Christmas Sweet Bread,
History II.
Second
Legend.
A very similar story, but without the romantic part, says that the invention of the sweet bread wasn't the work of messer Ughetto, but of sister Ughetta that, in order to please the other nuns, invented a very successful sweet brad for Christmas.
Sister Ughetta lived in a poor convent with other young nuns: the upcoming Christmas was going to be sad and miserable. But all of a sudden the situation changed when Suora Ughetta came up with this new cake on which she had traced with a knife a cross on the crust of the cake. When the cupola-shaped crust was cooked and golden, the groove left by the knife opened up, creating those bumbs that are still visible today in the traditional panettoni, still manufactured today according to the old recipes.
The third legend goes back again to the times of the most flourishing of Milan, during the reign of the Visconti and Sforza families.
Court
of the Duke Ludovico, Christmas Night. That night at the Castle
Sforzesco a big party was given, with music and dance. A luxurious
banquet that had to finish with a dessert. The art of
dessert-making was a very special art at that time: it showed the
quality of the kitchen of the seigniory and especially
of the skills of the head chef of an important family. For that
occasion the chef had prepared a special dessert, but this, alas,
had suddenly burned, it was all pieces of coal.
How to fix it? "Dessert!... Dessert!..." demanded loudly the
guests. What to do?... In the Court kitchen people were terrified;
the Duke's wrath was going to be
terrible: back then, they put you to death for reasons far more
futile than this. The
head chef was scared to death: he was going to get the worst
punishment.
Toni, the little scullery boy approached
the head chef and with trembling voice said: "With the
leftovers of what you
used for the big dessert, I made my own dessert, I added a few eggs
and a little sugar, a bit of raisins and citron... it's a simple
dessert, for me and some friends of mine that are gathering tonight
at my house... If you want it, there it is...", and he pointed to a
big bun, well made, with a big cupola of brown crust. The chef
looked at it with great suspicion, but from that dough was coming
out a very enticing aroma. And
after all, he didn't have much choice... that is, there was nothing
else to send up to the table of the Duke's guests, who were
protesting louder and louder. He decorated little scullery boy's
dessert, put it on a large golden tray and had it sent to the party
hall. A big applause saluted the entrance of the unusual cake. The
Duchess cut the first
slice and in a few moments the whole cake was devoured. A chorus of
praises raised from everybody at the table; the praises turned soon
into enthusiastic acclamations. The chef's heart quieted down.
"Bravo!... Bravo!... What novelty, what a good dessert!". The Duke
himself wanted to pay his compliments to the chef, who was the only
one who couldn't figure
out the reason of all this great
success. Naturally, nobody said anything about what had happened.
The little scullery boy, astonished and scared, was hiding in a
corner. But the truth came out eventually and Toni's bread -
"el pan del
Toni" - was on everybody's mouth: everybody was talking
about this new cake and its incredible sweet taste, popular and
aristocratic at the same time. Thus, "El pan del Toni" turned soon in
the panetton we
know today.