Panettone, Mascarpone and Almond Cake

 

The Panettone I received last Christmas was still sitting untouched in its beautiful tin and when I checked the tin it was best before August this year. On checking the contents it was clear that the cake was still perfectly edible, but its such a large cake it would have been too much to eat the whole thing between myself and my husband. I found this recipe in Skye McAlpine's A table in Venice. Basically its just slicing off the dome of the Panettone and creating layers and icing them, but what a beautiful looking cake it is. Mine was a chocolate variety and the addition of the icing definitely created a rather special tasing cake. I have enough left over to make a bread and butter pudding or another cake. I am making so many cakes at the moment it is ridiculous. However I end up making them and giving most of the cake away. My weight loss earlier in the year has taken a knock since this whole Covid business, but I think there are more important things to think about than what you weigh. Although I am conscious not to undo all the effort I put in to losing the weight, hopefully a small piece of cake now and again isn't going to do too much harm. This might be a lovely alternative to a traditional Christmas Cake if you are not a fan of fruit cakes.

Ingredients:
250g salted butter, softened
500g icing sugar
320g mascarpone, at room temperature
100g ground almonds
1 panettone (about 1kg)
3 glacé cherries, to decorate
a small handful of bay leaves, to decorate

Method
Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Sift in half the icing sugar and beat until well combined. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the mascarpone until just combined, taking care not to overbeat or the mixture will become grainy and lumpy. Stir in the ground almonds. Using a bread knife, slice off the ‘muffin top’ from the panettone to create a level surface;  Peel away the wrapping around the sides of the panettone, then cut horizontally through the middle with a bread knife to create 2 or 3 tiers of cake. How many will depend on the height of your panettone; some are a little taller and comfortably allow for 3 layers, while others are more squat and allow for 2.

Place the bottom layer of panettone on a cake stand or serving dish and spread a generous dollop of the mascarpone and almond cream on top. Top with the second layer of panettone (and repeat with a third layer, if you have one). Spread the last of the cream over the top and sides, then decorate with the glacé cherries and bay leaves.