Almond glaze, for panettone and colomba

11, K

Glaze for Panettone

Panettone Milano, the original and most traditional of all, is born without icing. Its pride is precisely that of knowing how to give intensity of flavor through its texture alone, made of soft crumb, fragrant and light brown crust, and precious suspensions of candied fruit and raisins.
However, nowadays, both the most traditional of panettone, and the most modern and contemporary ones, are almost always offered covered with an important icing, which often varies with the variation of the internal filling. Thus we find the almond glaze, the amaretto one, the dark chocolate, white chocolate, pistachio glaze and so on and so forth.

I find that the icing, in some cases, is a useful element to balance the product, which otherwise would lack something (for example adding bitter notes when it is particularly sweet, enriching it with a little crunchiness when it would be excessively soft, accentuating an aroma when by its nature it disperses in the dough, and so on). While in other cases, especially when faced with high-level products, I think it is a disturbing element, as it is capable of at least partially covering the aromas and flavors of something that would be perfect as it is.

Icing for Colomba

Different, however, is the speech for the icing on colomba. Unlike Panettone, there is no Colomba without icing. And the almond one certainly wins over all the others. Although even here today there is an unprecedented invective and variety. In short, truly for all tastes.
However, I always find the almond glaze on the Colomba particularly suitable, perhaps because it goes very well with the orange caditi, which are the quintessential suspensions of this leavened product.

Almond glaze for Panettone and Colomba

In short, whatever product you are about to make, if you need one almond glaze, which I would define a basic glaze, suitable for almost all types of Panettone and Colomba, below you will find the recipe I use most today. The procedure is extremely simple and fast, so much so that it is hard to believe that it could be something so technically complex from an aesthetic and taste point of view (because making a beautiful and well-balanced icing with the rest of the product is a challenge!).

Preparation times

It's so fast that the most time-consuming thing is to prepare the ingredients. In five minutes it's done.
However I suggest to always prepare it the day before when it is to be used because it improves in aroma and texture.

Quantity

Approximately 100 g of icing per kilo of dough is used. Below then I report the doses for just over 100 g of icing which correspond to a 1 kg panettone or colomba.
Optional additions such as almonds, grains and powdered sugar are at your discretion. I prefer not to load the icing too much, others do. In some cases, it may be more desirable to add only grains, or only powdered sugar, or replace whole almonds with peeled almond flakes, or more. The variables are many.

Recipe of Almond Glaze for Panettone

Preservation of almond glaze

Transfer the icing to an airtight container and place it in the refrigerator for a few hours, preferably overnight.
At the time of use it must have a thick consistency (given by the cold). Consistency that will lose quickly as soon as it returns to room temperature.

In any case, I suggest using the glaze within 48 hours of its creation.

Using the almond glaze

To distribute the almond glaze evenly and evenly, I suggest using one piping bag. Put the icing in the pastry bag, and distribute it on the dome starting from the center to the edges, creating a kind of snail, not too thick. Or - and the result will be very similar - you can distribute it starting from one edge going up and down to the opposite extreme. In both cases it is advisable not to go too far towards the edges because the icing will still tend to melt and drip towards the sides.

If you want you can enrich it with additions such as: granulated sugar, almonds and icing sugar.
To do this, once you have spread the almond glaze, proceed by distributing the granulated sugar with your hand (in the center of the dome and just to the sides), the almonds, and finish a sprinkling of icing sugar all over (it will give a nice white color bright and will highlight any cracks in the glaze).

cooking

The glaze is very delicate to cook. Too high temperatures or too close to heat sources tend to melt it and brown it excessively. To avoid this, I suggest never placing the Panettone or Colombe with the dome near the top of the oven (the further away the better), and to prefer the ventilated mode to the static one.