Panettone Ice Cream Recipe
by Victoria Glass
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Intermediate
This panettone ice cream recipe is a luxurious way to enjoy Italy’s famous Christmas bread. Cubes of buttery panettone are folded through creamy vanilla ice cream, with bursts of candied peel and raisins in every spoonful. It’s festive, indulgent, and wonderfully simple to make.
The panettone ice cream recipe is the perfect vehicle for breathing new life into panettone that has been left out for too long. This ice cream makes a lighter and luscious yuletide alternative to Christmas pudding, or the perfect ending to a New Year’s Eve dinner.
But don’t think the fun needs to end once the twelve drummers have finished drumming. Use the year-round alternative filone for similar fruity, buttery flavours and enjoy it in every season of the year.
Why Panettone Works in Ice Cream
The sweet, airy crumb of panettone adds both flavour and texture. Lightly toasting it before mixing into ice cream gives a nutty depth, while the fruit brings bursts of citrus and sweetness. It’s a clever way to use up leftover panettone – and far too good to save just for Christmas.
Panettone Ice Cream Serving Suggestions
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Serve scoops in bowls with espresso poured over for an Italian affogato twist.
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Sandwich between toasted panettone slices for an ice cream sandwich.
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Pair with zabaglione or whipped cream for extra indulgence.
Hungry for more panettone ideas and info? Read our best leftover panettone recipes, or learn about what is panettone and how to choose the best. Or go straight to shopping Italian panettone.
Ingredients for panettone ice cream Serves: 8
- 150g leftover panettone or filone
- 300ml double cream
- 200ml whole milk
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
- 5 medium egg yolks
- 115g caster sugar
- Fabbri amarena cherries to serve
Method for panettone ice cream
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
- Blitz the panettone in a food processor to make coarse crumbs, then tip them on to a baking tray in a single layer. Pop the tray in the oven to toast the crumbs for about 10 minutes, tossing halfway through, or until pale golden.
- In the meantime, put the cream and milk in a saucepan with the scraped out seeds of a vanilla pod and stir over a gentle heat.
- Increase the heat to medium until it simmers, then tip the toasted crumbs into the cream. Turn off the heat, stir, then put a lid on the saucepan and leave to steep for one hour.
- Take the lid off the saucepan and return to the heat.
- Put the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl and whisk until pale.
- Once the cream mixture has come to the boil, turn off the heat and leave to stand for 1 minute before whisking it into the egg mixture.
- Return the custard mixture to the saucepan and stir over a gentle heat until the mixture reaches 70°C or until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Pour the custard into a cold jug or bowl and cover the top with a plate or clingfilm to prevent a skin from forming as it cools.
- Once at room temperature, transfer the custard to the fridge to chill.
- Churn the cold custard in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s guidelines, or pour into a Tupperware box and freeze for approx. 6 hours, whisking every hour to prevent ice crystals forming, or until the ice cream has hardened.
Shop all panettone, and try our panettone tiramisu recipe.
About the author
Victoria Glass is a London based writer and recipe developer. She has written six cookbooks, including Too Good To Waste and has contributed to various print and online media including The Sunday Times, Great British Chefs, Delicious. Magazine, Women’s Health and The Evening Standard. She has been featured regularly on regional BBC Radio as a food and drink expert and was Food Writer in Residence at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. Victoria once cooked her way through the alphabet in a year for a project called Alphabet Soup, so she certainly knows her artichokes from her elbow.
