Sunday, May 2, 2010

Why Italian Dessert Recipes Are Close To Our Hearts

By Christine Szalay-Kudra

In the history of desserts, famous Italian dessert recipes definitely stand out from many others. These desserts range in flavor from bitter to sweet and they go nicely with a glass of wine. In Italy, the locals are just as likely to eat a piece of fruit for dessert as an indulgent, creamy confection.

If you have visited an Italian bakery, you will have seen many different varieties of cookies and biscotti. The Italians like to dunk their biscotti in red wine. A lot of Italian cookies are sweet but not excessively so and light glazes often provide most of the flavoring. Nuts or candied fruit are often added too. Biscotti might be very popular in the United States but in Italy hard, slightly sweet twice baked cookies are more popular. They are baked twice to remove as much moisture as possible, which makes the cookies dry, crumbly, and hard.

The Most Famous Italian Dessert Recipes

Tiramisu is a heavenly combination of espresso, liquor, lady finger cookies, eggs, mascarpone cheese, and cocoa. It is thought to have originated in Siena. Tiramisu was Duke Cosimo de Medici's favorite dessert recipe and Italian immigrants spread the recipe worldwide.

Panettone is a tasty Italian dessert cake. It is originally from Milan and is found in cafes and Italian bakeries all over the world during the festive season. Panettone is dome-shaped and flavored with candied fruit and raisins. The Italians eat it with mascarpone cheese or zabaglione custard and some liqueur or wine on the side.

Italian gelato is also a famous Italian treat. It is essentially ice cream made with milk, sugar, and flavorings. It is churned less than other kinds of ice cream, making it dense and rich, rather than airy and light. For some people, most Italian sweets are too rich and too sweet. Others love the heavenly flavors. If Italian desserts are too rich for you, why not tone them down by making your own and altering the ingredients?

Italian Dessert Recipes and Jello

Jello and gelato go together very nicely, although this may not be a combination that might have crossed your mind before it is worth a try. If you combine jello powder, boiling water and jello, you can make a light dessert with a great flavor and texture. You can combine many different jello flavors and gelato flavors. Using sugar free jello means you can trim a lot of calories from the finished dessert too.

If you happen to own an ice cream machine, you can make gelato with kool aid and jello, which tastes great and makes a refreshing dessert on balmy summer evenings. Jello goes with a lot of ingredients, with fruit trifle being a great example.

Jello complements the flavors of custard, chocolate, fruit and more. It is definitely one of the most versatile dessert ingredients and can be used to lighten Italian dessert recipes or stretch them further if you are feeding a big family.

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