17 Italian Desserts To Get To Know

Originating from Piedmont, panna cotta is both a traditional Italian pudding and a widely known dessert. A classic panna cotta, translated literally as "cooked cream", calls for — you guessed it, cream — and sugar. While different flavors have been incorporated into the recipe, it must have cream, sugar, and some sort of gelatin to give it its form. If you've eaten it before, you know what makes a panna cotta is its jiggly, stable, pudding texture. No matter what flavoring is added, be it coffee, lavender, fruit, almond, panna cotta is almost always served with a warm sauce using caramel, cream, berries, or chocolate. This dessert works best with whole cream, but for a lighter version of the dessert, you can opt for half-and-half or a little milk to cut through the cream.

Traditionally, a Piedmontese panna cotta is served alone or with Brutti ma buoni, according to Italian-born food writer Anna Del Conte. Yet other variations, like boozy panna cotta made with rum or Marsala wine, are common in other parts of Italy. Then there's savory panna cotta, which can consist of salmon, herbs like rosemary, basil, or mint, or pumpkin.

One of Italy's oldest desserts, panforte's origins date back to Siena in the Middle Ages, with the legend claiming that the dessert was made for religious aristocrats in Tuscany. According to Delicious Italy, It became even more popular during the 14th century when people started to travel along the pilgrim route, Via Francigena, on their way to Tuscany. With the trading of exotic spices and fruits, combined with the long-lasting qualities of panforte — it literally translates to "strong bread" — the dessert became a regular choice for travelers. However, the dessert went beyond the trade routes, landing on the plates of the King of Italy in Siena during 1879; it is said that this is the version of panforte we know today.

Now, panforte is considered a winter dessert, as it is often enjoyed around Christmas. Somewhat reminiscent of a fruit cake, panforte is made by mixing fruits (sometimes candied), nuts, and an array of spices like cinnamon, clove, and coriander, in sugar, honey, and flour to create a cake-like dessert.

Despite having its origins in the modern 20th century, tiramisù quickly became a traditional Italian dessert with such popularity that you've likely heard of it and eaten it. But did you know tiramisù didn't even arrive in America until the 1980s? According to The New Yorker, the popular dessert debuted at Le Beccherie, an Italian restaurant run by Ado Campeol, in the early seventies. Supposedly, Ado's wife came up with the dish with Roberto Linguanotto, who was the pastry chef at Le Beccherie, as an uplifting treat while she was pregnant (tiramisù translates literally to "pick-me-up"). While this is still up for debate, the aforementioned recipe was certified as the official tiramisù recipe in 2010. The current owner of Le Beccherie has kept the recipe the same. By 1981, the popular dessert had made its way through Italy and across the ocean to America, where we still love it today.

If you're a beginner to tiramisù, you should know that the dessert has ingredients simple enough to enjoy the dish in a restaurant or to make in your own kitchen. With only six ingredients — sugar, eggs, espresso, mascarpone, cocoa powder, and savoiardi, otherwise known as lady fingers — tiramisù is a classic, delicious Italian dessert that is easy to make.

Italy's general word for cookies, biscotti, can be found in several varieties just as American cookies can be. Brutti ma buoni — translated literally as "ugly but good" — is a type of Italian biscotti that are not very aesthetic to the eye, but still delicious, warranting the name. We can't help but think of cookies such as no-bake cookies; they look like something you shouldn't eat, but they are super tasty. Brutti ma buoni; however, are baked until they are both crunchy and chewy. They require only a few basic ingredients for the dough: egg whites, butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and hazelnuts or almonds (depending where you are). In Tuscany, bakers typically use hazelnuts, while the original recipe calls for almonds.

The Italian cookies are said to have originated around 1878 in a small city outside of Milan, in the Lombardy town of Gavirate, by a pastry chef and pastry shop owner, Costantino Veniani (via Taste Atlas). Yet, like many Italian delights, the true origin is debated. According to True Italian, Brutti ma buoni might've hailed from Piedmont, in the town of Borgomanero, part of Novara, Italy. Even though it is said that Costantino recorded how to make the biscuits in a notebook, no one can truly decide if the dessert came from Piedmont or Lombardy.

Semifreddo, which means "half-cold", is prepared by gently folding whipped cream into an Italian meringue that can be flavored with fruits, nuts, chocolate, coffee, or Italian custard. As its name suggests, semifreddo is chilled until it's set and then served partially frozen. Some have compared the original version of semifreddo to the French parfait, yet the textures divide the desserts. While the New York Times coins semifreddo as "ice cream's chic Italian cousin", it is much more like a frozen mousse with a base of meringue or zabaglione. The soft, airy meringue gives it a melt-in-your-mouth texture that sets it apart from ice cream.

Possibly one of the first semifreddos in history, zuccotto, is prepared with cognac, maraschino liqueur, and French orange liqueur. According to Chef Vary, it was first made for Caterina de Medici and used various ingredients like fruits, chocolate, ground almonds (which were considered an aphrodisiac — fitting for Caterina, no?), and of course, booze. While several variations exist, semifreddo remains an Italian classic that supposedly beats out both parfait and ice cream.

One of Sicily's more famous desserts, cassata is a traditional dessert that is prepared by soaking genoise sponge cake in liqueur, then layering sweetened ricotta and fruit preserves before being finished with a marzipan shell and candied fruit. Similar to a cheesecake that uses ricotta, cassata cake is served around Easter and became a prominent aristocratic dish by the 14th century, per Taste Atlas.

Although the history of cassata cake is debated, there are a few theories that have stood the test of time. As Eater suggests, there is undeniably a connection between cassata cake and the invasion of Sicily by the Arabs during the 10th century. It is said they brought certain sugar production techniques to Sicily, and because "cassata" could stem from the Latin word cāseāta (from cāseus, meaning "cheese"), the true origin of the cake hasn't quite been figured out. Still, it is a staple dessert of Sicily that many natives enjoy around Easter. With its delicate, complex preparation, the beautiful cake isn't as easily made at home, but that shouldn't stop you from giving it a taste if you find it in the world.

Another Easter delight, Pastiera Napoletana is one of Naples' most popular cakes, rooted in the city's symbol of the mermaid, Partenope, in Greek mythology. According to La Cucina Italiana, the Neapolitan pastiera's legend goes back to when Partenope had a feast in her honor, where seven symbolic gifts were brought to the siren: flour, wheat cooked in milk, eggs, sugar, spices, orange blossoms, and ricotta cheese. She then combined all the gifts to make pastiera. They go on to suggest another theory that goes back to Constantine and the desserts given during the baptism on Easter night. Then there are the nuns of the convent of San Gregorio Armeno, who were known to be experts in making pastries and often gave them to noble families.

While even the city of Naples can't decide on the origin of the Neapolitan pastiera, the traditional recipe remains pretty exact. The shortcrust pastry is meant to be crunchy with a soft interior of ricotta, eggs, candied fruit, and wheat that has been boiled in milk. The preparation is very complex and time-consuming, and tradition states that the dessert should be made on the Thursday before Easter and served on Easter day to allow for all the flavors to properly mingle.

This Italian specialty combines bitter espresso and coffee flavors with the sweetness of ice cream in a dish that literally means "drowned". The origins of affogato are hazy, with some saying the dessert came about in the 1950s when ice cream was streamlined and others saying it emerged much earlier. According to Porte, affogatos were possibly made during experimentation by a Piedmontese friar, Angelico, during the 17th century, when he decided to mix together ice cream with a sort of Frangelico liqueur or espresso. As it became more popular in Italy and other parts of Europe, it made it to America as the frappuccino, which was created by George Howell in 1992 as an ode to affogato.

Now, affogatos usually consist of an ice cream flavor like vanilla, pistachio, or hazelnut and call for the ice cream to be doused in a double shot of espresso. Of course, there are always variations on the classics, and sometimes affogatos use rum, whiskey, or strong coffee liqueur flavors instead of espresso.

If bomboloni are the jelly-filled donuts of Italy, zeppole are the cronuts. Although bombolone aren't considered donuts, zeppole come pretty close to the breakfast pastry Americans are familiar with. Instead of being filled like bomboloni, zeppole are more like fritters that are twisted and deep-fried, creating a kind of pastry "nest" for assorted toppings like cream, ricotta, honey, zabaglione, or chocolate. But others say a traditional zeppola does have a filling of rich cream and sour cherry syrup.

Seeing as the Neopolitan gastronome Ippolito Cavalcanti recorded the recipe for zeppole in 1837, the origins are associated primarily with Naples (via Visit Naples). Yet it has been said zeppole were seen even earlier, around the 16th century, at the convent of Santa Patrizia in Naples, according to Fine Dining Lovers. In any case, the zeppola has been linked to the Feast of St. Joseph and Father's Day (which Italy celebrates on March 19) ever since Pasquale Pintauro baked and served them out of a cart for the celebration in Naples during the 19th century.