Certosino di Bologna
Photo: Patafisik · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

Certosino, also called panone in dialect, takes its name from the Certosa di Bologna monastery, where the Carthusian monks baked it from the 14th century onward as a Christmas alms-loaf for the city's poor. The recipe codified in the 16th century: a dense flour-honey-spice base with candied citron, pinoli, almonds and dark chocolate, baked low and aged at least two weeks before cutting. The Confraternita del Certosino was founded in 1997 to defend the canonical recipe; Atti, Paolo Atti & Figli and Pasticceria Maccaferri all bake it from late November to Epiphany. The cake keeps two months wrapped; one slice with espresso closes a Bolognese Christmas lunch.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Tree nut, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 1Hands-on 30 minTotal PT14DDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 400g 00 flour
  • 300g acacia honey, plus 50g for the glaze
  • 100g dark chocolate (70 percent), chopped
  • 100g whole almonds, lightly toasted
  • 80g pine nuts
  • 80g candied citron, diced
  • 50g candied orange peel, diced
  • 10g aniseed, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon, half a teaspoon ground cloves
  • 10g baking powder, 100ml warm water, pinch sea salt

Method

  1. Warm the honey in a pan until liquid, off the heat stir in the spices, aniseed and salt. Cool 10 minutes.
  2. Mix the flour with the baking powder. Make a well, pour in the honey mix and the warm water. Knead briefly to a thick batter.
  3. Fold in the chopped chocolate, almonds, pine nuts, candied citron and candied orange.
  4. Line a 22cm round springform tin with baking paper. Press the dough in firmly; the top should be flat. Bake at 160C/325F for 60 to 70 minutes until the edges pull from the tin.
  5. Brush the warm loaf with the extra honey thinned with a teaspoon of hot water for the glaze. Cool completely in the tin.
  6. Wrap in muslin and rest at room temperature 14 days before slicing thin. The flavour builds; one fresh slice with espresso closes lunch.

Tip from the editors. The two-week rest is the whole point; freshly baked certosino tastes of raw honey and cure, after 14 days the spice and fruit settle into flavour.

Where to eat certosino di bologna

Certosino di Bologna in Bologna

Atti ★ 4.7

€ BakeryBolognese pasticceria, salumeria, mortadellaWalk-in only

Atti in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1880-founded salumeria-and-pasticceria with two adjoining shops on Via Caprarie, slicing mortadella to order and baking.

Worth the queueMortadella di Bologna IGP

TipThe bakery counter runs from 07:30; mortadella slicing takes 5 minutes per order and the queue thins after 11:00. Cash and card both fine.

Directions

Paolo Atti & Figli ★ 4.7

€ BakerySfoglia pasta, pasticceriaWalk-in only

Paolo Atti & Figli in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1880-founded sfoglina-and-pasticceria with hand-rolled tortellini sold by weight, plus the certosino di.

Worth the queueTortellini and tagliatelle

TipThe pasta counter runs from 07:00; tortellini sell out by 12:30 on Saturdays. The Christmas certosino orders open in November.

Directions

Tamburini ★ 4.4

€€ Salumeria, Bolognese CounterQuadrilatero

Tamburini in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1932-founded salumeria-and-self-service operating from Via Caprarie, with cured-meat counters, a daily-changing.

OrderThe mortadella tagliere, the daily pasta plate, a tigella with squacquerone.

TipThe self-service runs 11:00-22:00 daily; the salumi counter closes at 19:30 and the aperitivo crowd takes over after 18:00.

Directions

Pasticceria Impero ★ 4.2

€ BakeryBolognese pastries, sfogliatellaWalk-in only

Pasticceria Impero on Via Indipendenza in Bologna is the 1920s-founded pasticceria with the morning sfogliatella ricciu, the Bolognese certosino at Christmas.

Worth the queueSfogliatella riccia

TipThe sfogliatella riccia is the morning order; the Christmas certosino opens in November and sells by the loaf. Counter-stand and table both work.

Directions

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