Sweet Recipes From Italy

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

From Recipes From All Nations by Countess Morphy, 1946.

Zabaione (Egg-punch)

This essentially Italian sweet, which is well-known all over the world, has, in the course of its travels, assumed so many different forms and has been so “touched up” by ignorant cooks of other nations that it is sometimes difficult, to recognise it as zabaione. In this country I have met with particularly fantastic and fanciful recipes for “Italian wine cream,” as it is sometimes called, and some authors boldly talk of adding “beaten whites of eggs,” fruit juices and stewed fruit. In other English recipes we are told to use Chianti wine.

Here is the authentic “zabaione” as it is made in its native land. It can be served either hot or cold and is always served in glasses and eaten with a spoon.

Ingredients: The yolks of 3 large eggs, 1 ½ ozs of sugar, just over 1 gill of either Marsala wine or Madeira.

Method: Put the yolks of eggs and sugar in a basin and beat till the mixture is almost white and very light. Then add the wine and mix thoroughly. Pour into a saucepan and put on a quick fire, beating incessantly, without allowing the mixture to boil or thicken. As soon as it begins to rise, remove from the fire and pour into glasses. When served cold, keep in a cool place till required.

Pizza alla Napoletana (Tart a la Napolitaine)

In the south of Italy, particularly in Naples and its vicinity, all kinds of flat tarts are called “pizze.” The one I give is among the most popular. There are also savoury “pizze” made with the same dough as bread, spread out on a large round tin and covered with fillets of anchovy, sliced tomatoes, sliced black olives, slices of Mozzarella cheese, sprinkled with chopped marjoram, covered with oil and baked in a moderate oven for 30 minutes.

Ingredients: Puff pastry or short crust, 6 ozs. of sour milk (when it has become solidified), 2 ½ ozs. of sweet almonds, including 3 bitter almonds, 2 ozs. of sugar, just under 1 oz. of flour, 1 whole egg, and 1 yolk, 1 gill of milk, a flavouring of either lemon or vanilla, according to taste.

Method: Put the milk, the sugar, flour and 1 egg in a saucepan and stir until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from the fire and, after a few minutes, add the yolk of egg and the flavouring. Then stir in the sour milk and the almonds, previously blanched and skinned, and pounded in a mortar. Line a tart dish with the puff pastry or short crust, thinly rolled out, put the mixture on it, cover with another thin sheet of pastry and decorate with small pieces of pastry, cut in fancy shapes. Brush over with the yolk of an egg, and bake in a moderate oven for 25 to 30 minutes, till the pastry is a golden colour. This is served cold, and sprinkled with a little sugar.

Frittelle di Borrane (Borage fritters)

Borage leaves are never used in this country except in wine cups, but in Italy and in other countries they are very popular in cooking. Large and fresh borage leaves are chosen, each dipped in frying batter and fried in a deep saucepan of very hot oil. As soon as they begin to turn a golden colour, they are removed from the oil, well drained and sprinkled with vanilla sugar or plain sugar.

Cavalucci di Siena (Cakes with nuts, candied peel, etc., from Siena)

Ingredients: ½ lb. or a little more of flour, ½ lb. of moist sugar, ¼ lb. of shelled walnuts, 2 ozs. of candied orange peel, ½ a teaspoon of anise seed, a pinch of mixed spices and grated nutmeg.

Method: Put the sugar in a saucepan with ½ of its weight of water. Cook till it can be drawn out to a fine thread, and immediately add the nuts, finely chopped, the candied peel, cut in small dice, and the flavouring. Mix thoroughly and pour the mixture on a well-floured board. Mould into little cakes, the shape of an egg, of about inches in length. Sprinkle with flour and bake in a moderate oven, being careful that they do not get too brown.

Frittelle di Farina Bianca (Batter fritters)

These simple but delicious fritters are very popular in Tuscany, and especially in the country around Florence, where they are popularly called “boncerelle.”

Ingredients: ½ lb. of flour, the yolks of 3 eggs, a thin strip of finely chopped lemon peel, a pinch of salt. Water, oil, sugar.

Method: Put the flour in a terrine or salad basin with a pinch of salt, make a well, and put the yolks of eggs in it. Add the flour gradually to the eggs with a wooden spoon and, when it is all mixed, add sufficient water, very gradually, to make a light batter. Mix in the lemon peel. Let the batter stand for 1/2 an hour. Then, with a spoon, drop a little of the mixture—not more than 1 teaspoon at a time—into a pan of very hot oil. Cook to a golden colour, remove from the oil and drain on a cloth. Sprinkle with a little sugar and serve hot.

