A Twist on an Italian Favorite: Panettone Bread Pudding!

This year, the boys did a unit about Christmas Around the World.
As part of their studies, they learned about Christmas traditions in Italy.
To have a hands on experience about Italian Christmas, we bought some Panettone.

According to Wikipedia, we learned this about the origins of Panettone:
Panettone (pronounced /ˌpænəˈttoʊnə/^[1]) is a type of sweet bread loaf originally from Milan (in Milanese it is called "paneton" Milanese dialect (pronunciation IPA: /paneˈtuŋ/)),^[2] usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Italy, southeastern France, Brazil, Peru, Malta, Germany and Switzerland, and is one of the symbols of the city of Milan.
It has a cupola shape, which extends from a cylindrical base and is usually about 12–15 cm high for a panettone weighing 1 kg.
Many other variations are available such as plain or with chocolate. It is served in slices, vertically cut, accompanied with sweet hot beverages or a sweet wine, such as Asti or Moscato d'Asti. In some regions of Italy, it is served with crema di mascarpone, a cream made from mascarpone, eggs, sometimes dried or candied fruits, and typically a sweet liqueur such as amaretto; if mascarpone cheese is unavailable, zabaione is sometimes used as a substitute.
-Source: Wikipedia

Photo Source: it.Wikipedia Codice. Public Domain Photo.

After trying the Panettone by itself, we then decided to get a little adventurous so we made Panettone Bread Pudding!
I actually had a strong feeling that it would be tasty, as my cousin, Chef Michael Schley, makes some amazing bread pudding and his is chock full of nuts and dried fruits, so I figured that using Panettone would have a similar effect (His is truly amazing...but the short cut of using Panettone worked well for us here).
My cousin had made bread pudding the week of our wedding ten years ago right around this time of year. He made it for all of our relatives and friends who had come to our wedding in South Carolina. He made several pans of it and it all was gobbled up quickly, as it is truly in the most delicious thing you have ever eaten category...the taste of his bread pudding is unparalelled...one that I have longed for but have not gotten to have in quite some time, as he lives out West.
He made his from scratch, and it was truly divine!
For someone like me who is not a professional chef, the short cut of using Panettone was a huge help.
For our recipe, I tweaked a Panettone Bread Pudding recipe by Ina Garten.
Hers calls for almond extract and almonds. 
We skipped those and substituted white chocolate chips in ours.
We also added in 2 Tablespoons of eggnog, in addition to the cream.
It turned out pretty tasty, if I do say so myself!
It made enough to share with friends and neighbors so that was an added bonus.
Here is a photo of our Panettone Bread Pudding:

Mmm! So yummy & so easy to make!!!

Have you tried to make something from another country as part of your holiday baking?
What did you make and how was it received by your family?
If you have a recipe or a post and would like to share, please feel free to leave a link to your post or please include your recipe in the comments section of this post.
Hope that everyone is enjoying cooking, baking and feasting with friends and family over the holidays!