Pandoro tree

The Pandoro is a classic Italian sweet yeast bread or cake, normally served during the Christmas holidays, loved by all, and so widely eaten that it is perhaps rather taken for granted. That’s why today we want to surprise you by showing how you can turn a run of the mill Pandoro into a sumptuous dessert worthy of a famous pastry chef. With just a few ingredients and a little imagination, your common or garden Pandoro will give character and style to your Christmas lunch, making gluttons out of everyone, young or old! Once cut laterally, every slice becomes a star with many points, and it will be easy to make our fabulous concoction, or you can make another shape using your own imagination. To make the wonderful filling follow what our chef does, step-by-step thanks to the pictures in our gallery, and you will get a result every bit as good as him! To work - and obviously Merry Christmas to you all!

Place the ricotta, icing sugar and mascarpone in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until creamy and smooth. Add the maraschino liqueur and set aside. Cut the Pandoro bread laterally into 3cm thick slices with the classic star shape. Fill a pastry bag with the prepared creamy mixture, and spread it over the middle of the Pandoro slice (leaving the points of the star empty). Sprinkle with coarsely chopped chocolate. Cover with the second largest star shape, apply a layer of cream and one of dark chocolate. Continue in this manner, making layers with slices of Pandoro until all ingredients are used up. Sprinkle with icing sugar to taste. Whip the cream until stiff and fill the pastry bag once again, then make ‘clumps’ of cream at the unfilled tip of each slice of Pandoro. Place a cherry in the centre of each dollop of cream.