Make Christmas dessert while you sleep

This show-stopping dessert can be made ahead and takes little more than three ingredients.

Christmas but make it summer. Source: Camellia Aebischer

It’s the time of year when decorative soccer ball-sized boxes of panettone start overflowing on supermarket and grocer shelf ends, stacked high on top of fridges and are displayed in windows of boutique Italian delis.

Whichever your sweet bread of choice: panettone with chocolate, fruit, or a flavoured pandoro, get it summer ready with a hefty stuffing of ice-cream.

This practice is not uncommon in Italy, there’s also a sweet ricotta-filled version that’s great if you’ve got km’s to cover and don’t want it melting in-transit. If you want to take things to new decorative levels you could even melt some chocolate and pour it over the top, then before it sets top with nuts or sprinkles.

I’ve opted for plain vanilla ice-cream for demonstrative purposes but feel free to stuff with any flavour your heart desires.

You can use any ice-cream flavour you like, or combine two and alternate layers. Source: Camellia Aebischer

How to make ice-cream stuffed panettone

Serves 6-8

Take:

• 2 litres of ice-cream
• 1 panettone or pandoro of choice

Let the ice-cream soften at room temperature while you prepare the panettone. Cut the top off the panettone at the point where the dome meets the wrapper, set the lid aside. Using a long, sharp knife cut an interal cylinder inside the loaf (almost touching the bottom but not cutting through) leaving a 4cm wall. Carefully scoop out the insides.

If the base is too thin, slice the bottom off the core you just removed and replace it to create a solid foundation for stuffing.

Cut the core into three round slices and eat one. Then, take:

• ¼ cup marsala (optional)

Brush the inside of the panettone with marsala, then stuff it 1/3 full with ice-cream. Place one of the slices of panettone on top of the ice-cream and brush with more marsala. Repeat ice-cream and panettone layer then finish with final layer of ice-cream. Make sure it’s firmly packed so there are no gaps.

Finally, brush the inside of the lid with marsala and place it on top. I find it easiest to put the panettone back into the plastic bag it came in, or you can wrap it in plastic wrap or beeswax wraps then pop it back in the freezer to set overnight.

When ready to serve, take it out of the freezer for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Just cut right through the paper to serve and your guests can peel it off as they eat. Source: Camellia Aebischer

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