Christmas means panettone, and ahead of 25 December 2025 there is a sweet surprise for cocktail lovers: a holiday cake created specifically for those who enjoy a good drink. The recipe comes from CiaccoLab and Dry Milano, and carries unexpected, exotic notes.
The Panettone by CiaccoLab and Dry Milano
This is not a pairing exercise—unlike Dry Milano’s well-known format that matches cocktails and pizza. In this case, the cocktail is inside the panettone itself. The drink in question is on the cocktail bar menu: Clear Soda, made with rum, kaffir lime, pineapple water and coconut milk. The idea was simple in theory: take the ingredients of the cocktail and integrate them into the dough with the right balance. Easier said than done. Test after test and tasting after tasting, the recipe finally came together.
“We challenged ourselves with the most traditional of desserts,” says Lorenzo Sirabella of Dry Milano, “to offer our guests a product reimagined through the flavours of Dry. We asked Stefano Guizzetti, a master of sweet leavening, to work with us. It became a fascinating project, one we followed together step by step, comparing notes, testing and tasting to find harmony between flavours and textures. The result is a balance that is not overly sweet, yet enveloping with coconut, unexpected with pineapple and refined with rum.”
Stefano Guizzetti’s Point of View
“I love tackling new challenges,” says Guizzetti, “because I believe that curiosity is what drives my work. I have experimented with recipes and preparations never seen before in the world of gelato, and I want to bring the same research-driven approach to leavened products, which are becoming increasingly important for me.”
The dough uses a double mix of Italian flour, left to rise for 48 hours with natural yeast, along with honey from the Parma valleys, eggs and centrifuged Piedmontese butter. And, of course, the aromatic notes that echo the Clear Soda cocktail.
Where to Find the CiaccoLab and Dry Milano Panettone
Months after the initial idea, the panettone is now ready to be enjoyed. At the Milan cocktail bar it is served as a dessert, accompanied by mascarpone cream or zabaione gelato. The whole cake can also be purchased and taken home at both CiaccoLab and Dry Milano—perfect for the season of gifts, ornaments and time spent with loved ones.
Photo courtesy DryMilano
