Here's the trick to keeping your panettone fresh all holiday season long

It’s our favorite time of year: panettone season! These mammoth bread-slash-cakes are an Italian staple for the holiday season, and with good reason. They’re just sweet enough to be enjoyed any time of day, loaded with festive add-ins like fragrant dried fruit or decadent chocolate.

They’re the perfect treat to have on hand when guests stop by, and they’re huge—usually 2 pounds or more. Even better, they have a remarkably long shelf life, so you can buy a panettone at the start of the season and enjoy it bit by bit all the way to New Year’s.

To keep your panettone tasting fresh for as long as possible, use this trick we learned when visiting the bakery where our Giadzy panettones are made in Verona. If you cut your panettone into wedges, the way you might cut a birthday cake, you expose more of the tender inner crumb to the air, which will dry it out.  

Instead, cut directly across the middle of your panettone, dividing it into two equal halves. Then slice off a long tranche across one of the cut halves, giving you a long, rectangular slice of panettone to be divided into smaller pieces and served. To store, simply push the two halves back together—it’ll hardly look like it’s been cut at all!

The next time you come back for a taste, make sure to slice from the other side, so the two halves will gradually get smaller at the same rate. This ensures the cut sides will always match up perfectly, keeping every slice deliciously moist. 

Enjoy with a glass of sweet vin santo or an espresso, and rest easy that your panettone will be just as delightful when you go back for the next slice. 

Watch Giada show you how to cut panettone the right way: