Italian Desserts

[jamesaeaa]

I need some help on putting together some new desserts where I work. It is a rustic neopolitian place. I have done tiramisu, panna cotta, pane di choc, fruit tarts and some more small stuff but the menu has changed and I am in charge of the desserts so if anyone can help me please do the desserts have to be rustic.
Thanks
James

[Blueicus]

Zuppa Inglese (somewhat like English trifle, possibly the origins of the name)

There's an Italian cheesecake-like concoction that uses ricotta instead of a cream-cheese-like item (think it's called pastiera)

Pannetone with fresh cream, a rum raisin sauce, fresh fruits

Semifreddo

Cannoli

[tommybza]

I have some thing that could help ,when i would carmelize tirimisu, freeze it then burn it with your butane torch ,make pannetone in a sheet like fociccia slice it in half and make a napolioen . dried figs in marsella then roll it in a thin crepe use a coffee flavored youhurt creme . biscotti with citrus and annise then drench in grappa ?

[pjm333]

A good italian dessert is a cassatta, there is a baked cassata and a cold one. Nick Malgieri's book "Great Italian Desserts" is a very good book.

[boar_d_laze]

One usually associates cassatta with Palermo. In fact, it's usually called cassatta Siciliana.

There's a fairly easy cheesecake made with ricotta called "crostata di ricotta." Decorate the top with pine nuts, and a lattice crust cut with a ripple wheel, and it will look rustic as all h*ll. These were a favorite with my customers when I catered.

I'm attaching a link to a recipe that is almost identical to the one I used (which I got from the Time-Life series -- back in the day). The only functional difference is that I used a liqueur called Strega for the crust, rather than marsala. Use more or less anything, it won't make much difference. Tip: You'll get a better crust (pasta frolio) with lard than any other shortening. One last thing, you want rustic? Serve it with grapes.

astray recipes: Cheese pie {crostata di ricotta}

Another simple favorite is zabaione, which originated in Piemonte.

Bravo,
BDL

ON EDIT: I'd only scanned the recipe before I linked it. Now that I've read it more carefully, I'm pretty sure it was plagiarized from Time-Life. Excellent, if unethical.

[Cvejic Jovan]

You can prepare "Baba" it is clasical Italian dessert from Napoli...
you can also prepare "fondante ciocolate" ,semi fredo or something like that...

[boar_d_laze]

Originally Posted by Cvejic Jovan

You can prepare "Baba" it is clasical Italian dessert from Napoli...

Interesting. I thought as far as anyone knew savarin, which is what the baba itself is, was developed in Paris in the early 1800s, as well as the au rhum sauce by the same family bakery shop. Also that the whole rum-soaked cake thing was credited to King Stanislas who was hanging around Alsace in the 17th C, banished from Poland. In a story that sounds mighty apocryphal -- but at least suggests that the word baba owes its derivation to the Polish babka -- Stanislas first tried the big dunk with a kugelhopf.

Go figure,
BDL