Pandoro (Italian Sweet Bread)

I love pandoro, that golden holiday bread, plain but with a wonderful flavor and texture. It's enriched with eggs and butter so you know it will be delicious. It's a favorite around here to give as a gift and it makes great bread pudding.

Pandoro is an Italian holiday bread (pan means bread and d'oro means golden), egg and butter based, like brioche or pulla. But the texture and flavor are completely different. It's a very simple sweet plain, yet utterly delicious bread.

This bread reminds me of snow globes, those glass balls with fake snow inside, that you turn upside-down and make them come alive.

The bread is wrapped inside a clear bag, tied, and a packet of powdered sugar, usually vanilla flavored, is attached to it. When you're ready to eat it, you empty the packet inside, close the bag, give it a few shakes and out comes a white bread, completely covered in the sugar.

It's magical and festive.

Ingredients and steps

I'm putting these two items together because I think it will be clearer that way and help you more.

It consists of a yeast starter and two more steps until the dough rests a final time and is then baked, but there's a small amount of hands-on time, as it usually happens with yeast breads.

The ingredients are divided in three parts, but they are very simple and easy to find. This bread is rich and dense, so a sponge and two rises are needed to create that soft but chewy texture

The sponge

This is the first step and it helps the final bread to get more strenght in spite of all the heavy ingredients, like eggs and butter.

It takes 3 minutes to make it and then we have to wait half an hour, until it's frothy and bubbly.

Even if not too many bubbles appear, the mixture should be puffed. If that doesn't happen and there's no activity, that means that the yeast is not working. So go get new, fresh yeast and start over!

Vintage Kitchen Tip

First dough

This step builds on the last and some more yeast is added to strengthen the final dough.

• Stand mixer: it is highly recommended; though pandoro can be made by hand, well, it will be somewhat messy and you'll end up hating me from all the arm power you'll need. And I want us to keep on being friends.
• Ingredients (image below) are simple and you should have them already measured.

• Mixing: this is easy to do with a stand mixer. The final dough (image below) is soft and quite sticky. To proof, simply leave it in the same bowl and cover it.
• Resting: this is the moment when the yeast starts doing its magic and the dough doubles in size. It should not increase more than that. So keep an eye after 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Second dough

The final step, it continues to build on the other two.

You'll see that, besides the flavorings, almost the same ingredients are added, building the final rich dough that will become our fantastic golden pandoro bread.

• Flavorings: lemon zest and vanilla are the traditional ones and, similar to the great Alfajores recipe, the final flavor is amazing.
• Adding butter: make sure it's soft and add it in pieces, a few at a time, allowing it to be integrated a bit before adding the next (image below). At some point, it will all be dissolved and part of the dough.

When is the dough ready?

Knowing how much flour a dough needs is probably the most critical part of bread making and something that happens with practice.

But a good parameter is when the dough starts to create 'strands' that regularly leave the sides of the bowl but not completely. Don't be tempted to add flour until a ball forms because that is too much and the bread will be tough.

Proofing the dough

This means that it is allowed to rest and double in size one last time before baking, after it's completely kneaded and finished.

Make sure it's covered with a clean kitchen towel and in a place where there are no drafts and the temperature is mild. This is important for the dough to rise as it should (image below).

Depending on how strong the yeast you use is and the temperature of the room, it will take more or less to double in size. Keep in mind that it's not good for the pandoro to rise too much, more than double.

Serving it

• Traditional way: the way to eat it is to dust with powdered sugar, preferably vanilla sugar, as explained in the Notes section of the recipe card.
  I like to put it in a plastic bag, add the sugar, close the bag with my hand and shake it until the sugar coats most of the bread. Like a snow globe.
• Gifting it: put the Pandoro bread in a cellophane bag, add a packet of vanilla sugar (or put it outside the bag), and instructions to serve it.

My top tips

• Organization: read the recipe and take into account the resting times. There's little hands-on work, but there are several hours where the bread will be proofing and growing. It's important to allow the yeast to do its job at its own pace.
• Yeast: any type can be used. Be careful when using the instant or one of those fast-rising ones as they usually leaven faster than the time frames given in this recipe.
• Vanilla sugar: it can be bought online like Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar or Alsa Vanilla Flavored Sugar. You can make your own by adding some vanilla beans to a jar of powdered sugar. Or, easier than the latter, mix powdered sugar with some Pure Vanilla powder, which will instantly flavor the sugar.
• Flavoring: you can add some chopped candied lemon or orange, and orange zest, but I think the beauty of it resides in its clean unassuming appearance and the extraordinary flavor that you discover when you take a bite.
• Flour: all-purpose works very well, but you can also use half bread flour and half cake flour. They both do their own thing so the bread will have texture and also softness.

