King Umberto debuts artisanal panettone for limited time

The first thing King Umberto’s Luca Cascella wants you to know about his panettone — all panettone — is that it is a bread, not a cake.

In Italy, there is no exact equivalent for the word "bakery." You are either referring to a shop that specializes in yeast breads, a panetteria (or panificio), or a shop that specializes in pastries and cakes, a pasticceria.

Cascella, who studied bread baking at Italy’s prestigious ALMA International School of Italian Cooking near Parma, is very firmly in the former camp. And, over the last few months, he has been helping Giovanni Cesarano, King Umberto’s partner-pizzaiolo, to establish a world-class panetteria within the 49-year-old Elmont pizzeria-restaurant.

They use a lievito madre (sourdough starter) to give the dough structure and flavor, plenty of eggs and, especially, butter to bestow a mellow tenderness. It does not have the towering height of some other panettones. "You don’t want it to be so tall and full of holes that it gets dried out," Cascella explained.

Cascella is importing candied citron and orange from Italy and rather than tough little bits of gritty sweetness to be generally avoided, they are luxuriant and altogether welcome. That’s the regular panettone; the chocolate version contains chocolate chunks and a hint of cardamom and is topped with a chocolate-hazelnut glaze. Both cost $60 and are available for preorder through the end of the year by calling the pizzeria. Quantities are limited.

King Umberto, 1343 Hempstead Tpke., Elmont, 516-352-8391, kingumberto.com