At Christmas, Americans enjoy pumpkin pie, the English have plum or Christmas pudding and the Italians have panettone. Just the mention of this sweet Milanese bread conjures up the aromas of citrus, vanilla, and candied fruit.

This staple of Italian festivities dates back as far as the Middle Ages when to celebrate Christmas, people would replace their daily bread with a richer recipe, a practice clearly documented in a 15th-century manuscript written by George Valagussa, one of the Sforza family’s tutors; however, many legends have grown up around the origin of Panettone.