Mascarpone Cream – How to Make Panettone Divine

Mascarpone Cream on Panettone

Growing up in the province of Milan, the presence of various panettoni in the house was reliably the earliest indicator that the Christmas season had returned. My father would receive a couple of panettoni as a gift from his workplace, my mother would bring one or two home she received from some the people she visited as a nurse, and my grandmas would always give us some of the ones they received since they couldn’t eat them all. Occasionally, right before Christmas, my family would also order an artisan-made panettone from their favorite local pastry shop.
Given the abundance of the seasonal sweet-bread, my family consumed panettone straight out of the box as dessert, afternoon snack, and even as breakfast. But after Sundays meals, and for sure on Christmas day, we used to serve panettone accompanied with something that made it even better: mascarpone cream and a glass of spumante!

What follows is the recipe that my grandmother passed down to my mother, who then passed it down to me. It’s quite simple to make, but it involves a certain amount of hand whisking. This preparation is what my family also uses to make tiramisù.

Mascarpone Cream

Yield: 10 servings

Total Time: 20 minutes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

2 tablespoons per serving

Mascarpone Cream

Ingredients

  • 500 g fresh mascarpone
  • 5 of the freshest eggs
  • 5 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of rum

Preparation

  1. Take the eggs and the mascarpone out of the fridge an hour ahead of time so that they reach room temperature.
  2. Soften the mascarpone by stirring it energetically for one minute in a bowl.
  3. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar until the mixture becomes smooth and lighter in color.
  4. Stir in a tablespoon of mascarpone into the egg mix. Continue stirring until no lumps are left, and the cream begins to thicken.
  5. One tablespoon at a time, incorporate the rest of the mascarpone.
  6. Beat the egg whites until very firm, then gradually incorporate 2/3 of them into the cream (discard the rest), mixing gently from the bottom up in a circular motion.
  7. Slowly stir in the rum, mixing until fully absorbed.
  8. Just before serving the panettone, ladle a generous tablespoon of mascarpone cream over each slice and enjoy!
https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2016/12/mascarpone-cream.html
Paolo Rigiroli

Author: Paolo Rigiroli

Now based in the UK, Paolo is an Italian who lived in Canada for nearly 18 years and blogs about Italian food and its many aberrations.

12 thoughts on “Mascarpone Cream – How to Make Panettone Divine”

  1. This does sound wonderful, Paolo, and very similar to my tiramisu filling, though mine uses Marsala! Buon Natale e tanti auguri per l’Anno Nuovo!

    1. Thanks David! Yes, I use the same as my tiramisu filling as well – however, in my family, the mascarpone cream for Panettone came well before tiramisu made its appearance.

  2. This is almost identical to a recipe past down from my parents. We have it Christmas time and pour it over fresh mangos (we are in Australia). DIVINE!

    My parents are no longer around and I never took the opportunity to ask why I get some separation. After a day you can see a liquid at the bottom of the glass bowl. After 2 days, there is quite a bit more.

    What is the liquid? And would you know why it happens?

    I was told to keep everything cold, so I even clean and freeze the bowls I use to mix everything, and only take out the ingredients as soon as I need them.

    While I make sure that the yolks are just yolks and the whites just whites, I do dump all the mascarpone into the yolk and sugar mix, in one go. Would adding them slowly solve the separation I’m getting?

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Christophe, thanks for stopping by – very good question! The liquid that appears at the bottom after a period of time is water from the gradual breakdown of the egg white foam. Since the cream is uncooked, nothing firms up the foam (like in a cake or meringue), after a while any foam start releasing air and partially breaks down. I don’t have a remedy for this, other than of course to make the cream in small batches and use them up quickly!

      Thanks for sharing your technique of dumping all the mascarpone into the yolk – this has also become my favorite way to make mascarpone cream despite what my grandma would have said 🙂

      1. Thanks Paolo,

        My mother also used Galliano and Brandy, instead of Rum. We make a batch for the kids using vanilla extract.

        Christophe.

        1. Hi Christophe, sorry – your comment was marked as spam! Thanks for stopping by, Galliano+Brandy sounds like a great combination, and definitely a good suggestion to have a vanilla-flavored version for the kids as well!

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