Italian Bakery Serves Up Panettone for the Holidays | Seasonal Food and Country …

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Italian pastries are often a treat for holidays and special occasions. One traditional holiday necessity in Italian homes is a bread called panettone.

Over the years, panettone (pronounced Pan-eh-ton’ nah) has grown in popularity and can be found in many pastry shops, bakeries and grocery stores.

The sweet bread — packaged in festively wrapped boxes — starts appearing on shelves in November. Although much of it is produced overseas, there is a family-owned and -operated New York bakery committed to scratch-making this holiday staple.

Bilena Settepani is a master baker at her family’s Settepani Bakery, located at 602 Lorimer St. near the Williamsburg area. She learned to make panettone as a teenager from her father, Chef Nino, and continues to work with him today.

Nino moved to the United States from Sicily in the 1970s with his wife, Leah. He got his first taste of pastry as a teenager working after school at a neighborhood bakery. After studying at NYU in the 1980s, Nino ran a Sicilian restaurant in Chelsea with his family and started the Brooklyn bakery in 1992.

Nino and Leah then opened Settepani in Harlem in 1999 when Leah — born of Ethiopian and Eritrean parents — thought the Lenox Avenue neighborhood needed an informal restaurant for families and professionals to gather.

Both the bakery and restaurant continue to thrive to this day. Nino credits their longevity to sourcing the finest ingredients — including those for panettone.

“We make panettone from scratch, only with quality ingredients, at this bakery,” said Nino, who noted their flour is imported from Italy where the grain is washed before milling to ensure cleanliness.

“You’d be amazed at the difference it makes in taste,” Bilena added.

Nino said his daughter is taking panettone to a “new level” by establishing a panettone of the month club with specialty flavors and toppings.

Bilena studied at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City and honed her skills in European pastry kitchens. She was recently honored in Milan, Italy, for her pastry baking skills and panettone innovations by internationally recognized baker Iginio Massari of Pasticceria Veneto through his Luxuret Pastry of the World program.

Throughout the year, Settepani Bakery makes dozens of panettone weekly with most going to commercial customers including pastry shops, restaurants, hospitals and small grocery stores.

However, when November arrives, the bakery becomes a frenzy of panettone making.

“It’s all hands on deck during the Christmas holiday,” said Bilena, when the bakery cranks out up to 400 panettone per week.

For the Settepani family, making artisanal Panettone is a labor of love that takes days. Bilena explained the dough rises and rests over three days before baking.

“The cooling process entails hanging the finished breads upside down like bats on special racks to trap the air in the bread as it cools, keeping the dome from collapsing,” Bilena explained. “Panettone is handled with care and cannot be wrapped until moisture free and then are boxed to protect them from being crushed.”

Bilena’s panettone of the month program keeps customers buying the store’s bread year-round. Some of her flavored panettone include pistachio, orange and lemon as well as colored versions like red velvet for Valentine’s Day and a rainbow version for St. Patrick’s Day.

Settepani Bakery’s classic panettone, as well as chocolate and Nutella flavors, are available year-round. Besides being available in their pastry shop and restaurant, Settepani panettone can be ordered online through goldbelly.com.

Watch the video below to learn more about Settepani Bakery’s panettone.