What Is Panettone? Panettone vs Pandoro and Prices

Milan’s Christmas sweet is panettone, dome-shaped, made with sultana raisins, citron and egg yolks and traditional across Italy; pandoro is the Veronese sweet, tall and ribbed into an eight-pointed star. As of October 22, 2026, a whole panettone costs $21.99 to $72 across Eataly (an online price) and Sant Ambroeus, and the lower sticker price is not always the lower price per ounce. Definitions below come from Treccani, Italy’s encyclopedia institute, and a Turin Chamber of Commerce guide; prices, sizes and addresses come from each seller’s own website, checked in October 2026. Stock and prices change, so check each page before buying.

What is panettone, and is it a cake or a bread?

Treccani’s dictionary defines panettone as a typical Milanese sweet (a dolce), dome-shaped, made in two stages: an evening dough of flour, yeast, butter and sugar, then a morning dough of flour, butter, sugar, salt, citron, sultana raisins and egg yolks worked into the risen first one and baked in cylindrical molds. The word adapts the Milanese panattón, from pane, bread. Treccani passages are translated here.

Cake or bread depends on who is describing it. The dictionary says dolce; Treccani’s children’s encyclopedia names the typical Christmas “pane dolce,” a sweet bread full of raisins and candied fruit, tall and well risen. That entry is also quoted on the meatless Christmas Eve dinner in the Feast of the Seven Fishes explainer. Eataly’s magazine calls panettone “a sweet, eggy cake” and glosses the name as “big bread.” Settepani says “holiday bread.” Sant Ambroeus’s catalogue says “a classic Milanese dessert” and its product page “Italian Christmas bread.”

On origin, Treccani’s two entries date the legend differently, and both call the true origin probably older. The dictionary says legend attributes panettone to the Visconti court of the 1300s; the 1935 Enciclopedia Italiana says a legend traces it to the end of the 1400s. For the loaf as it is known today, Treccani’s biography of Gioachino Alemagna says the Milan pastry maker Angelo Motta first made it: the old Lombard recipe wanted it low, with a very compact dough, and he made it softer and more decorative with more eggs and more butter.

Butter in the dough is one of the northern tells that which part of Italy a menu is cooking from explains, and tiramisu in NYC asks the same regional question of another dolce.

Where can you buy panettone in NYC?

Eataly’s magazine says its holiday cakes are sold “in our markets and online,” and each of the six product pages labels its price “Price when purchased online” and lists shipping methods of “scheduled 1-2 days,” “standard 4-5 days” and “pickup in store.” The listing does not say which NYC market stocks which loaf, so call first.

Sant Ambroeus’s pages disagree in two places. Its home page lists the panettone and pandoro with prices and no sold-out label, yet each of the five product pages read prints “Add to cart” directly above “Sold Out - Notify Me When It’s Available,” so the text cannot show which is live. And the holiday catalogue PDF linked from the home page gives the chocolate and apricot panettone as “1 kg (2 lb),” while their product pages say “1 kg (2.2 lb).” Its shipping policy suggests scheduling an order to arrive 2+ days before an event.

Settepani’s own site publishes no prices for its panettone or pandoro; its Purchase buttons lead to a third-party marketplace, not read here.

What is the difference between panettone and pandoro?

Treccani’s entries for the two sweets, plus one seller page, separate them on four points:

• Origin and name. Panettone is Milanese. Pandoro is Veronese, and its name comes from pane d’oro, gold bread.
• Shape. Panettone is a dome baked in cylindrical molds. Pandoro is tall, with large straight ribs arranged as an eight-pointed star.
• Ingredients. Treccani’s panettone entry lists citron, sultanas and egg yolks in the dough. Its pandoro entry lists fine flour, sugar, butter, eggs and brewer’s yeast and names no fruit.
• Finish. Treccani says pandoro is served sprinkled with vanilla icing sugar; Sant Ambroeus’s comes with powdered sugar to dust on before serving.

Italy regulates both. A Turin Chamber of Commerce guide says a decree of 22 July 2005 governs their production and sale. For panettone it sets minimum shares of, for example, butter, egg yolk, raisins and citrus peel, and a panettone without raisins or candied peel must say so in its name. For versions with added fillings, coverings or glazes, the guide says the name must be completed by the main characterizing ingredients, the pattern a name like Eataly’s “Pear and Chocolate Panettone” follows. The guide covers Italian rules; none of the seller pages read here mentions the decree.

