Italians know how to enjoy life, and that’s a fact. They take great pride in their cuisine, know how to prepare the best espresso, and make unique sweets. But you don’t have to travel to Italy to try authentic Italian desserts; you can make them at home, using a few simple ingredients and easy recipes we have prepared for you.
And if you wish to experience the best Italian food in Miami, accompanied by delicious desserts, visit us at Mi’talia restaurant.
The Best Italian Desserts
We’ve made a list of recipes for some of the best Italian cuisine desserts, including Italian pastries. The recipes are straightforward, the ingredient lists are simple, and they don’t take too long to make. You’ll fall in love with them, and we hope you’ll try to make at least one.
The Classic Tiramisu
We have to start our list with the best-known classic Italian dessert, the tiramisu. It’s one of those simple recipes, but it gives an outstanding final result.
You’ll need:
- 4 egg yolks and 7 egg whites
- 3 cups of caster sugar
- 4 cups of mascarpone
- 5 tbsp white sambuca
- 1 ½ cup of espresso
- 18 ladyfinger biscuits
- 2 tsp ground coffee
- 1 tbs cocoa powder
Preparation
- In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and ¼ cup of sugar. Once the mixture is fluffy, slowly whisk in the mascarpone cheese, and add sambuca.
- In another bowl, whisk egg whites and the rest of the sugar until the mixture becomes white and fluffy. Fold the mixture into the mascarpone one until they are combined.
- Make espresso, and once it’s cooled down, dip ladyfingers in it. Press the excess espresso out and line a large glass bowl base with them. Top them with mascarpone cream, and scatter 1 tsp of ground coffee. Repeat the layering process once more, and dust the mascarpone with cocoa powder.
- Let tiramisu chill for at least 3 hours before you serve it.
- Enjoy!
Mocha Biscotti
One of the most recognizable Italian sweets is their crunchy biscotti. They are great as they can last up to two weeks in an airtight container, and they are also an excellent gift idea.
You’ll need:
- 1 cup of caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ¾ cups of plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp instant coffee powder
- 1 ½ cups of almonds and hazelnuts
Preparation
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F and prepare two larger baking sheets, and line them with parchment paper.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar until fluffy.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa, and instant coffee in a large bowl. Roughly chop the nuts and stir them in, and fold in the egg mixture. Mix everything until a sticky dough is formed.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface and shape it into a flattened 10-inch-long loaf.
- Place the loaf on a baking sheet and bake it for 30 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for at least 1 hour.
- Reduce the oven to 130 °C.
- Cut the loaf into slices that shouldn’t be thicker than 5mm.
- Place the slices in a single layer on the baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes on one side, then turn them and bake for additional 20 minutes.
- Let them cool completely and enjoy them with a cup of espresso.
Bomboloni
Have you ever tried bomboloni? It’s one of the best Italian pastries that you’ll absolutely love, and you won’t be able to stop eating. They are similar to doughnuts, but this Italian cuisine dessert is much better, as it’s filled with rich and smooth vanilla cream.
You’ll need:
- 1.5 tsp of dried yeast
- ¼ cups of caster sugar + additional for rolling
- 3 cups of plain flour
- 1 ¼ cup of warm milk
- Zest of one lemon
- ¼ cup of unsalted butter
- 4 cups of vegetable oil for frying
For the vanilla cream:
- 6 egg yolks
- ½ cup of caster sugar
- ¼ cup of plain flour
- 1 ¾ cup of milk
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
Preparation
- First, you’ll want to prepare the vanilla cream by beating yolks with sugar. Warm the milk up until 100 °F and add to the egg mixture. Once the mixture is finely combined, sift in the flour, and whisk gently.
- Place the mixture on low heat and constantly stir until it thickens up. Add the vanilla extract and transfer the cream to a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it.
- For the bomboloni dough, you’ll want to combine yeast with 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of flour, and warm milk. Leave the mixture in a warm place for 15 minutes to activate the yeast.
- Add the remaining sugar, flour, chopped butter, lemon zest, and yeast mixture to a large bowl.
- Form the dough using your hands and knead it on a lightly floured surface until elastic.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and set aside for 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Roll out the dough to about 1 cm thick using a rolling pin.
- Use a round pastry cutter and make bomboloni. Cover them with a kitchen towel and let them rise for another hour.
- Heat the oil in a large pot, and fry the bomboloni until they are golden.
- While they are warm, you’ll want to roll them in sugar and let them cool for a bit.
- After cooling down, fill them with vanilla cream using a piping bag.
- Serve them to friends and family, and enjoy!
Almond and Espresso Cannoli
A classic dessert of the Italian food scene has to be cannoli. There are so many versions of these Italian pastries, and all of them are delicious. We will share with you an exciting recipe with almonds and espresso. And it’s a super easy recipe, as it uses pre-made cannoli shells.
You’ll need:
- ¼ cup of finely chopped almonds
- 1/3 cup of caster sugar
- 3 cups of fresh ricotta cheese
- ½ cup of mascarpone cheese
- 1 tbsp of espresso
- 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste
- 12 cannoli shells
- ½ cup of milk chocolate
Preparation
- In a large bowl, whisk ricotta, mascarpone, sugar, espresso, vanilla with a mixer.
- Stir in the finely chopped almonds.
- Pipe the mixture into cannoli shells.
- Melt the milk chocolate and drizzle over the cannoli.
- Serve and enjoy!
We really hope you like the recipes we shared with you and that you feel inspired to make them at home. All of them are mouth-watering and inviting, and some of them are very easy to make, like the cannoli recipe.
But, if you don’t have the time to make your desserts at home, we invite you to visit us at the Mi’talia restaurant and try our take on the famous Italian sweets. Besides them, our menu is carefully curated and features many beautiful dishes. Call us today to book your reservation. We can’t wait to serve you!
