably know that for bloggers recycle ideas are almost a categorical imperative in the post-Christmas period! 😃 This panettone cake gave me so much satisfaction as a recycling recipe, and it proved to be a truly delicious (and even showy) way to reuse a panettone. Maybe also thanks to the beautiful sunny day we had on that occasion, as the photos show. 🙂

If you have a birthday party in sight, keep this idea in mind because I assure you it’s a really simple way to quickly prepare a birthday cake that will make a great impression, even as a last-minute cake.
In short, it’s a clever cake. (But remember to hide a panettone before it’s too late! 😄).

Then yesterday I posed myself this dilemma: who says you have to wait for leftovers? Why wait to have a leftover panettone to fill it?? In my opinion, for Christmas day a filled panettone like this can look absolutely lovely!

I also recommend it as a dessert to bring to any lunch invitation and for every occasion, including International Women’s Day!, given this cake’s mimosa-like appearance. 😉🌟 Consider it an annual habit: always keep (or hide!) a panettone! 😃

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panettone cake with cream and whipped cream

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Inexpensive
Rest time: 30 Minutes
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 8-16 slices
Cooking methods: No-bake
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Winter, Spring

Ingredients

1 panettone (preferably the lower (shorter) type)
pastry cream
1 cup heavy cream (liquid whipping cream) (about 8.5 fl oz)
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 small shot Strega liqueur (about 1 fl oz)

Tools

Hand mixer
Set cake decorating set with rotating cake stand
Spatula pastry spatula

Procedure

First of all prepare the pastry cream. You can find my recipe HERE, quick to make and including a little trick (a really simple thing) to cool it down, or at least bring it to lukewarm, as quickly as possible. The cream produced by that recipe is the right amount for this cake.

Cut the panettone in half.
NOTE: I used an exotic fruit panettone, which proved perfect for this filling.
Moisten the base with the Strega liqueur.
Spread the pastry cream over the base.
Cut the crown (top) off the panettone and place the second layer on top of the cream.

Moisten the second layer with the liqueur as well.
Whip the cream (sweetened with a tablespoon of powdered sugar).

Cover the whole cake with the whipped cream, smoothing it with a long knife or a spatula.
To please my children (and to make smoothing easier) I used the rotating cake stand that was gifted to me (a spot-on gift idea!, which I must praise 😃).
Cut the crown of the panettone into small cubes and distribute all the cubes over the surface of the cake (similarly to a mimosa cake).
Then decorate with dollops of whipped cream using a piping bag fitted with a small tip.
There you go, the super simple and very quick panettone cake is ready.

You can serve it immediately (especially if the pastry cream was made in advance and used cold), or put it in the fridge for about half an hour before serving (that’s what I did).
This cake is suitable for various occasions; for us it was a birthday cake, but given the use of Strega liqueur it can also be used as a mimosa-style cake for International Women’s Day (but remember to keep a panettone until March! 😃).
If you are looking for an idea to fill your panettone for Christmas lunch, try this simple panettone cake of mine, I’m sure you’ll like it! In this case I suggest adding some candied cherries or maraschino cherries between one whipped cream dollop and another 😉 and let there be Christmas. 💛