Tag: dolci
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Sfince Di San Giuseppe
For Saint Joseph’s Day, you’ll often hear people seeking zeppole. Zeppole are delicious and Napolitano (from Naples, Italy). So it is a different recipe than what Sicilians eat. Sfince, which are cream puffs slathered with cannoli cream and dressed with candied orange, candied cherry, and chocolate chips and/or pistachio dust, are Sicilian. So, when looking…
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Sambuca di Sicilia Real Estate And Pastry
Everyone has been talking about Sambuca di Sicilia. In fact, so much so that the 1€ house offer was featured on the cover of The Wall Street Journal yesterday. It’s definitely a good deal. But enough about that! The real reason to move to Sambuca di Sicilia (other than the fact that it is beautiful)…
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Sicily’s Cake: Cassata
There is much debate about the origins of cassata cake, but one thing is clear: it is as elaborate as the Baroque architecture one finds throughout Sicily–and it is as decadent. So much so, that until the mid-20th century, cassata was only eaten by the masses on Easter Sunday. Cassata is made up of sponge…
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Magnificent Marzipan Fruit
Yesterday I spent the day in Catania with the magnificent Alessandro Marchese. Alessandro is an artist who specializes in making Frutta Martorana, or the marzipan (almond paste) sweets, shaped and designed to resemble fruit and vegetables. He sculpts each and every one by hand, and then he decorates them with the craftsmanship and skill of…
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Sambuca di Sicilia’s Virgin’s Breasts
Last week in Sambuca di Sicilia I encountered these “Minna di Virgini,” or Breasts of the Virgin, pastry. When I saw them, I immediately knew this was something special. The Sambucese proudly confirmed that these breast-shaped, baked pastry with a well-pronounced nipple were created by the nuns of the Collegio di Maria in 1725 in…
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Of course, Sfince di San Giuseppe
For many, the highlight of the Saint Joseph’s Day feast is the sweet sfince di San Giuseppe. Sfinci are fried cream puffs served hot with a dusting of cinnamon, confectioner’s sugar, and honey, or cold and open-faced with a smear of sweet cream and decorated with candied orange. Depending on the town, sfinci may have…
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Let’s Talk about Sfinci
Saint Joseph’s Day, which is on March 19, is a complex feast day with many traditions based upon the concept of thanksgiving. You can read my detailed article about it on The Inquisitive Eater at http://ow.ly/uuAuT. But let’s cut to the chase: we all really want to know about dessert, right? That’s where sfince di…
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Modern Art
Pistachio cake, Pasticceria Don Gino (Bagheria) (This post has been corrected. I originally attributed the cake to a shop in Cefalù.)
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If you thought this pastry looked like a breast, you were right. It’s called a “minna di St. Aita” or Saint Agatha’s Breast, and during the Feast of Saint Agatha that takes place annually in these first days of February, these are eaten with fervor in the city of Catania in honor of its patron…