Panettone, cakes and delicacies to celebrate the holidays

3 - An apricot and mango stuffing

A fruity soul for the panettone from the Excelsior Hotel Gallia in Milan: maître pâtissier Beniamino Passanante has created a variant that adds to the classic version - 56 hours of leavening, DOP butter from the Ardennes, organic, free-range eggs, candied Navel oranges from the Tyrrhenian area of Calabria and a blend of Tahitian and Madagascar vanilla - instead of raisins, Pellecchiella apricots, which ripen in the sunny lands of Vesuvius, and semi-candied mangoes from India. Everything, finally, is iced with almond icing and sugar granules (one kilo, 55 euros, at cosaporto.it).

4 - Dessert with herbal teas

For a relaxing snack, chef Daniel Canzian's pairing is with herbal teas: his handcrafted panettone cakes are presented with ad hoc infusions. MI.O, with roasted orange paste prepared by hand without flavourings or preservatives, is presented with the herbal tea Spezièra made with roiboos, orange peel and cloves from Madagascar: a spicy and balsamic profile reminiscent of ancient Venetian shops. The MassaBon panettone ('too good' in Venetian), on the other hand, is made with roasted apricots, baked in the oven: here it is paired with the Ciacola herbal tea, a fruity and balsamic infusion of apple, lemon balm, ginger and star anise (1 kg panettone box with herbal tea, 55 euro, danielcanzian.com).

5 - Three doc doughs

Closing the roundup of variants is panettone master Iginio Massari, who proposes a novelty this year: the Tre impasti, in a special numbered edition of 220 pieces. A collector's creation in 1.5-kilo format, sold in a hatbox. Here, the white chocolate icing encloses three different mixes in perfect harmony: candied citron, cocoa with dark chocolate nuggets and candied raspberry, caramel with candied mandarin. The best of the mixes (1.5 kilos, 120 euros, iginiomassari.it).

6 - The chef's signature

Natural sourdough, organic candied orange, butter from fresh cream, organic raw almond emulsion, organic wheat flour, organic egg yolk, sultanas, organically grown Bourbon vanilla pods, and citrus honey. This is the recipe for chef Niko Romito's panettone, created exclusively for Bulgari Hotels & Resorts: without flavourings or preservatives, it has four kneading phases and three fermentation phases, guaranteeing a perfect leavening and a soft and light texture, for a total of 72 hours of processing (750 grams, 75 euros, bulgarihotels.com).

7 - Classic and starry

Another starred chef, Andrea Aprea, owner of the eponymous two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Milan's Fondazione Rovati, offers the classic panettone - his tribute to the city - with packaging made from recycled coffee paper (one kilo, 48 euro, at Andrea Aprea | Caffè Bistrot in Corso Venezia 52, Milan).

8 - Limited edition

Finally, the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Milan offers a limited edition of 500 pieces of pastry chef Marco Pinna's artisanal panettone: 48 hours of leavening and a mix of excellent ingredients including Italian oranges and citrons for the candied fruit, pure vanilla and acacia honey (one kilo, 65 euros, mandarinoriental.com).

9 - The traditional pandoro

Another star of the festive tables is the pandoro of the Veronese Christmas tradition. Master pastry chef Roberto Cantolacqua enhances the eight-pointed star with a dough rich in high-quality butter, eggs and vanilla, made with a slow and natural processing method (750 grams, 34 euro, robertocantolacqua.it).

10 - Christmas tree

Centrepieces or delicacies to taste? The question arises in front of the trees made by Belgian chocolatier Charlotte Dusart. Perhaps the answer is: both. They are 'le sapin', the three-size fir trees made with a thick layer of 71% Madagascar single-origin dark chocolate (milk or white chocolate versions are available on request). The medium and large sizes hide chocolate surprises inside (22 euros, small; 42 euros, medium; 50 euros, large; charlottedusart.com).

11 - Tasty centrepieces

Other trees, with different ingredients and concepts, but always expendable as centrepieces: Martesana, a historic pastry shop in Milan, proposes one of the symbols of Christmas in a version made of dark chocolate cones decorated by hand with pralines, meringues and marshmallows, available in small or medium size (350 grams, 39 euros; 500 grams, 59 euros; martesanamilano.com).

12- Corona décor

A soft pan brioche enriched with pears cooked in a spice infusion and decorated with dried and candied fruit. It is not a panettone, nor a pandoro, but an equally festive Christmas cake: it is presented as a garnished Christmas wreath, an alternative for those who do not like traditional sweets, but also a less classic variant to bring as a gift. Proposing it is master pastry chef Luigi Biasetto, of Padua (800 grams, 48 euro, pasticceriabiasetto.it).

13 - Confetti and candied fruit

A gift is also the wooden box from Romanengo, which was founded as a confectionery shop in Genoa in 1780 and has been an excellence ever since. The 'Le 5 Botteghe' box is now a classic that encapsulates the history of the workshop: the assortment of the five traditional confectionery shops in candied fruit, fondant, chocolates, sugared almonds and almond paste. A triumph of sweets for all tastes (from 340 grams to 1.7 kilos, from 54 to 195 euros, romanengo.com).

14 - Cuore di bue and datterini

To conclude the gourmand roundup, a variant of panettone that might seem salty, but actually reinterprets a princely ingredient of Italian cuisine in a sweet key. The proposal comes from the Scirocco restaurant of the La Roqqa hotel in Porto Ercole, with the limited edition tomato panettone by chef Francesco Ferretti. A dessert enriched with Noalya raspberry chocolate and candied tomatoes, specifically unripe green ox hearts, ideal for candying, and yellow and red dates, dried in salt to balance the sweetness with a light savoury and aromatic note (one kilo, 45 euros, laroqqa.com).