Pesche Ripiene (Stuffed peaches)

Ingredients: 6 large peaches, not too ripe, 4 small sponge fingers or sponge cakes (as they are made somewhat large in England, 2 or even 1 will be sufficient), 2 ozs. of sweet almonds, including 3 bitter almonds, 1 strip of candied peel, either lemon or orange, sugar, and ½ a glass of white wine.

Method: Cut the peaches in half, remove the stone, and a little of the pulp so as to make more room for the stuffing. Pound the almonds in a mortar with a little sugar, then put them in a basin, add the peach pulp, the finely chopped sponge cake and the candied peel, also finely chopped. Fill the peaches with the mixture, then put the two halves of each peach together, so that they look whole, put them on a baking sheet, pour the wine over them, sprinkle freely with sugar, and cook in a moderate oven for about 10 minutes or longer, till the sugar has formed a nice crust over them. These can be served either hot or cold.

Gnocchi di Latte (Milk dumplings)

Ingredients: 1 quart of milk, ½ lb. of sugar, 2 ½ ozs. of powdered starch, the yolks of 8 eggs, a little vanilla flavouring.

Method: Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and put them in a saucepan on a slow fire. Stir continuously till the mixture thickens. When thick, pour into a dish or pan about 2 inches deep. Let stand till cold and cut into almond-shaped gnocchi, pile them in a buttered fireproof dish, dot with a few pats of butter and brown in a moderate oven.

Torta di Noci (Nut pudding)

Ingredients: 6 ozs. of nuts or walnuts, 6 ozs. of sugar, 6 ozs. of grated chocolate or powdered chocolate, 1 oz. of candied peel, 4 eggs, vanilla flavouring.

Method: Pound the nuts in a mortar with the sugar and, when worked to a smooth paste, put them in a basin and mix with the chocolate and the yolks of egg, and flavour with the vanilla. Mix thoroughly and finally add the whites of eggs, beaten very stiffly, and the finely chopped candied peel. Butter a pie dish and sprinkle it with breadcrumbs. Pour the mixture into this and bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes.

Fave alla Romana (“Broad beans” a la Romana)

The “fave dei morti” or “beans of the dead,” which consist of pastry, shaped to resemble a large broad bean, are found in various parts of Italy, and are specially made on All Souls’ Day. The making and consumption of these pastry beans in connection with the dead must have started at some remote period, and is a survival of an ancient superstition with regard to the bean. The goddess Demeter, for instance, who was not only the “corn” mother of the Greeks, but whose influence extended to vegetation generally and to all the fruits of the earth, excluded the bean, the use of which was forbidden at Eleusis. The bean was looked upon as a. funeral offering and it was thought that the souls of the dead were enclosed in it; Pythagoras forbade his disciples to partake of the bean because it was offered to the dead. So the old superstition still survives, but the modern Italian “fave” are very delicious, and worthy to be eaten every day of the year.

There are many different recipes, and I have chosen one which is very popular.

Ingredients: ½ lb. of flour, ¼ lb. of sugar, ¼ lb. of sweet almonds, a little over 1 oz. of butter, 1 egg, flavouring of lemon or cinnamon or orange flower, brandy.

Method: Pound the blanched and skinned almonds in a mortar with the sugar till they are like very small grains of rice. Then add to the flour and the egg, and mix all thoroughly, adding sufficient brandy to make into a stiff dough. Roll out and shape into “fave” or large broad beans, put these on a buttered tin, sprinkled with a little flour, and brush them over with the beaten yolk of one egg. Bake in a moderate oven. Being small, they are quickly done. They should be of an even golden colour.

Pizza “Figliata” (Napoli) (Pastry with honey, nuts, etc.)

This excellent sweet consists of short crust, rolled out thinly, sprinkled or brushed over with honey and strewn with chopped walnuts and hazel nuts, chopped candied peel and mixed spices. It is then rolled up to form a long sausage, and this is twisted into a spiral and baked in a moderate oven for 30 minutes till it is of a golden colour.

Morphy, Countess. Recipes of All Nations. H. Joseph. 1946.

Countess Morphy

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