A Taste of Italy: My Favorite Desserts

Tiramisu means "pick-me-up" in Italian. Is there anything coffee-dipped ladyfingers, mascarpone cheese, and chocolate can't fix? Waffle batter or cookie dough is cooked on irons to create these crisp cookies. They can also be rolled while still warm and stuffed with cream. These chestnuts covered in sugary syrup and glaze can be ingredients in other desserts or eaten on their own. These biscuits are also called "cantuccini. There are endless variations featuring different combinations of nuts, fruit, and spices.

Bruttiboni cookies combine meringue and roasted chopped nuts. The name translates to "ugly but good. These filled doughnuts are literally known as "calorie bombs. These Sicilian marzipan treats are formed into the shapes of fruits and vegetables. Siena is thought to be the home of panforte. Panna cotta is refrigerated and served with a caramel or strawberry topping. Pan Pepato — Pan pepato is often referred to as an Italian chocolate gingerbread. Raisins, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, candied fruit, chocolate, cinnamon, amaretto, honey, nutmeg, and the characteristic black pepper combine to give this dessert its spicy flavor.

Pastiera — This traditional Neapolitan cake is made by mixing ricotta cheese with eggs. Flower scented water is typically added, giving pastiera its characteristic floral aroma. A version of pastiera includes an addition of thick cream, which softens the cake. This fragile cake is traditionally baked for Easter.

Pignolata — This soft, Sicilian pastry is presented in small pieces and can serve many people. One half of pignolata is covered in lemon-flavored icing while the other half is covered in chocolate.

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This Calabrian dessert is traditionally served during the Christmas season. Some ingredients include walnuts, raisins, brandy, orange juice, and of course, cinnamon. Pizzella — Native to Abruzzo, this waffle-like cookie that varies between crisp and crunchy or soft and chewy depending on ingredients. Traditional flavorings include anise, vanilla, and lemon zest. A pizzelle iron is used in cooking the dessert, giving it a characteristic snowflake pattern.

Pizzella are commonly used to create a dessert sandwich with cannoli cream or hazelnut spread as a filling. Pizzella in Lazio are known as ferratelle and as cancelle in Molise. Ricciarelli — Crushed almonds, sugar and honey comprise these crunchy, diamond-shaped cookies from Italy. Ricciarelli are a favorite around celebrations and gatherings.

Variations to the original recipe leave Ricciarelli coated in powdered sugar or frosted with chocolate. Savoiardi is cut into slivers, leaving a crisp and golden crust around moist cake. Savoiardi is used to prepare tiramisu, and is also commonly eaten with Italian creams and sorbetti.

Sfogliatelle — These Italian pastries from the province of Salerno come in the form of a cone or shell with a layered texture. Typically, an orange-flavored ricotta filling is used. Variations include almond paste or candied peel fillings. Sfogliatine — This cream-filled cookie from Venice comes in disc, rectangular, and fan shapes. Spumoni — Fruits and nuts can usually be found in this molded Italian ice cream of varying layers of color and flavor. Chocolate and pistachio are the two most common flavors used in spumoni. A layer of whipped cream, fruit and nuts usually separates the varying flavors of ice cream.

Cherry bits are a traditional addition. Spumoni is originally from Naples, and spawned the popular Neapolitan ice cream.

10 Essential Italian Desserts | HuffPost Life

Struffoli — Originated in Naples, struffoli consists of marble-sized deep-fried dough balls. Struffoli are served warm with honey containing chopped nuts and orange peel. Cocoa is sprinkled on top of the finished product. Sugar and liquor are optional in the dipping process. Torrone — Ancient Romans regarded Torrone as a Godly offering. The honey, almond and albumen creation has many regional variations including the Campania version flavored with Strega liqueur. Hazelnuts, pistachios, and chocolate are common modern-day additions to Torrone.

Torrone gets its name from the Torione tower in the city of Cremona, which was given as a gift to Francesco Sforza from the father of Bianca Maria Visconti on their wedding day. Zabaglione — This dessert sauce consists of egg yolk, sugar, and Marsala wine. The custard-like sauce is whipped; the result is a higher air content.

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Honey was an original ingredient but was replaced with sugar. Cream, mascarpone, or whole eggs are acceptable additions to the ingredient list. Italians serve figs with Zabaglione. Zeppole — Custard, jelly, butter and honey, or cannoli cream typically fill these deep fried, sugar-coated dough balls served on St. Zeppole are characteristically light and airy, but are sometimes created in a more dense version.

Savory varieties of Zeppole are often stuffed with anchovy. Zuccotto — This Italian sponge cake dessert from Florence is typically flavored with brandy and layered with chilled cream. Zuccotto is traditionally made in a pumpkin-shaped mold. Zuppa Inglese — A custard-based Italian dessert.

