Sicilian Pandoro with Mandarin Scent. We all know this dessert originates in Verona when pastry chef Domenico Melegatti obtained a patent for a Christmas cake from the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce of the Kingdom of Italy.
I wanted to modify the recipe making it more mine, adapting it to the flavors of my land, Sicily.
And what is more Sicilian than mandarins? The good ones, fresh ones still with green leaves, those which, as soon as you peel them, spray their fragrance all over you with the contained alcohol, and that aroma lingers around you every time.
I prepared this recipe with my Bimby Tm6, but you can execute it with any stand mixer.

If you want to see all the holiday desserts click here

Difficulty: Difficult
Cost: Economical
Rest time: 1 Hour
Preparation time: 12 Hours
Portions: 10
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Christmas, Easter

794.81 Kcal

calories per serving

Info Close

Energy 794.81 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 66.43 (g) of which sugars 31.52 (g)
Proteins 15.82 (g)
Fat 52.28 (g) of which saturated 31.47 (g)of which unsaturated 20.26 (g)
Fibers 1.44 (g)
Sodium 284.49 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients for Sicilian Pandoro with Mandarin Scent

For the starter

0.18 oz fresh brewer's yeast
3.53 oz water
0.07 oz sugar
0.75 cup Manitoba flour
6 eggs
1.25 cups butter (cut into pieces at room temperature)
2 packets vanillin
0.75 cup Manitoba flour
0.33 cup eggs (beaten)
2 tbsp butter (softened)
0.18 oz fresh brewer's yeast
1.06 oz malt (or honey)
1 cup Manitoba flour
0.14 cup eggs (those previously beaten)
0.25 cup sugar
3.5 tbsp butter (softened)
1.67 cups Manitoba flour
0.63 cup eggs (those previously beaten)
0.63 cup butter (softened)
0.25 cup mandarin juice (or clementine)
0.06 cup mandarins (or organic clementines, only peel)
1 cup sugar
0.18 oz salt
as needed seed oil
as needed powdered sugar

Sicilian Pandoro with Mandarin Scent

Tools for making Sicilian Pandoro with Mandarin Scent

1 Stand mixer I have Bimby TM6
4 Bowls
Oven
Plastic wrap
Brush
1 Mold For 1 kg pandoro

Preparation: Sicilian Pandoro with Mandarin Scent

To make the starter

Put in the Bimby or stand mixer bowl: yeast, water, and sugar, mix: 30 sec./speed 3.
Add Manitoba flour, blend: 1 min./speed 3. Transfer the starter to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise inside the turned-off oven for about 1 hour and 30 minutes or until doubled in volume
Beat the eggs in the bowl, mix: 30 sec./speed 5. Transfer the eggs to a bowl and set aside.
Without washing the bowl, add the butter, blend: 1 min./speed 4. Gather at the bottom with the spatula.
Place the butterfly, add vanilla, blend: 1 min./speed 3.
Remove the butterfly. With the help of a spatula, transfer the soft vanilla butter to a bowl and set aside at room temperature.
These are all the preparations needed for the 3 subsequent doughs.
The time for which the starter was in the oven has elapsed, about 1 hour and a half.
Without washing the bowl, add 100 g of Manitoba flour, 80 g of the beaten eggs, 30 g of the soft vanilla butter, dissolved brewer’s yeast in water, and barley malt or honey depending on what you have at home,
blend: 30 sec./speed 3. Gather at the bottom with the spatula.
Add the starter, knead: 1 min./Knead. Gather at the bottom with the spatula and let rise inside the bowl for about 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
Add to the bowl’s contents 120 g of Manitoba flour, 40 g of the beaten eggs, 30 g of sugar, and 50 g of the vanilla butter, blend: 15 sec./speed 10.
Gather at the bottom with the spatula and let rise inside the bowl for about 1 hour or until doubled in volume, this depends on the room temperature.
Weigh 200 g of Manitoba flour. Set aside.
Add to the bowl 150 g of the beaten eggs, 150 g of the vanilla butter, 200 g of sugar, 50 g of mandarin or clementine juice plus 20 g of finely chopped peel, salt, blend: 15 sec./speed 10. Gather at the bottom with the spatula.
Knead: 5 min./Knead, adding the weighed Manitoba flour through the lid hole one tablespoon at a time.
Butter a 1 kg capacity, non-stick pandoro mold.
Transfer the dough, lightly brush the surface with seed oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 2 hours or until reaching the mold’s edge.
When 30 minutes remain until the end of the rising, preheat the oven to 392°F (200°C) and place a pot with water at the base of the oven.
Carefully remove the plastic wrap and bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes (392°F/200°C) placing the mold on the first rack from the bottom,
then reduce the temperature to 338°F (170°C) and bake for 30-35 minutes, covering if necessary with aluminum foil to prevent the surface from burning.
At the end of baking, carefully remove from the oven and let cool completely inside the mold.
When cooled, unmold.
Serve sliced with powdered sugar, if desired.
Here is the Sicilian Pandoro with Mandarin Scent.