25 DAYS OF VLOGMAS | Panadoro Italian Christmas Tree Cake
Pandoro symbolizes Christmas in Italy like few other desserts (except for its sister cake, panettone, from Milan). It even looks like a Christmas tree—a towering, star-shaped cake topped with pastry cream, fresh berries and snow-white powdered sugar. It originates from the northern Italian town of Verona, the romantic city made famous by Romeo and Juliet.
Like panettone, pandoro (meaning literally, "golden bread") has a light, fluffy, yeast-risen golden interior and a brown outer surface. However, unlike panettone, it does not contain candied fruit or raisins, which makes it the preferred Christmas cake of many.