Zuppa Inglese consists of Pan di Spagna dipped in Alchermes liquor, and covered in crema pasticciera. Crema alla cioccolata is also a common ingredient, layered between the cakes. To finalize Zuppa Inglese, whipped cream and crushed almonds are typically applied as a topping. Ed Garrubbo has been studying, cooking, searching for, and thinking about la cucina italiana for as long as he can remember. He cooks a wide range of Italian dishes, but loves his pasta most. He visits restaurants, cooking schools, markets, and food artisans across Italy, and wherever Italians practice their craft.

And pass around the site. No otne here in S. E North Carolina offers anything close. I hope you can help me with the tr aditiol name, so I can look for th erecipe for the sponge cake. Hi, Ive asked around, and there are some sicilian cakes that are similar to what your are talking about. My mouth is drooling for some good biscotti. Squirrel, I lived in Sicily for 30 years of my life and sounds like you are talking about our traditional sicilian birthday cake. The sponge cake is the Pan di Spagna that we soak in some alcoholic liquid usually is Vermout. The vanilla pudding is called Crema Pasticciera that is a very rich egg based cream so sometime we use instead crema chantilly which is the same crema Pasticciera mixed with some whipped cream.

Usually we add diced or mini strawberries to the cream. And then like you said it is frosted with whipped cream and finished with pistachio or hazelnuts on the sides. If you have some fotos of theitalian desserts, send them in and I will post them. My italian grandmother used to make two things that I cannot locate anywhere in stores or online.

Maybe someone can help. Almost looked like a breakfast roll or cinnamon roll.

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But, this pastry she made was with dough and had raisins, walnuts all in between the spirals. The end result was probably about 4 to 6 inches wide. Second dessert was made of dough too. Pretty sure it had a little wine it and was fried and then finished in a coating of honey. They looked like little barrels maybe an inch or two in length and kind of thick. Did you ever discover the name of the second dessert mentioned in this comment dough balls with honey? It was deep fried and topped with honey and I really wish I could make them.

10 Essential Italian Desserts

If anyone out there knows this recipe please email me. Oh by the way she was Cicilian. She also used to make a desert that looked Lila a ravioli filled and topped with honey. I just came across this site. I too am second generation Italian and I am always looking for and interested in traditional Italian food. Thanks for all the great information. I am looking for a recipe for a pastry my mother called cherry pita. It had yeast in the dough which was bottom layer, then you Made a thickened layer using canned cherries, drizzled this with a powdered sugar glaze and sprinkled with chopped walnuts.

You could also use pineapple. She made it every year at Christmas and the recipe is not clear. Thanks for any help. Great list, but the ONE I am searching for is not mentioned.

In the more simple coffee shops and even at the street vendors outside the coliseum, there is a dense pastry filled with what tasted like crumbly chocolate and crushed hazelnuts. The pastry was heavy and fairly solid. The top had chocolate glaze spread on it. I wish it would tell me more about the dessert Confetti.

Look online for Jordan almonds. They were traditionally given as wedding favors. A simple square of net was filled, thent he sides were gathered up and tied with ribbon and a wedding couple tag. There are many sweet dough breads, many with eggs baked inside, thatare popluar around Easter. Depending on the region of Italy, they different ingredients and names.

Cake boss is probably from Naples or Sicily, so i imagine their bread is typical of one of those areas. Hello, our family has my husbands grandmothers cookie press. It is not round like the ones for the pizzella but square. Looking in families Tuscany cookbooks the region where they were from I see a word referring to it as a schiacca and the cooked product as brigidino.

Can you give me any insight to this. Why did the Italians select these specific letters? Dough is easy to cut into strips and roll, then shape into S or O. Just a provincial shape, nothing more. It sounds like screw-ya-dell……they say throughout the seasons….. Thanks for your help! I am looking for a pastry that I used to get in Newark NJ. It looks like a little pie and they have a cross on top.

Chocolate has been consumed since as far back as the earliest recorded history. You can try volunteering to bake cupcakes as your gift for the birthday celebration or come prepared by making a special gift of treats for the celebrant then handing out smaller portions for the party to enjoy. They were usually full of flavour along with the range of different types of fruity jellies was large — so I was in heaven.

This pastry was most popular with Italian families in New England, mostly served at weddings. It tastes sweet and milky, and it has a very white color to it. I may have the spelling wrong. I have heard of a talented young chef who died in Italy in the s traffic accident, I think and who had developed an innovative and delicious cake. My family was from Avellino and my grandmother always made Easter cookies in the shape of the Sacred Heart with a hard boiled egg in the center with.

They are tolled very thin. And deep fried for about seconds. Then dusted with powdered sugar. Does any one have a recipe? Or is there another name for this cookie? My grandmother made a pastry with raisin filling and covered with powered sugar … i cant remember the name or find how to make it. My Granndmother was from Bari. She made this amazing dessert only on Christmas.