The panettone diaries of Elena and Gia Vin & Grill's baker Mayara Palma Martin

Many of Montreal’s bakeries have been in the throes of panettoni production for weeks now, and in a word, it’s... complicated.

It takes an inordinate amount of time, control, and precision to produce, but like all good things, time = flavour.

We asked the baker behind the panettone of Elena and Gia, Mayara Palma Martin, about everything that goes into making panettone for the holiday season.

The mind behind the madre 

But first, an introductory preamble: Originally from Curitiba, Brazil near the Argentinian and Chilean borders, Mayara was a social worker before living in Montreal for the last six years, where she embraced a lifelong passion for cooking and pursuit of working in kitchens professionally.

“I’ve loved cooking since I was a kid—my grandparents, who were from Italy, inspired me. The region we lived in has a large population of Italian and German immigrants, so Italian food has always been part of my life, and I’ve been eating panettone and other Italian dishes regularly since,” she says.

“In Brazil, it’s not easy to make a career out of cooking, so I thought, why not move to Canada? I had family living here, visited them, and fell in love with Montreal. So, I decided to move here and study professional cuisine.”

Side note: Mayara’s connection is an interesting one, considering that a lot of panettone is actually produced in Brazil and Peru, a connection that traces back to the late 1800s when Brazil’s agricultural colonization campaign encouraged over 100,000 Italians to immigrate.

These settlers brought their cultural traditions, including panettone, which has since become a staple of South American culture and is deeply rooted in that part of the world. Folks there enjoy panettone year-round, with the two countries producing over 200,000 tons annually for distribution to more than 50 countries.

But we digress.

Things quickly picked up speed for Mayara: Following her studies, she worked at restaurants like Le Mousso and Damas, but a fascination with bread—"it felt like the hardest thing to master in the kitchen,” she says—led her to Automne Boulangerie where she studied the craft for three years.

Not long after, Mayara joined Elena to make panettone, which expanded to handling bread, pasta, and some pastries at Gia Vin & Grill, where a bigger kitchen meant more production.

What exactly goes into making panettone at Elena & Gia?

When asked, Mayara let loose: 

“The process begins in September or October, when I start building the madre, a stiff sourdough starter specific to panettone. It needs to triple in size within four hours at 28°C to ensure it’s strong enough to support the dough, which is heavy with sugar, butter, and egg yolks.

“The production itself takes about three days. On day one, I do three feedings of the madre to prepare it. If everything goes well and it’s strong enough, we start mixing the first dough at night. This dough has a bit of butter, sugar, and yolks but not the full recipe—it needs to rest overnight and triple in size.

“The next morning, we mix the second dough, which includes the remaining ingredients: butter, sugar, yolks, honey, citrus zest, and inclusions like raisins or chocolate. After shaping and proofing, we bake it. Then comes the tricky part—flipping the panettone upside down to cool for at least six hours. This prevents the dough from collapsing. It’s a long process, but the result is worth it.

“During panettone season, my schedule changes completely. I wake up as early as 4:00 a.m. to start feeding the madre. Each feeding takes precision—there’s a lot of testing and adjustments to make sure the madre is strong enough. Once we start mixing, it’s a full day of managing proofing, mixing the dough, shaping, and more proofing. It’s exhausting but worth it.

“Honestly, something going wrong is one of the hardest parts of the job. If the madre isn’t behaving as expected, it can set everything back. Sometimes, environmental factors like temperature or humidity can affect the dough. I’ve had days where I’ve had to start over completely… There’s definitely an emotional toll.

But at the same time, every challenge teaches me something new, and it’s incredibly rewarding when everything comes together. Seeing people enjoy the panettone and appreciate the effort behind it makes it all worth it.”

Personal panettoni preferences

While Mayara holds the traditional methods of panettone production in high regard—"it’s important to honour them,” she says—she also thinks there’s room for creativity, especially when it comes to flavours. It’s about finding that balance and staying true to the essence of panettone. 

“For me, it’s all about texture and flavour,” Mayara says.

“A great panettone should be soft, feathery, and moist. The crumb doesn’t need to be Instagram-perfect—it’s more about how it feels when you eat it. It should be light but rich, with a balance of sweetness and acidity from the inclusions like citrus or chocolate.”

As for the most rewarding part of the process? “Seeing people enjoy it,” she says. “When someone tells me they love the panettone, it makes all the hard work worthwhile. It’s also rewarding to see how much I’ve grown as a baker—every year, I learn something new.” 

“My favourite is a classic panettone with raisins, candied orange, and lemon. But we’ve been experimenting with other flavours, like chocolate and cherry, which is also incredible.”

Shop the panettone at Elena here.