Panettone with Alpina pistachio cream

Panettone with Crema Alpina Pistachio. Filled panettone, pistachio liqueur, one kilo.

Panettone with Crema Alpina Pistachio is a panettone from Trentino, whose yeast dough is filled with a cream made from Marzadros pistachio cream liqueur. No panettone with raisins, no dry sponge cake, no stollen.

Panettone with Crema Alpina Pistachio is a filled panettone from Distilleria Marzadro, in which the crumb of a classic Milanese yeast cake carries a cream based on the Crema Alpina Pistachio cream liqueur. Every festive meal has the same weak point: after the roast, side dishes, and two bottles of wine, dessert is still outstanding, and no one wants to spend an hour in the kitchen now. This cake solves that without an oven. Tear open, divide into wedges, add a small glass of liqueur from the refrigerator, and a dessert that looks like more effort than it takes is ready.

Soft crumb, green cream, little sweetness on the finish

The Panettone with Crema Alpina Pistachio tastes of buttered yeast, mild pistachio, and cream, creamier than a classic panettone and without candied orange peel. The crumb is high, airy, and can be pulled apart in long strands, as a slowly proofed yeast dough requires. In the aroma, warm yeast comes first, followed by butter, and only when cut does the pistachio join in.

The filling sits in veins within the crumb, not as a layer on the cake. It remains soft, but does not run when cut. The pistachio appears gently, nutty and rounded, carried by the creamy tone that the liqueur made from Trentino milk brings. The cake is sweet, but not sticky, because the yeast dough contains hardly any sugar and the cream takes over the sweetness.

Anyone expecting a panettone with raisins, candied fruit, and a pronounced citrus note will find this too mild and too creamy. It is closer to a dessert than to a breakfast pastry. It is also not suitable for guests who avoid alcohol, because the filling is based on a liqueur with 17% ABV, even if only a fraction of that ends up in the finished cake.

Torn into wedges, with liqueur, ice cream, or espresso

The panettone should be removed from its film at least one hour before serving, so that the crumb reaches room temperature and the cream releases its aroma. It is divided from top to bottom into wedges, not slices, so that the filling remains in every portion.

As a dessert after the Christmas menu, a wedge of about 100 g per person is enough, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a spoonful of unsweetened cream. For afternoon coffee, it is perfect plain, with a double espresso whose bitterness balances the cream. Anyone who wants to double the pistachio pours two centiliters of the pistachio cream liqueur at 8 °C, either into the glass or directly over the cake. On the second day, a slice can be warmed in the toaster for two minutes, the yeast then smells like freshly baked, and the cream becomes liquid.

A second dessert can be made from the leftovers: Cut two slices into cubes, mix with 150 ml of milk, one egg, and one tablespoon of sugar, and bake in a small dish at 180 °C for 20 minutes—a panettone casserole that melts the pistachio cream inside. Or layer cubes of the cake with mascarpone and chopped pistachios in glasses and leave them cold for two hours—a tiramisu variant without coffee.

Good to know: One kilo is enough for eight to ten dessert portions. Once cut, the cake keeps for three to four days in the original film and a closed box; in the refrigerator, the crumb loses its fluffiness. Anyone who buys the panettone for two people should freeze part of it, because a drying-out crumb is the most common disappointment with this format.

A liqueur made from mountain milk that became a cake

Distilleria Marzadro in Nogaredo has been distilling grappa from Trentino pomace since 1949 and later developed the Crema Alpina range, cream liqueurs made from the cream of fresh mountain milk. The Panettone with Crema Alpina Pistachio extends this idea from the glass to the plate.

A panettone is made from a pre-dough that is fed over several stages with flour, butter, egg yolk, and sugar, until the dough has enough structure for its high rise. The long proofing, often over 36 hours, ensures the strand-like crumb and that the cake remains soft for weeks even without preservatives. After baking, it hangs upside down so that the crumb does not collapse under its own weight. Only then is the filling added, which is injected into the crumb with a syringe. In this cake, that is the cream based on the pistachio liqueur, and the cream in it is the reason why the filling remains velvety instead of waxy.

Marzadro is a third-generation family business, run by Andrea, Anna, and Stefano Marzadro. The liqueur comes from the distillery, the cake from the Italian baking tradition, and both meet in this filling. For a panettone without cream, but with raisins soaked in grappa, there is the Panettone with Diciotto Lune.

A panettone that needs no extras as a gift

A filled panettone is the younger, sweeter branch of the Italian Christmas cakes, and this one belongs to the few with a cream liqueur as the base of the filling. It comes in a sturdy gift box with a carrying cord and therefore needs neither paper nor a bow. Pistachio has been the most sought-after filling in Italy for several years, from the cornetto to the gelato, and the panettone follows this preference.

As a gift for Christmas dinner, it replaces the dessert that the hosts would otherwise have had to make. In a set with a bottle of the pistachio liqueur, it becomes a complete dessert for ten people. And anyone who prefers to travel rather than cook at Christmas has a dessert with this cake that also works without an oven in the holiday home.

A Christmas dessert that only needs to be cut, and a glass of pistachio liqueur to accompany it.