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Desserts

Brisciola Valtellinese (Valtellina Fig and Walnut Bread)

Brisciola Valtellinese is a take on the classic Christmas Panettone, enriched here with nuts and dried fruit.
Recipe Brisciola Valtellinese (Valtellina Fig and Walnut Bread)
  • Difficulty Medium
  • Preparation 2 hours
  • Servings for 10 people

Brisciola Valtellinese, also known as pan dei fich (fig bread) in the local dialect, is a regional version of the famous Christmas Panettone made with raisins and candied fruit. It comes from Valtellina, an Alpine valley in Lombardy.

Made with two rises, this Valtellina Panettone has dried figs, walnut halves and raisins worked into the dough, and its surface is brushed with acacia honey before the final rise and baking, which makes the top nicely golden and crisp.

The Original Brisciola Valtellinese Recipe is for a Rustic Sweet Bread, especially rich and perfect for the Christmas season as a Traditional Dessert or for a hearty family snack. What’s more, as we’ll see, this is an ideal recipe for using up leftovers, because you can enrich the Brisciola with all the nuts and dried fruit left over from your Christmas meals. A tasty, flavorful way to use them up.

If you’re looking for more Traditional Christmas Desserts, we recommend the recipes for Panforte, Struffoli, Cartellate and Panpepato. If, instead, you’re looking for more tempting Panettone Recipes, try making Chocolate Panettone, Chocolate Chip Panettone and, for a savory version, Savory Panettone.

Now let’s tie on our aprons and get our hands in the dough: today we’re baking a fragrant, flavorful Brisciola Valtellinese together, following the Original Recipe.

Ingredients for 10 people

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Method

  1. To make the Brisciola Valtellinese, first soak the raisins in lukewarm water for about ten minutes and gently warm the milk, dissolving the fresh yeast in it. Meanwhile, combine the flour, sugar, salt, eggs and softened butter in a large bowl. Add the milk with the yeast, the well-squeezed raisins, the figs cut into small pieces and the walnut halves. Knead everything into a smooth ball of dough and let it rise in a bowl, well covered, until doubled in volume (about 1 hour and 30 minutes).
  2. After the rising time, take the dough and divide it into two loaves, shaping them so they are slightly rounded; transfer them to a baking pan lined with parchment paper and brush them with the honey, then let them rise for another twenty minutes or so.
  3. After this last rise, bake the loaves in a preheated conventional oven at 180 °C (350 °F) for about 45 minutes, until golden all over, then take them out of the oven and let them cool completely. Your Brisciola Valtellinese is ready to be sliced and served. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!
    Brisciola Valtellinese

Variations and Alternatives

You can also make Brisciola Valtellinese with a mix of whole-grain flours, such as buckwheat or rye, subtracting their weight from the total amount of 00 flour. If you like, you can vary the nuts and the dried fruit, also depending on what you have left over from the holidays, such as almonds, hazelnuts, dried apricots, dates and so on. And if you want to flavor the dough, just add some organic orange zest.

Tips

Brisciola Valtellinese is even better if you warm the slices in the oven or on a very hot griddle before serving. And if you decide to pair it with a creamy Zabaione, it makes a perfect traditional dessert for the Christmas holidays.

Storage

Brisciola Valtellinese keeps at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to 4-5 days.

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