by InTrieste
If you walk down any street in Trieste during the Christmas holidays, you will notice every other person carrying a large box of cake. That would be a panettone, a traditional Italian Christmas cake.
And if you walk down the same street during Easter time, you will still see people carrying boxes of cake. Those would be Colomba (dove), a traditional Easter cake.
But what’s the difference?
Pandoro is a traditional Italian sweet bread, most popular around Christmas and New Year. Pandoro is traditionally shaped like a frustum with an eight-pointed star section.
And Panettone?
Panettone is usually dome-shaped and contains raisins and mixed candied fruit, Pandoro contains only candied orange peel and no raisins, with a sugary almond topping.
Will Triestini be eating Pandoro this Christmas?
Yes and no. Triestini love their desserts and will most likely be feasting on Presnitz, a flavorful cake, a specialty of Trieste that looks like a rolled-up sausage. When sliced, the inner swirls become visible, revealing a dough made with flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk, and lemon juice, and a layer of filling consisting of butter, sugar, raisins, cinnamon, and nuts such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pine nuts. Yum!