Why is some panettone so expensive?

Eataly’s sticker prices do not follow size, and price per ounce reorders the loaves. Each Eataly page prints a rate with a comma (“$1,25/Oz”). Dividing price by weight reproduces it with a decimal point (21.99 dollars over 17.6 ounces is 1.25), so the comma is read here as a decimal point. Sorted by that rate, with Eataly’s online prices:

The cheapest loaf, at $21.99, costs more per ounce than the 35-ounce glazed and chocolate loaves. The Marron Glaces loaf weighs twice the Gran Milanese at almost exactly twice the price, so the rate matches at 1.25; it costs the same $43.99 as the 26 oz Chocolate and Cappuccino loaf while weighing 9.2 oz more.

Between sellers the gap is wider. One kilogram is 35.27 ounces, the weight of Eataly’s glazed loaf at $36.49. Sant Ambroeus charges $69 for its 1 kg classic, 32.51 dollars more. Its product pages read here show no per-ounce rate; dividing 69 dollars by 35.27 ounces gives about 1.96 dollars per ounce, a figure computed here. Its 1 kg chocolate panettone is $72 against $38.49 for Eataly’s 35.2 oz chocolate loaf, 33.51 dollars apart for sizes within a tenth of an ounce. The hat box with a panettone is $98, 29 dollars above the plain $69 loaf, though the page does not say which panettone it holds.

None of the pages read gives a cost breakdown. Sant Ambroeus cites “limited quantities,” natural leavening and 90th Anniversary packaging; Eataly’s glazed page cites natural yeast and “at least 30 hours to rise.”

How do Italians eat panettone?

The non-seller sources read here say when panettone is eaten but not how: Treccani’s 1935 entry says it is eaten by tradition especially at Christmas. Serving advice comes from the sellers. Eataly’s pear-and-chocolate page suggests fresh berries, whipped cream or dark chocolate, coffee in the afternoon or wine after dinner; Sant Ambroeus suggests a slice with coffee at the holiday table.

Which panettone suits which buyer?

• Lowest price per ounce or per loaf: Eataly’s Glazed Panettone at 1.03 dollars an ounce, or its Gran Milanese at $21.99, which its page says serves 6 to 8.
• A boxed gift or a pandoro: Sant Ambroeus’s $98 hat box or $69 pandoro; check stock.
• Flavor choice: Settepani’s five panettone flavors; its pages print no prices.

How these were chosen: a seller had to print panettone or pandoro on a shop or product page that loaded; bakeries whose pages did not were left out, so their absence says nothing about whether they sell it. Prices and stock above are as of October 22, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is panettone?

Panettone is a dome-shaped Milanese sweet that Treccani’s dictionary describes as made in two stages, with citron, sultana raisins and egg yolks in the second dough, and baked in cylindrical molds. Sources differ on whether it is a cake or a bread: Eataly’s magazine says “a sweet, eggy cake,” Treccani’s children’s encyclopedia “pane dolce.”

What is the difference between panettone and pandoro?

Panettone is Milanese and domed, with citron and sultanas in the dough. Pandoro is Veronese and tall, ribbed into an eight-pointed star, made with flour, sugar, butter, eggs and brewer’s yeast, and served sprinkled with vanilla icing sugar, according to Treccani.

Why is some panettone so expensive?

As of October 22, 2026, price does not follow size alone. Eataly’s six loaves run from 1.03 to 1.69 dollars per ounce (its pages print the rate with a comma, as $1,03/Oz, read here as a decimal), and Sant Ambroeus’s 1 kg classic at $69 works out to about 1.96 dollars per ounce, a figure computed here. None of the pages read gives a cost breakdown.

Where can you buy panettone in NYC?

As of October 22, 2026, Eataly lists six Bonifanti panettone online from $21.99 to $43.99, with NYC markets at 200 Fifth Avenue, 4 World Trade Center and 200 Lafayette St. Sant Ambroeus lists 1 kg panettone at $69 and $72, and Settepani’s bakery at 602 Lorimer St. lists five flavors without prices. Confirm stock and prices with each seller before buying.