Italian Desserts: The Most Popular

Italian desserts. The Italian pastry shop is among the most appreciated worldwide. It has a very long history behind it, made up of many delicacies, born in the different regions of the country, which have traveled around the world. Just think of tiramisu, a dessert that boasts a series of incredible successes: thanks to the determination of Friuli Venezia Giulia (and in particular the city of Gemona) the dessert has officially become part of the Guinness World Record, the largest in the world weighing 3015 kilograms.

While in 2013 tiramisu faced its first trip into space in the company of astronaut Luca Parmitano, on the Russian Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft; finally, the name of this dessert is present as gastronomic Italianism in 23 different languages (this was stated by the Italian Crusca Academy).

Italian desserts

Preparing it at home may not be as simple as you think and the tricks for preparing tiramisu are many and well spread throughout the web. Obviously, as anticipated, this is just one of the many specialties that Italian pastry shops can boast of. Italian desserts are distinguished between the more traditional ones, the great classics revisited and the latest trends.

In this article we want to focus on the most popular Italian desserts in the world, the ones that foreigners visiting Italy can't wait to taste for the first time.

Italian desserts: Sicilian Cannolo

Italian desserts

Let's start with a great classic of Italian pastry making, the Sicilian cannoli, recognizable by its typical cylindrical shape and its white ricotta filling (preferably sheep's milk). That its success was immediate can be understood by observing its spread like wildfire in Italy; there is no city where it is not possible to enjoy a classic Sicilian cannoli.

It is difficult to trace the origins of its recipe, as they are very ancient, dating back to the Romans. The name derives from the canes that were used, until recently, to roll the classic wafer. It is not impossible, contrary to what you might believe, to prepare good Sicilian cannoli at home.

The ingredients necessary for making the shells of approximately 20 cannoli are: 250 g of type 00 flour; 30 g of butter; 50 ml of Marsala; 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar; 30 g of sugar; 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of bitter cocoa powder. For the filling: 600 g of ricotta; 70 g of dark chocolate chips and 100 g of sugar. For the gasket it is necessary to purchase: chopped pistachios; candied cherry; dark chocolate chips; candied orange peel and icing sugar.

Caprese cake

Italian desserts

Italy is the home of cakes and the caprese cake is appreciated all over the world by adults and children. It is a dessert with Neapolitan origins about which there are funny legends. The first is that it was created by a chef, Carmine di Fiore, in Capri, back in 1920, when while preparing a cake he accidentally forgot to add the flour and thus invented, by chance, one of the cakes that would become among the most famous in the world.

The second story tells that the king of Naples ordered his cooks to prepare a sacher to win the heart of an Austrian princess, but by mistake or by choice they proposed a new dessert, the caprese cake. Everyone really likes Caprese for its intense dark chocolate flavour and its hint of almonds.

It has a moist consistency and is ideal both at the end of a meal and as a snack. Tradition dictates that this dessert should be prepared in the same mold that is usually used for pastiera, i.e. in aluminum with flared edges. To make a caprese cake for four people you will need: 190 g of peeled almonds or almond flour; 125 g of butter; 3 eggs; 130 g of sugar; 120 g of dark chocolate (52 percent); 2 tablespoons of rum; orange zest and icing sugar.

Sbrisolona

Italian desserts

The sbrisolona is certainly one of the most requested Italian desserts by those visiting our wonderful country and it is also one of the most prepared delicacies in the homes of Northern Italy. It is, in fact, a particularly popular cake in Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna and which has its roots in the city of Mantua.

This dessert is thought to have been born during the Gonzaga period thanks to the farmers; a simple cake that has transformed over time, becoming a perfect refined dessert to serve at the end of a dinner. In the past, the sbrisolona recipe was better known as "three cups recipe", since three ingredients were measured out in the same way: white flour, yellow flour and sugar. Once ready and served, tradition dictates that you break it with your hands; its particular consistency meant that it took its name from the term "crumb".

If you want to make sbrisolona at home you will need: 200 g of 00 flour; 2 egg yolks; 100 g of margarine; 140 g of almonds; 1 lemon; 200 g of corn flour; 100 g of butter; 200 g of granulated sugar and 1 sachet of vanillin.

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