It is a sweet bread, a symbol of Milan, usually made during Christmas and New Year around Italy.
It contains candied orange, citron and lemon zest, raisins which are added dry.
The word panettone comes from the Italian word panetto which means a small loaf bread. The augmentative Italian suffix -one changes the meaning to large bread because of its shape and size.
According to the legends it is believed that the word comes from the Milanese dialect, pan del ton which means bread of luxury.
Another 15th century legend suggests that the invention of ithe bread belongs to a nobleman falconer Ughetto Atellani, who fell in love with Adalgisa, the daughter of a poor baker named Toni. To steal her heart, the nobleman prepared a rich bread to which he added flour and yeast, butter, eggs, dried raisins and candied lemon and orange peel. The duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro Sforza agreed to the marriage and named it as Pan de Toni which means Toni's bread.
Another legend is about a kitchen boy called Toni who made it as a dessert for Christmas during the 15th century to save the banquet for Ludovico Sforza when the dessert prepared by the cook was burnt.
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