Classic Panettone and Pandoro

In the olden days, Panettone was a bread made with flour, nuts and honey (valuable ingredients), that was given as a gift and eaten to symbolise a new season of abundance and wealth. The ancestor of today’s Panettone, the “pan grande” (big bread), was prepared by the whole family and shared upon returning from midnight mass according to a ritual that gave the oldest family member the honour of cutting it and set aside a slice for the first poor man to knock at the door. It wasn’t yet our Panettone, but a cake shaped like a big loaf that was less leavened (from www.antropologialimentare.it)