As soon as leaves begin to turn, panettone starts showing up in pastry shops and markets around Italy. But the sweet — a cross between a bread and cake which legend says first appeared at the court of Ludovico il Moro in the 16th century in Milan — isn’t only an Italian holiday staple. According to La Confederazione Pasticceri Italiani (Conpait), global exports of panettone and pandoro — similar to panettone, but plain, eight-pointed and dusted with powdered sugar — are valued at €32 million. 

A domed “big bread” traditionally speckled with raisins, lemon zest, candied citron and orange peel, panettone reached mass production in the 1930s in Milan as the centerpiece of Christmastime sweets. Today, it’s produced all over Italy and abroad, in part a legacy of Italian immigration across the globe after World War II.