Other recipes you might like:

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Pandoro - Italian Sweet Bread

• Author: Paula Montenegro
• Prep Time: 240
• Cook Time: 50
• Total Time: 4 hours 50 minutes
• Yield: 12 servings 1x
• Category: Bread
• Method: kneading + baking
• Cuisine: Italian

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Description

Pandoro is a golden holiday bread, plain but with a wonderful flavor and texture. It's enriched with eggs and butter so you know it will be delicious. It's a favorite around here to give as a gift and it makes great bread pudding. 

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the sponge:

• 2 teaspoons (8g) active dry or instant yeast
• ¼ cup of warm water
• 1 tablespoon (13g) sugar
• ⅓ cup (50g) all-purpose or bread flour

For the first dough:

• 3 ½ to 4 cups (490-560g) all-purpose flour (see Notes for alternative)
• 1 teaspoon (4g) active dry or instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• 2 tablespoons (25g) of sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons (60g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the second dough:

• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• ½ cup (100g) sugar
• Reserved flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (½ teaspoon pure lemon extract also works)
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Extra all-purpose flour for kneading (if necessary)
• Powdered sugar, to serve (if you have vanilla powdered sugar much better)

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Instructions

For the sponge:

1. In the bowl of the electric mixer, stir the yeast into the water and stir. 
2. Add sugar and flour and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.
3. Let stand, covered with plastic wrap, until bubbly and foamy, about 30 minutes.

For the first dough:

1. Measure 2 ½ cups of the flour (that will be used for this part), and reserve remaining for the second dough.
2. Attach the bowl to the stand mixer with the paddle. 
3. Stir the water with the yeast in a small bowl. 
4. Add to the yeast mixture together with the sugar, and eggs. 
5. Start the mixer at low speed.
6. Add the flour to the sponge by half cups. Mix with the paddle attachment until combined.
7. Add the soft butter, one piece at a time, and beat at medium speed until well blended and the butter has dissolved. It will be thick and maybe a little stiff.
8. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rest until doubled, about 45 minutes.

For the second dough:

1. Add eggs, yolk, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest to the first dough and beat with the paddle attachment until it's all well integrated.
2. Change to the dough hook.
3. Gradually add the softened butter and mix until well incorporated.
4. Add the reserved flour and salt in ½ cup additions.
5. Knead for 10 minutes at medium speed. The dough should be soft and buttery. It should not clean the sides of the bowl completely, but add up to ½ cup more flour if the dough is still too wet and pools in the bottom and sides like a thick cake batter.
6. Transfer the dough to a buttered bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm place until doubled in volume, anywhere between 1 to 2 hours.
7. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and, with floured hands, deflate first and then gather it to make a loose ball. The dough should be soft and elastic, sticky but easy to work with. 
8. Shape into a loose ball and place in a well-buttered pandoro pan (see Notes for alternatives), cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled, between 1 to 2 hours.
9. Preheat oven 30 minutes before baking to 350º F /180ºC.
10. Bake pandoro bread for 20 minutes on the middle oven shelf.
11. Reduce oven temperature to 300ºF/150ºC and continue baking for another 30 minutes. The top should be brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped. If the top is too dark cover loosely with aluminum foil. If unsure, insert a cake tester; it should come out clean with no wet crumbs attached. 
12. Let cool on a wire rack and remove from pan.
13. Dust with powdered vanilla sugar and shake inside a cellophane bag before serving.

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Notes

Organization: read the recipe and take into account the resting times. There's little hands-on work, but there are several hours where the bread will be proofing and growing. It's important to allow the yeast to do its job at its own pace. 

Yeast: any type can be used. Be careful when using the instant or one of those fast-rising ones as they usually leaven faster than the time frames given in this recipe. 

Vanilla sugar: it can be bought online like Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar or Alsa Vanilla Flavored Sugar. You can make your own by adding some vanilla beans to a jar of powdered sugar. Or, easier than the latter, mix powdered sugar with some Pure Vanilla powder, which will instantly flavor the sugar. 

Flavoring: you can add some chopped candied lemon or orange, and orange zest, but I think the beauty of it resides in its clean unassuming appearance and the extraordinary flavor that you discover when you take a bite.

Flour: all-purpose works very well, but you can also use half bread flour and half cake flour. They both do their own thing so the bread will have texture and also softness. 

Keywords: pandoro bread

Adapted from The Italian Baker, by Carol Field

Paula Montenegro

I'm Paula, a baker for more than 30 years and your designated recipe finder, sharing the best ones on this blog, with simple ingredients + easy-to-follow instructions.