Angelo Brocato's Italian Ice Cream & Italian Desserts: Frequently Asked Questions


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Frequently Asked Questions
About Italian Desserts

Q: What is unique about Italian - and specifically Sicilian - desserts?
A: Italian cooking and baking is very regionalized. Sicilian cuisine, in which Brocato's specializes, varies from town to town. Also the nations which occupied Sicily at various times in its history have all left their mark on its cooking. So authentic Sicilian confections have Arabic, Greek and French overtones in addition to traditional Italian influences.

Q: Why aren't Italian cookies chewy?
A: Italian cookies are for dipping into wine or coffee and are meant to complement those drinks. That is why they are not chewy and sweet. The dry consistency of the cookies as well as the nuts and preserved fruit usually baked in them, helped to extend their shelf life in times when refrigeration was not available.

Q: What types of wines and coffees do you recommend serving with Italian cookies?
A: Serve Marsala or any type of sweet wine or cappuccino or espresso coffee.

Q: I am cooking a formal dinner and want to include something very special for dessert. Could you suggest an Italian dessert for my menu?
A: Tira Mi Su cake, Sicilian Cassata cake or Zuppa Inglese would all be excellent choices.

Tira Mi Su cake is created by brushing layers of sponge cake with espresso coffee and rum. It has a mascarpone cheese filling and the entire cake is dusted with cocoa powder. (Mascarpone cheese is a sweet and buttery Italian version of cream cheese.)

Sicilian Cassata cake is circular with the cake surrounding a ricotta cheese filling. It is iced with marzipan and decorated with candied fruits.

Zuppa Inglese is a dessert made of layers of sponge cake with chocolate and vanilla custard and fruit between the layers. The entire cake is covered with run flavored whipped cream.

Glossary of Italian Desserts and Confections
	Bisquit Tortoni	A frozen dessert comprised of whipped cream, cake morsels, and crushed almonds.
	Cannoli	A crisp, cone-shaped shell filled with ricotta cheese and a sugar mixture of half vanilla and half chocolate dipped in crushed pistachio nuts.
	Cassata	A "dressed-up" spumoni with a layer of cake and morsels of candied fruit.
	Gelato	Italian ice cream. A custard-based mixture with less milk fat than American ice cream and less air, making for a dense product which is strong on flavor.
	Italian Ice	Similar to a sorbet but with a more icy consistency.
	Sciallotti	Assortment of Gelato and fresh fruit ices in a mold.
	Spumoni	A three-layer ice cream of pistachio, tutti-frutti, and lemon with a whipped cream center.
	Torroncino	Vanilla ice cream flavored with imported almond and cinnamon.

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