Genoa Low Sweet Bread. It’s Christmas Eve and a salty breeze blows gently. In the warm kitchen illuminated by the nativity scene’s reflection, the family gathers. The evening’s star is the freshly baked sweet bread; golden and fragrant with pine nuts, raisins, and candied fruits.
It’s not just any dessert but a dough that guards centuries of history. The youngest in the family waits anxiously; he has the honor of bringing the treasure to table, with religious attention, the sweet bread is adorned with a small sprig of laurel, a symbol of triumph and good luck. Only the grandfather is allowed to use the knife. And as the blade sinks, it is recited aloud:
“Long life with this bread.
I wish for everyone as much health today as tomorrow.
Slice it here sitting to eat in peace.
With grown and small children, with relatives and neighbors.
All the years to come”.
The first slice is destined for the poor, the second is saved to be eaten on February 3rd, St. Blaise’s Day, to help protect the throat; and then comes our time among stories and memories.
There are two versions of the pandolce: the older original recipe with natural yeast. It seems it was the Doge Andrea Doria in the sixteenth century who called for a contest to create a nutritious long-lasting dessert, thus the pandolce was born. Raisins, pine nuts, and candied fruits. And then flour and butter. Now recognized as a Traditional Agri-food Product (PAT) to protect culinary traditions. The low version, this one I’m writing about, was created towards the late 1800s, with chemical yeast allowing everyone to reproduce the recipe.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, All seasons
Ingredients
Pine nuts, raisins, candied fruits, and flour are the main ingredients of this sweet bread
- 4 cups flour
- 2/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3.5 oz pine nuts
- 10.5 oz raisins
- 2 eggs
- 2.5 oz candied citron
- 2.5 oz candied orange
- to taste marsala (To soak raisins)
- 1 packet baking powder
Useful Tools
A bowl for mixing and kneading, two paper molds for low panettone or two 9-inch baking pans, parchment paper…
- Molds
- Bowls
- Pans
Steps
Once I thought it was very difficult to prepare this specialty, when my grandmother in Arenzano told me that to make the low pandolce I could prepare it myself, so I set to work to learn.
Start by kneading the soft butter with the sugar, then add the eggs; one at a time.
Now you can add the rest of the ingredients, the candied citron and orange, the raisins soaked in marsala, and the pine nuts. Mix carefully and combine the sifted flour with the baking powder. Knead well and transfer to the work surface to finish your dough.
Divide into two and shape into round loaves. Make cross cuts and after transferring it to the baking pan, bake in a preheated oven at 340°F for about 40 minutes.
Once out of the oven, let it cool before enjoying.
It keeps well if you can resist the tempting treat.
Some more tips
The sweet bread is delicious; you can also replace the marsala with moscato, chop the candied fruit if you don’t want to feel the pieces, but if homemade I assure you that you will eat it with more pleasure. Wrap the sweet bread in paper to keep it. Serve it with a sparkling white wine.
