Satisfy your Sweet Tooth

Both countries have great desserts, but the types they enjoy and the methods they use to concoct them are not the same

My first gelato, in Sassoferato. My favorite flavors were always cherry (amarena) and hazlenut (nocciola), but for those who are watching that waist sorbet (sorbetto) flavors like lemon (limone), raspberry (lampone) and strawberry (fragola) are common. Gelato is much smoother than ice cream.

I remember standing in the kitchen doorway of my host mom's friend who owns a restaurant as she stated, "You Americans use so much butter in everything. Way too much sugar too."

Italy

• They basically eat what we would consider dessert for breakfast (but it's a small portion size)

• Most desserts are only made at certain times of the year

• A lot of their desserts are meant to be eaten with coffee, so they are a little drier.

• Hot chocolate is made just from melted chocolate, not from weird powder diluted with water/milk

• Eurochocolate festival in Perugia, which attracts about 900,000 visitors every year, is a must. Every street is lined with booth after booth (chocolate wine, coffee, people working on chocolate statues, chocolate covered fruit and nuts). All the shops are open too, along with street performers at every corner, so the entire city is crawling with people. https://inperugia.com/eurochocolate-chocolate-festival/

• Fruit is to be eaten at the end of a meal

• Panettone is a cake-like sweet that Italians eat A LOT during Christmastime. It's probably the most popular. Most people just buy rather than making it themselves, and it can be found in any grocery store. Here's a video on how to make it though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psVOZyKMqGs

Carnevale, which starts on February 8th, is is Italian version of Mardi Gras. It actually takes places on Fat Tuesday, but they usually celebrate for several weeks. Above are two typical desserts for Carnevale. On the left is a light cake. To the right is basically bread covered in pink sugar. Most of the things they make during this time are fried, like Chiachhiere, which are fried dough strips. Here is a recipe for them if you want to try them out! https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Chiacchiere.html

Cannoli are also something that people will eat during Carnevale, and are often considered the most Italian dessert of all, right up there with tiramisu. However, I barely ate either of these desserts because they don't originate from my region https://www.tavolartegusto.it/ricetta/cannoli-siciliani-ricetta-originale/

Common "Desserts" I had for Breakfast

Ciambella is like a bundt cake. This one has chocolate and regular batter swirled together (Ciambella marmorizzata). It's has the texture of our cake basically, but without frosting and not as light. It's very good with a cappucino! https://www.misya.info/ricetta/ciambella-marmorizzata.htm

I have no idea what these bad bois are called but they are roman. My host g-ma would put an egg wash over the top of them. There are raisins in side. The sweet aftertaste is very subtle.

Da bomb.com no questions about it! This is called crostata. It's the closest thing they have to pie, but it's much more flat and less sweet. They put either jelly (frutta di bosco, or berrie-based jelly, or orange marmalade). https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/crostata-italian-pie/

These are all the dessert my host g-ma made just to celebrate someone's birthday. I'm telling you, she always went all-out. God I miss it.