Peru is the second biggest consumer of panettone (we call it panetón) in the world. No Christmas is complete in our homes, without a neverending supply of panetón during the whole month of December. But what do with the leftovers after Christmas? Once the festivities are over, I always look for mouthwatering ideas to use whatever is left, in particular the turkey and panetón.
If we have several mini panettone, I like to fill them with ice cream and store them in the freezer, well wrapped, to continue enjoying them as far as April or May. Bread pudding is one of my favorite homey desserts, and I also find that using leftover panetón instead of regular bread is easy and delicious.
This is a very basic recipe but feel free to add whatever you like. Raisins, perhaps? Or how about candied fruit or candied orange peel, or 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup toasted almonds or pecans? I don´t usually add anything else because panetón is already studded with fruits and raisins, but no two palates are exactly the same, and who am I to tell you how much sweetness or richness you should add to your dish?
To make it, line the bottom of a tube pan with golden brown caramel. Then combine all the ingredients in a bowl and pour onto the prepared pan. Bake in a hot water bath for about an hour, and when you take it out of the oven the pudding will be puffed and nicely golden. Cool before unmolding it.
Serve it just like that or with butterscotch or ice cream. Custard is also one of my favorites.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 eggs
- 3 cups milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 4 cups cubed panetón
- Put the sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until dissolved. Cook undisturbed until it turns a nice golden brown color.
- Pour the hot caramel in a tube baking pan, covering all the inner surface. Let the caramel cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, ½ cup sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and panetón.
- Pour into the prepared baking pan and put this inside a larger one with 1-inch hot water.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. Cool to lukewarm, run with a knife along the edge, and unmold on a large serving plate.
I bought your book All Things Peru recently, and am finding many glood Peruvian recipes to try. I gotta try this paneton bread pudding!
Let us know what you think when you make it, David! And thanks for buying our book. Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Me gusta mucho tus recetas.
Gracias David!
Love the fruit cake to bread pudding transformation. Thanks for the recipe, it sounds pretty easy to do!
It is Dwight! Try it! 😉
What a great idea…my dad(both parents are Peruvian) religiously eats panetton annually during the holidays. I will be sure to try this recipe on him!
All Peruvians do, Gigi! This is a great idea to give an edge to the original paneton eating tradition. Hope you like it as much as we do!
Can I just use regular leftover bread for this recipe instead?
Hi Lisa! Sure, you can use regular bread or challah. If you can get some chancay rolls go ahead and make the recipe.