5 Delectable Desserts To Try In Italy

With a cuisine that needs no introduction, Italy is truly a paradise for your mouth. It has remained a favourite all around the world, and allows you many more authentic delights than just comfort foods of pizza and pasta. Italian cuisine also has many, varied, seasonal and fiercely regional desserts that will take your taste buds on a wild ride. If you are planning a visit to the boot-shaped peninsula, don’t forget to try some classic Italian desserts such as expertly layered chocolate cakes, cream-filled pastries, boozy breads soaked in rum, or deep-fried treats that will send you into sensory overload. Here is a list of some desserts in Italy that you simply mustn’t miss.

# Foamy Zabaglione

Also called zabaione, this traditional Italian dessert is made with eggs, sugar, and wine, typically Marsala, beaten together over boiling water until light and airy. Because the boiling water cooks the egg yolks, it also adds volume to the mixture. It is an ethereally sweet dessert that can be served warm or cold. Zabaglione has been prepared in Italy since the 15th century and is a wonderful way to showcase the fruits of the season. This classic dessert from Italy is popular both as a dessert served with fruit or sweet biscuits or as a gelato flavour, and is sometimes a beverage served with fresh berries in a champagne glass or flavoured with espresso coffee. Its French version is called sabayon. In North Italy, Marsala wine is often replaced by Moscato wine. Once cooled, whipped egg whites are sometimes added along with whipped cream for even more richness.

# Frosty Granita

Originally from Sicily, granita is a semi-frozen Italian dessert made with fruit and juice, that is like a sorbet but coarser in consistency. This refreshing treat is typically made from fruit, and therefore just the thing to cool you down during the dog days of summer. Granita is served all across Italy, and traditionally enjoyed at breakfast alongside espresso and brioche. Common and traditional flavourings include lemon juice, rich espresso, almonds, mandarin oranges, jasmine, coffee, mint, and when in season wild strawberries and black mulberries. Particularly liquor friendly, granita can also be spiked with luscious liqueurs such as rum or vodka.

# Soft Cassata

This rich sponge cake is a traditional sweet from Sicily. The dessert is prepared either in one large cake or smaller, individual portions (cassatine) that layer the sponge cake rounds with sweetened ricotta and candied citrus peel. It is then decorated with marzipan (a sweet almond dough sheet), icing, and colourful candied fruits, giving it a bright, distinctive appearance. Arguably Sicily’s most famous dessert, cassata is made a bit differently in Naples. It consists of gelato layers in place of the ricotta and fruit, like an ice cream cake and the whole cake is covered in a sugar glaze. Either variation is a delight to your palate and a worthy finish to your meal. Traditionally, cassata is prepared in winter and spring, and is most often served around Easter. This Italian dessert is usually chilled for three hours before serving.

# Creamy Gelato

One of the most famous desserts in Italy, gelato is generally made with a base of 3.25 per cent milk and sugar. The dessert isn’t an Italian invention but a Chinese one which was introduced to Italy through the traveller merchants of the 14th century. As this popular Italian dessert is made with a greater proportion of whole milk to cream, it is generally lower in fat than other styles of frozen desserts. Gelato’s density and richness is because it typically contains 70 per cent less air and more flavouring than other kinds of frozen desserts. Therefore, its soft, elastic texture and slow-to-melt milkiness distinguish it from other ice creams. The traditional flavours of gelato are vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, cream (also known as custard) and stracciatella (fior di latte gelato with irregular shavings of chocolate). Gelato is also kept and served at a warmer temperature compared to that of its cousin, ice cream, so that it stays softer and creamier.

# Silky Panna Cotta

Panna cotta in Italian means ‘cooked cream’ and is one of the easiest desserts in Italy to make. Originally from the Piedmont region, panna cotta is famous for its rich dairy heritage. The traditional recipe only requires whole cream with honey and egg whites. Today, panna cotta is prepared with the highest quality cream that is lightly sweetened with sugar, held together ever so slightly with gelatin, forming it into moulds and chilling until set. The creamy mixture may be infused with flavours like vanilla or coffee and is often topped with a fruit coulis, chocolate or caramel. Panna cotta is traditionally served with a fruit compote, caramel, or chocolate sauce. This silky custard when made perfectly and properly chilled, is silky smooth, deliciously creamy, and has a gentle wobble when unmolded and served. In other parts of the country, this dessert is frequently flavoured with rum or sweet Marsala wine, and topped with a generous drizzle of caramel sauce, which perfectly complements the seductive aroma of vanilla.