Holiday Favorite Returns: Bauducco Panettone Arrives for the Season

MIAMI, Nov. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As Thanksgiving and the holiday season approach, a favorite treat is returning to store shelves – Bauducco Panettone.

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Enjoyed for centuries as a holiday staple in Italy, panettone – a moist, sweet specialty cake - has only recently become widely available in the United States. Made in the authentic Italian fashion, Bauducco Panettone incorporates the highest quality ingredients like Sun-Maid raisins and – in a new take on tradition – Hershey's chocolate chips.

With its subtle sweetness and light texture, panettone is more versatile than traditional cakes. It can be enjoyed on its own, or topped with ice cream or powdered sugar. It also pairs well with dessert wines or Champagne for an after-dinner treat, or coffee or hot chocolate in the morning. Panettone works well in recipes, as well – it makes delicious French toast, bread pudding and even stuffing.

In addition to being served to friends and family throughout the holiday season, panettone also makes a great hostess gift – a creative alternative to flowers or wine. New this year is Bauducco Panettone Gran Natale, with almonds and a sugar glaze, that comes in a premium package for an especially impressive gift.

The Story of Panettone

While there are various versions of the origin of panettone, all of them take place in northern Italy, near Milan. One version of the story centers around a baker's helper named Toni, who accidentally knocked raisins into a bowl of bread dough, and then tried to remedy the situation by adding more dried fruit, sugar, butter and eggs. He baked it and gave it to his employer, who hailed the new creation and named it "pane di Toni" (Toni's bread, in Italian). In another legend, Toni the baker is deeply in love and concocts the recipe to win the respect of his beloved's father. In reality, the recipe developed from the Romans, who made a bread enriched with fruit similar to panettone.

Making panettone is a painstaking process. In fact, each Bauducco Panettone takes approximately 52 hours to make from start-to-finish. Made from a special "Mother Yeast" that is kept alive throughout the year, Bauducco Panettone dough must be allowed to rise for hours in a special temperature and humidity controlled fermentation room, a kind of "hot house." Throughout the process, bakers mix in flour, eggs, sugar and other ingredients, and repeatedly return the dough to the fermentation room to rise. Finally, the panettones are baked, allowed to cool, and packaged to be sent to retailers.

Bauducco Panettone is made readily available for you to buy nationally and locally in select stores. Bauducco Panettone can be found in nationally branded stores such as: CVS/pharmacy, Kroger, SuperValue, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart. Bauducco Panettone is also offered in regional supermarkets including: Giant, HEB, Market Basket, Publix, Shop-Rite, Superior, Stop & Shop, Wegmans, Winn-Dixie and more. To find more stores near you, please visit our website www.bauducco.com/en/where-to-find-us.

About Bauducco Foods

Founded in 1952 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, by Carlo Bauducco, Bauducco Foods is the leading manufacturer of baked goods in Brazil and is the largest maker of panettone in the world, exporting to over 80 countries. The company employs 3,000 full-time and 2,300 seasonal workers. In addition to panettone, Bauducco produces cookies, wafers, roll cakes, toasts, bread sticks and shortbread. Bauducco's base of operations in the U.S. is in Miami; the company serves a variety of retailers with the support of partners, distributors and an accomplished sales team.

SOURCE Bauducco Foods