We got one of these Italian sweetbread/fruitcake things as gift one year and couldn’t bring ourselves to eat it because we were so unfamiliar with it. Out of guilt after a week or so we broke it open and decided to make french toast with it. I remember it being pretty interesting so when I saw these all over the grocery stores here I decided to buy one and relive the memory. I did something that I never tried before with french toast which was to use buttermilk in the milk/egg dipping mixture. It tasted good! This particular panettone had some pretty strong candied orange peel and too many raisins which I didn’t like. I think each brand tastes a little different. I am not a fan of raisins and this particular one had a lot of raisins. Henry didn’t love it and I can’t say I like being surprised by the embedded fruit. I guess you have to be in the mood for this. I think in the future I will pick out most of the obvious raisins before I dip the bread. I didn’t follow a recipe but the standard ingredients are milk (this time some buttermilk, too), eggs, cinnamon, almond extract and vanilla.
