Sadly, the pastry and cake shops in monasteries and convents have become an almost lost tradition caused by the evolving times, the general changes in our society and today’s fast-paced world we live in. In fact, there are only a few monasteries left that still bake and sell their delicacies to the public, located in secluded places, in the interior of the island. Last time I enjoyed monastery’s pastries was in the late 1960’s, when the nuns of the Monastery of Saint Catherine, in Piazza Bellini in Palermo were still baking their heavenly and savory desserts. The cloistered nuns carefully guarded their recipes and kept them secret, to hand down only to the next prioress or mother superior. Each monastery had its own recipes which to the present day are kept secret from other monasteries and from the general public.

In Sicily, monasteries were situated in every community and from the proceeds of the sale of their baked goods, desserts, and preserved foods, the nuns made an adequate amount of income to sustain their convents. Many pastries and cakes prepared in bakeries have a delightful and fine taste; however the Cannoli, the Minne di Virgine, the Cassate cakes, and other specialties and biscuits made by the nuns, had a special flavor which was the result of their patience and dedication in the preparation of  desserts with natural and authentic ingredients, the use of their traditional recipes and the special combination of spices and herbs. In addition, they offered their goods at a reasonable price. The Minne di Virgine (or in Sicilian: Minni ri Virgini ) were for the first time made in the Monastery “Collegio di Maria” in Sambuca in the province of Agrigento, for the occurrence of the wedding of the area’s lord, the marquis Beccardelli.

Suor Virginia, a nun, wanted to offer to the marquees a different sweet and created in her mind a cake with the smell of jasmine like the spring air in the Valley of Belice, with layers of filling made with a cream using the delicious and rich local milk, another layer of preserve prepared with the deep green colored flesh of the zucchini growing in the vegetable garden and finally some chocolate shavings, which it was whispered to be an aphrodisiac. She considered a crunchy cookie to enclose the cream and to finish it with a light glace flavored with the zest of the lemons that were growing in the monastery’s garden. As for the shape, the legend is that Suor Virginia was trying to recreate the outline of the hills, she could observe from her window, that resembled a women breast.

The Romans offered fritters in the form of the “breasts of virgin” to Juno, the goddess of childbirth and of women’s fertility. We believe that because the “breasts of virgin”  were perceived as a symbol of childbirth and women’s fertility, Suor Virginia decided to follow this popular credence and the minni baked by Suor Virginia – Virginia means virgin-  went down in history: I Minni ri Virginia, and later the Minni ri Virgini: Virginia’s breasts. These pastries are referred as Paste delle Vergini, Virgins’ pastries, in the historical novel and movie “The Leopard”, “Il Gattopardo” by Tommaso di Lampedusa; in fact, the film was set in the Palazzo Cuto in Santa Margherita Belice, only a few miles from the town of Sambuca. In the eastern part of Sicily, and in particular in Catania, the Saint Agatha Breasts, the local specialty, at one time baked in monasteries, now are available only in the pasticcerie, pastry shops.

In Agrigento, in the Monastery of Santo Spirito, the Minni ri Virgini were prepared with an outside containing some almond paste and filled with ricotta cream, candied fruits, diced candied pumpkin, flavored with cinnamon and orange. Monasteries selling sweets to the public were located throughout Palermo: the monastery of La Martorana was famous for the marzipan fruits called Frutti di Martorana, other monasteries were renowned for fried pastries like the Ravazzane filled with a thick meat sauce, the Iris filled with ricotta cream or the Teste di Turco topped with an eggless custard; other convents were well-known for their specialties of the many traditional desserts. The monastery of Santa Maria delle Vergini, which had a retail shop in the back of the convent in Piazza Venezia, was famous for Minni ri Virgini filled with eggless custard combined with a sweet squash preserve.

My family referred to the Dominican monastery of Saint Caterina, in Piazza Bellini as “a Za’ Monaca” the Aunt Nun, where we did most of our shopping for Sfingi of San Joseph, Cannoli filled with goat’s ricotta cream, San Martin biscuits, Cassata, and other pastries and cookies.

The Virgins’ Breasts Recipes are:

1.  Minne di Vergine  Sambuca Style
2.  Virgin’s Breast in Palermo 
3. Breasts of Saint Agatha