A Pandoro whose dough is based on insect flour. It is the last recipe of MasterBug, a foodblogger and experimenter of the kitchen with insects who has been working in Italy for some years now. The new gastronomic “specialty” follows the suggestions of European institutions on Novel Food, and in particular on edible insects, rich in proteins and eco-friendly. In fact, from next year also in Italy it will be possible to buy and taste these new foods that already feed 2 billion people all over the world. Sweets and confectionery included. This is the case of this particular kind of Pandoro, made with classic ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, and white flour with the addition in the dough mixture of 20% of flour derived from silkworms (Bombyx mori), bred for human food consumption. The result is a Christmas Pandoro in all respects, but with a “stronger” taste that is similar to hazelnut.
Nutritional value
In addition to taste, the nutritional value of this Pandoro is noteworthy. Silkworm flour is indeed an important food source: the percentages of total protein and lipid content for dry weight are respectively 55.6% and 32.2%. Silkworms have high levels of essential amino acids such as valine, methionine and phenylalanine. The nutritional content of silkworm flour per 100g is composed of 55g protein, 8.5g fat, 6g fiber, and 25.43g carbohydrate with an energy value of 389.60 (Kcal / 100g). These data show that silkworm flour is a new source of high quality protein. On the other hand, there are 90 countries in the world where insects are a common food, and some species are even considered a very valuable food.