Sicilian Desserts

INTRODUCTION TO SICILIAN DESSERTS

Virgins' Breasts Recipes (Minni di Virgini)

Here you will find the recipes for Virgin's Breasts Sambuca Style, Virgin's Breasts Palermo Style and Breasts of Saint Agatha (Cassatelle di Sant'Agata). An introductory page will also tell you the story of this delicious pastry.

Cassateddi recipes

Here you'll find the recipes for home made Cassateddi, Cassateddi with figs, Cassateddi Ustica Style, and Cassateddi with Chickpea filling. Cassateddi can be made in a variety of ways: in some places, the cassateddi are filled with vanilla or chocolate custard or with preserved fruits.

Genovesi Turnover

In Sicilian pastry shops, the delicious pastries called genovesi are a commercial version of the breast of virgin, originally baked by the nuns in the convents. The genovesi are filled with ricotta cream with an outer layer made with pasta ..

Cassatine with Almond Paste

The cassatine are another by-product of the Virgin’s breasts pastries: they are miniature cassate Siciliane and…. with the help of a fertile fantasy they resemble a women breast: and in fact, they are topped with a cherry to resemble a woman’s nipple.

Ricotta Cheesecake Sicilian Style

In ancient Greece mizithra, a soft cheese, mixed with honey and fruits, baked or unbaked, was the primitive form of cheesecake: it was prepared for special occasions or to offer to the gods.

Cassata Siciliana Recipes

Cassata is the most celebrated Sicilian dessert and it is the classic Sicilian Easter Cake. Here you will find the recipes for the Classic Cassata Sicilian , the home made Cassata, the torta di ricotta Cassata, and the Cassata trifle. A special introductory page will tell you all the history of the Cassata!

Cannoli

The cannolo is a famous Sicilian pastry prepared all over the world. Although there are some variations, the classic cannolo, which originated in Palermo, consists of a crunchy and tender fried dough shell, filled with sweetened sheep’s milk ricotta, chocolate chips, and diced ..

Sfingi Recipes

In Sicily every family has his own sfingi’s recipe: there are thousands of different types of batters to make the homemade sfingi. My mother made these delicious delicacies not for any special occasion, only if she was in the mood and had the time to make them.

Crispeddi Fritters Catania Style

The Crispeddi with ricotta are made in the province of Catania. These fritters are delicious noshes made in a salted version, served as snack or appetizers and in a sweet version served as dessert.

Crispeddi Fritters with Raisins

In the eastern part of Sicily and in particular in Catania and Syracuse, the feast of Saint Martin, on November 11th, is celebrated with religious rite and with the preparation of gastronomic specialties.

Recipes for Pastry Components

In this page you will find the recipes for the key elements of common Sicilian pastry: the sponge cake (pan di Spagna), custard or pastry cream, ricotta cream, glaze, biancomangiare and zuccata (pumpkin).

Sicilian Biscuits Recipes

Click here to go to the recipes for: breakfast biscuits, grandma biscuits, Regina biscuits with sesame seeds, pistachio cookies, honey biscuits, Savoiardi biscuits, wine biscuits (affuca parrina), quaresimali, three recipes for Taralli, muscardini, mustazzoli and grand mom Sidotti's easter bread.

Iris Breakfast Pastry

In Palermo, the rosticcerie offer panelli, rice balls, vasteddi, sfincione, fried vegetables and fish, potatoes croquettes and in the morning ravazzate, rizzuoli and the iris or as it is called in dialect the Ines; this Palermitana specialty, ..

Brioches

Brioches are delicious, soft, tender bread-rolls, rich with butter and eggs. The brioches are offered in bakeries, bars, fast food and take-out food shops; they are served with marmalade or with gelato at breakfast, at tea time or as a ..

Pistachio Cream

The pistachio cream is a custard dessert often served in parfait glasses, in champagne cups, in goblet glasses, or in small soufflé dishes: the recipe does not have strict parameters and each baker or housewife has their own secret recipe.

Spagnolette (Ricotta Pastries)

A delicate and exquisite delicacy, the original Spagnolette are ricotta cream pastries: they are made by sandwiching the cream between two round Savoiardi biscuits. To make the Savoiardi use the recipe that Mrs. Bernadette Johnson kindly shared with us...

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Lady Fingers with Ricotta Cream

This type of dessert is the homemade version of the Cassatine sold in Palermo’s pasty’s shops. The Cassatine are pastries made with a round piece of sponge cake, stuffed with ricotta cream and surrounded by green almond paste (Pasta Rele), coated with lemon icing and decorated with a candied cherry.

Ricotta Pastry Parfait

This type of delightful dessert is well accepted to conclude a dinner or enjoy it on a cold afternoon with a foamy and steaming cappuccino. Although simple to make, it is complex in aroma and taste. It is made by three components.

Watermelon Jelly

In Italy, the Gelatin of Watermelon is found on the shelves of gourmet grocery stores, but never equals the Gelo di Muluna homemade in a Sicilian kitchen. In season all good gelaterie,- ice cream parlors-, make a similar delicacy called Granita di Mellone, a granulated frozen mixture of watermelon juice, sugar, a hint of cinnamon and a dash of lemon juice.

Rice Croquettes with Orange Honey

The crispeddi with rice are a sweet snack originally made in Catania by the Benedictine monks. In present times, this local delicacy is often prepared by the housewives for an after dinner dessert or for the traditional children afternoon break, the merenda. These rice croquettes have a different taste!

Puppets with Eggs (Easter)

Spring Equinox marks the end of winter and the time to prepare for the new season, to care for the lands and to do all necessary planning for that time of year. This event was celebrated with the sacrifice of lambs to the gods to gain their blessings to the land and to the seeds planted in ..

Testa di Turco Moors’ Head

Testa di Turco (Moors’ Head) is a Sicilian dessert prepared all over Sicily. In some town it is made with baked cream-puff pastry in the form of a turban and covered with honey or else filled with ricotta or custard cream and colorfully decorated; in other places, it is made with baked puff-pasty ...

Cuccia of Saint Lucy

Saint Lucy was born in the fourth century, in Syracuse, Sicily and died at the time of the prosecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She was reported to the Roman governor as a Christian by the young suitor she had refused, having promised her virginity to God.

Pignolata

The Pignolata is a dessert only made in the southern part of Italy. The exception is Ferrara, a city in northern Italy, where a dessert called Pignuccata is a pine nut crunch made with caramelized sugar and pine nuts. In the south of the peninsula, the Pignuccata are small ball-shaped sweets...