When Dolce & Gabbana get involved, you know it’s going to be fancy.
And they aren’t the only high-end brand getting in on this year’s must-have Christmas dinner gift – a posh panettone.
The Italian classic, which is traditionally made with a light, buttery dough and dried fruit, has been re-invented with boozy flavours such as champagne and passionfruit martini.
Experts say these concoctions are part of a growing trend for ‘newstalgia’ – where nostalgic traditions are given a modern twist – and increasing demand for attractive Christmas food, driven by social media.
Dolce & Gabbana has released eight flavours of panettone in decorative tins, including a new Sicilian mandarin flavour which costs £58.80 for 1kg.
Meanwhile, Fortnum & Mason’s 750g triple-chocolate panettone is £50 and its 10kg ‘Ultimate’ panettone costs £495. All major supermarkets have also embraced the Christmas food trend, offering their own unusual takes.
The prices of the desserts on offer range from a £2 panettone from Asda to the £58.80 Dolce & Gabbana premium pudding
Rosie Taylor with some of the panettones which could replace the Christmas cake this year
Rosie Taylor has sampled some of the panettone’s on offer in UK supermarkets
Lidl has luxury gift-wrapped panettone (£9.99 for 750g) in flavours such as ‘pear and chocolate’, ‘mascarpone and cranberry’, and ‘champagne’ – all imported from Italy.
Others include a ‘limoncello fizz’ panettone at Waitrose (£12 for 750g), ‘passionfruit martini’ at Morrisons (£6.50 for 500g), and ‘tiramisu’ at Tesco (£12.50 for 790g).
Panettone has a long tradition of being exchanged between Italian households at Christmas.
Rich Harding, senior innovation chef at Asda, said: ‘We have seen people moving away from dried fruits in favour of slightly lighter sweet treats – so flavoured panettones are a great way to enjoy [this trend].’
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