All them yesterdays, tomorrows panettones

A large slice of Italian heaven on a Portuguese plate !!!!

Have you got some panettone  or pan d´oro left over from Christmas? These two Italian Christmas breads make a perfect pudding from left overs. - Zucotto. In Italy during the Christmas season this is a traditional dessert.I have been lucky enough to find these Italian cakes readily available here in Portugal. Most good supermarkets stock them around Christmas time. In case you are wondering what the difference is - Panettone has dry fruits and pand´oro is a plain sponge.The recipe calls for candied fruits so if you are not partial to dried fruits, I suggest you opt for the plain sponge version. It is a bit of a faff to assemble, but then again there is no cooking involved, and after all the efforts you´ve put in to get your families fed this Christmas, you´ll like the sound of that.The end result is more than worth the effort. It is a perfect post Christmas dessert or finale to a New Year´s day lunch. 

Panettone Pudding

serves 6 

1 kg ( 4x 250g tubs ) ricotta

140g caster sugar

70g candied fruits, finely chopped

40g flaked almonds

50g chocolate chips

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

600g panettone, cut into 2 round discs and the rest lengthways into slices 2.5cm thick

175ml dessert licore. I used Casa Rosada´s own Licore de Laranja Sevilha

extra cocoa powder for dusting

You will also need

1 pudding basin or bowl 15cm in diameter

Mix together half the ricotta with 70g of sugar until creamy. Fold in35g of the candied fruit, 20g of the flaked almonds and 25g of the chocolate chips. Mix together thoroughly. Set aside. Mix the remaining ricotta with the remaining sugar and the cocoa powder until creamy. Stir in the remaining candied fruit, flaked almonds and chocolate chips, Set aside.Line the pudding basin or bowl with cling film, leaving generous excess around the edges.Line the bowl with slices of panettone and sprinkle with the licore. Fill with the white ricotta mixture, which should half fill the bowl. Take one of the round panettone slices and place over the top, pressing down gently.Drizzle over a little more licore. Fill with the chocolate ricotta mixture and cover with the other round panettone slice.Bring up the overlap of cling film and place a weight on top. a plate and a kilo bag of sugar should do the trick. Leave in the fridge for at least 6 hours, longer if possible.

take out of the fridge, lift off the weight and remove the cling film over the top. Turn upside down on a plate and very carefully remove the bowl and peel off the cling film. Dust all over with sieved cocoa powder. A Scrumptious slice of Italy in the Algarve.