Italian Desserts and Pastries You Will Surely Love
A wise man once said, “There’s always room for dessert,” and everybody applauded! A hearty meal seems incomplete until it ends in the indulgence of a dessert. It could be a creamy pudding or a crunchy pie, but a sugary bite always adds joy to a feast. If you are someone with a sweet spot for everything sweet, then these tempting Italian desserts and pastries will definitely leave you craving for more.
1. Buccellato
Buccellato is a Sicilian cake and is often regarded as a specialty of the Advent season. This delicious cake is ring-shaped and is quite like soft sweet bread. It has a fluffy texture and is loaded with nuts, figs, and candied fruit. A modern variation of the authentic Buccellato also involves a walnut heart at the center of a circular cake. The airy consistency of the cake will surely elevate you to cloud nine!
2. Castagnaccio
If you feel guilty about your sugar intake, then castagnaccio is a sugar-free cake that is crafted straight from Tuscany, especially for you. This gluten-free delicacy is made using chestnut flour, olive oil, water, nuts, and raisins, and no sugar. Some other local recipes also include fennel seeds, orange peels, and dried fruits. Though this cake is associated with a poor man’s humble table, yet it will be nothing less than a royal treat for you to bite into a hearty slice
3. Tiramisu
The tiramisu from Treviso has gained global fame, and why not? If you are ever stuck in a dilemma of choosing between coffee and dessert, then this Italian pastry can come to your rescue. Tiramisu is a predominantly coffee-flavored dessert. It comprises a delicate arrangement of coffee-dipped ladyfingers and a creamy whipped layer of egg, sugar, cocoa powder, and mascarpone cheese.
Lemoncello is another variant of the traditional tiramisu that uses lemon in place of coffee. However, if you’re not a fan of coffee or lemon, then strawberry and chocolate flavoured tiramisus are waiting to steal your heart.
4. Cannoli
This Sicilian pastry is all up to satiate your sweet tooth. Quite like a cream-roll, a cannoli has a tube-shaped, crispy fried shell made from pastry dough, which is later stuffed with the creamy goodness of ricotta cheese. It is often sealed with nuts, candied fruit, or chocolate chips. If you ever catch yourself in a spot where you’re yearning for dessert yet want it to be bite-sized, then mini cannolis and cup cannolis are your go-to sweet delights.
5. Gelato
This 16th Century Italian frozen dessert is perfect for the health-conscious. Unlike ice-cream, gelato is made using less cream and lots of milk, making it considerably lower in fat and calories than its creamier cousin. But that doesn’t make it any less delicious. Plus, it comes in a rainbow of flavours, such as biscotti, pistachio, wild berries, salted caramel, dark chocolate, panna cotta, strawberry cheesecake, and many more. However, if you are worried about being lactose intolerant, then the next dessert is right up your street.
6. Italian ice
Like snowcones, the Italian ice is a bonus for those who like their dessert icy-cold but are lactose intolerant. This frozen dessert does not use dairy products and is purely made using ice and concentrated fruit juices. Sometimes, sugary food flavorings are also used to add a dash of color and zest of flavor to the ice shavings. You can dig into its icy goodness without the fear of upsetting your sensitive stomach or piling on the calories. You can find the recipes for whipping up these sinful goodies in Italian cookbooks or online. But if you’re not up for some kitchen action, it’s worth looking for local dessert or cake delivery services that can deliver these treasures right to your doorstep, and make sure you use a DoorDash promo code.