Experience Sicily

Tag: pasticceria

  • A Peek In Palermo

    Inside a Palermo pastry shop (from 2019)

  • Sicilian Christmas Cookies

    Pastries made with filling of chopped dried figs, pumpkin jam, honey, raisins, almonds, orange rind, cinnamon, and Marsala wine are closely associated with Christmas in Sicily. There is a larger, round, cake-like pastry called buccellato, which is also made in an elaborate cookie-sized version known as buccellati. Meanwhile, cuccidati, pictured here, are their sister. They…

  • A Treasure Chest of Marzipan from Sicily

    A colleague from Acireale, Sicily visited me this weekend and brought me a box of “paste di mandorla” from his local pasticceria, O. Condorelli … i.e., marzipan pastries from Sicily from a pastry chef that specializes in making marzipan. What you see here is only half of what was in this box on Sunday morning.…

  • I Can’t Figgettabout Buccellato

    These beautifully sculpted cookies are called buccellato (single pastry/cookie) or buccellati (plural). Buccellati are very closely associated with Christmas in Sicily. They are pastries stuffed with dried figs and raisins or chopped almonds and chocolate. These pictured, from Maria Grammatico Pasticceria in Erice, are of the fig variety. I don’t know Maria Grammatico’s recipe exactly,…

  • Oh, Bring Us Some Buccellato

    During the month of December, especially in the mountain town of Caccamo in the province of Palermo, professional and home bakers prepare buccellato and other confections in celebration of Christmas. Buccellato is realized as a wreath-shaped cake or as pastries stuffed with dried figs and raisins or chopped almonds and chocolate. These buccellati pictured contain…

  • It was Grand at Bagheria’s Bar Aurora

    During its day, Bagheria’s Bar Aurora was a big attraction. Its espresso, pastries, gelato, and decor were well-known throughout post-war Sicily. This photo, sent to my grandmother in New York by her brother Domenico Cuffaro, the owner, is from Bar Aurora’s grand opening.

  • Bar Aurora: Bagheria’s Place to Be

    This photo was taken by my uncle Stefano during a visit to Sicily in 1950. It is of 3 young bakers or baristas in the kitchen at Bagheria’s Bar Aurora. Bar Aurora was owned by my great uncle Domenico Cuffaro. It was–as the over-exposure from a following photo on the film-roll shows–a laboratorio (bakery), pasticceria…

  • In Sicily, cakes are sweet works of art. #sicily #sicily_travel #sicilia #sicily_tourism #italy #ig_sicily #italia #siciliaph #siciliafoto #bagheria #palermo #cake #torta #dessert #dolci #art #food #pistacchio #pistachio #chocolatecake #bakery #pasticceria