One of the best things about being married is gaining more family. My family has always been very small and for most of my life, that was the way I liked it. But hubs has always had quite a big family that is super warm and welcoming. A bonus is that his family on his dad’s side come from Italy so i’ve gained more family and some culture! Win!
At Christmas, I thought I would embrace the Italian panettone that are traditionally given as gifts. But, I figured that in the spirit of cultural fusion, I would try taking this Italian favourite and incorporate it into an already favourite recipe. Nigella Lawson’s Caramel Croissant Pudding seemed like the perfect recipe to try it with as the panettone would act like the croissant and soak up all the delicious caramel. Unfortunately I had already used up all my special home spiced rum. In the spirit of Italinification, I thought amaretto would be the perfect substitute.
The recipe is exactly the same except for the substitution of panettone slices instead of croissants and amaretto instead of rum. Panettone was much more fun to slice up as it smells gorgeous and sweet and the cross sections come out as stars! (depending on the shape of your original panettone of course!) use a bread knife for easy cutting and to get nice crisp slices. I think that mine were cut a bit too thick so perhaps try to cut yours more to the thickness of a normal bread slice.
As well as smelling delicious, the almond gave a lovely dimension to the caramel custard and infused nicely into the panettone. Its nice to have another layer of flavour to override the sometimes too-sweet and heavy taste that comes with so much creamy custard. I added a few juicy sultanas that became nice and plump nestled between the slices of panettone.
um… yes.
Crunchy on top and pillowy soft and creamy on the inside.
Surely mia famiglia approve?
Amaretto Panettone Pudding
Ingredients
1 medium sized panettone (try for a plain one rather than one filled with chocolate or cream)
200 grams caster sugar
4 tablespoons water
250 ml thickened cream
250 ml full cream milk
4 tablespoons amaretto
4 medium eggs (beaten)
a handful of sultanas
Method
- Slice the panettone and arrange in a large baking dish. One that can fit 1-2 L will be ok. Sprinkle the sultanas between the panettone slices.
- Place the caster sugar and water in a medium sizes saucepan on a medium heat
- Let the mixture bubble away but do not stir! You can swirl it around the pan to distribute any dark spots. Wait until it turns a deep gold (the recipe says 3-5 mins but it seems to take much longer for me! Just keep going until you reach the colour you like)
- Turn the heat down to low and pour in the cream. It will spit a bit so be careful. Whisk in the milk and amaretto as well. Remember that it will solidify but if you put it back on the low heat and keep whisking it will dissolve.
- Take the pan off the heat and pour in the eggs (while still whisking! You don’t want the eggs to cook!)
- Pour the caramel custard over the panettone and leave to steep for 5-10 mins
- Place in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees celsius.
- Serve with cream or ice-cream.
