Italian Bakery Breaks Holiday Record With a 308-Pound Panettone

Italians have been serving panettone at Christmas for centuries, and now a bakery in Milan has put an over-the-top twist on the traditional treat. As The Local reports, San Gregorio Patisserie now holds the record for the world’s largest panettone.

The leavened fruit cake clocked in at 308 pounds and measured over 6 feet tall when it was removed from its special oven. Baking a regular panettone is already a labor-intensive process: from cultivating the yeast, to baking the dough and cooling the cakes, it can take several days to turn out a single loaf. The bakers at San Gregorio needed even more time than usual to ensure their super-sized creation was cooked all the way through.

The Milan patisserie first opened in 1945, and panettone is one of their signature items. They ship their loaves all over the world, with 200 going just to New York City at this time of year. Their recipe includes all the traditional panettone components—like raisins and candied citrus peels—but the bakery’s owners Angelo Bernasconi and Savino Moretti credit their success to their mother dough. (According to The Local, legend has it that the master baker they inherited it from originally added a bit of horse urine for an extra kick.)

Whether that story’s true or not, holiday shoppers were happy to sample the record-breaking panettone when it was distributed for free at the Victor Emmanuel II shopping gallery in Milan. The towering confection produced 1200 slices in total.

[h/t The Local]