It's the final day of the Arden & Amici Week and I've left the most festive sounding of the new range until last. The Arden & Amici Cranberry & Orange Panettone has a wonderfully festive look with it's burgundy, gold and black packaging. It is available, from Waitrose, in two sizes; the large 750g panettone and a mini version which is 100g.
The Cranberry & Orange Panettone has a lovely aroma once it is out of the packaging. It is light and buttery with a slightly zesty edge. The colour is nicely golden and there are a few pieces of fruit visible from the outside.
Once cut open the Cranberry & Orange Panettone has a similar distribution of fruit as the Classic Panettone I reviewed earlier in the week. I loved the fact that it wasn't overloaded with cranberry and orange. There is the perfect ratio of fluffy bread to the fruit pieces, keeping the overall flavour light and soft rather than heavy like some fruit cakes. The bread retains a lovely buttery flavour, whilst the cranberry pieces are juicy and succulent. The orange pieces are quite small and taste very sweet, they don't have that bitter aftertaste that candied peel can sometimes have. They provide delicate bursts of orange flavour rather than overwhelming the rest of the ingredients.
I was especially impressed by the pieces of cranberry and orange in this panettone. It is obvious that high quality ingredients have been used, there are no horrible dried up tasteless pieces of fruit here, they are all flavourful and moist. Even my husband, who is not usually a fan of fruity breads, thoroughly enjoyed this panettone. It's perfect for those that want to try something a bit different this Christmas.
The Arden & Amici Cranberry & Orange Panettone is available at Waitrose for £8.99 for the 750g and £2.69 for the 100g. The latter mini panettone is also available on a 2 for £4 offer.
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| Three Mini Panettones dusted with icing sugar |
Now that this week has come to an end I want to thank Arden & Amici for sending me these products to try. I was delighted with the prospect of receiving some of their festive range to review, but I was truly stunned when a parcel roughly the size of my front room arrived filled to the brim with Arden & Amici products. I am always completely honest in my opinions when writing reviews, whether I have received the product or not. If my reviews of the Arden & Amici range have all been glowing it is because I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these Italian delicacies.
I still have a couple more products to review from the range; the Drunken Panettone, Cocoa Ricciarelli and the Pandoro. I will be posting these reviews in the run up to Christmas. My husband also recently bought the Arden & Amici Crunchy Amaretti and Almond Cantuccini (he is well and truly hooked now!) so look out for reviews of those soon.
Final Roundup of the Arden & Amici Week:
Arden & Amici Panforte
Arden & Amici Classic Panettone
Arden & Amici Chocolate Chip Panettone
Arden & Amici Almond Ricciarelli
I don't think I've ever experienced any problems with panettone products other than:
ReplyDelete1. burnt crust - most common problem, it's very annoying when there's also a chocolate layer on top of the burnt crust... otherwise I just strip it off and let the pigeons make it disappear;
2. dry inside - rare problem, but it did happen;
So usually it's a positive experience. These days I'm looking mostly for uncommon varieties (next on my list is some kind of pandoro with violet flowers, blackberry & blueberry cream)
I've never tried almond cantuccini, but I really love having chocolate ones or crunchy amaretti with tea.
I bought the mini Cranberry & Orange and mini Chocolate chip on a deal at Waitrose (2 for £4) after I read your review. Both were delicious but the Orange & Cranberry is my favourite.
ReplyDeleteI usually receive a supermarket own brand panettone from relatives every Christmas and I've never been very impressed. They were often too dry inside so I would feed them to the birds! Now I know what Panettone should taste like! Soft, buttery and fruity!