| The regional cuisine of Italy is surely a | | | | |
| delight to the senses. With the pasta, | | | | There are desserts that many people take for |
| seafood, savory meats and cheeses, and | | | | granted. Rice pudding, for example, is one of |
| delicious crusty breads, it is hard to stop | | | | the simplest pleasures for Italian |
| yourself from eating until you are packed | | | | households. Milk, sugar, rice, and cinnamon |
| full. However, if you do not remember to save | | | | are the staples of this favorite, but it can |
| a little room, you may miss out on the best | | | | be substituted to taste with extra sugar, |
| part: dessert. No one does desserts quite | | | | honey, nutmeg, or raisins. My personal |
| like the Italians. From simple fruity finger | | | | favorite is with extra cinnamon and dried |
| foods to savory layered tortes, the Italian's | | | | cranberries. Another simple that many people |
| make desserts for every palette. From the | | | | forget about, or perhaps even loathe, is the |
| chocolate lover to someone looking for | | | | Panettone, otherwise known as fruit cake. A |
| something lighter and more refreshing, you | | | | staple on many Christmas tables, the |
| are sure to find something to your looking in | | | | Panettone has gotten a bad rep in the United |
| an Italian bakery. | | | | States, perhaps because of its strong Anise |
| | | | taste. When done right though, a Panettone |
| One of my favorite Italian desserts has been | | | | can be truly delightful. |
| a staple of my Grandmother's dessert table at | | | | |
| holiday dinners for as long as I can | | | | Other than the cannoli, the most popular |
| remember. The best part is that it is | | | | Italian dessert is undoubtedly Tiramisu. This |
| something that I was always able to help | | | | alcoholic spongy cake has taken the world by |
| with. Stuffed dates were always a task that | | | | storm with relatively young origins. No one |
| the kids could do, by simply taking the | | | | seems to know exactly how the Tiramisu was |
| pre-sliced dates and stuffing about a tea | | | | invented, or by who. What does seem to be |
| spoon full of cream cheese into them and then | | | | agreed upon is that it was invented sometime |
| dotting them each with a pecan, we could be | | | | in the 1960s in the Veneto region of Italy. |
| happy to know we had helped. Even if we ate a | | | | The ingredients of Tiramisu are basic, but |
| date or two along the way. | | | | everyone seems to do it a little bit |
| | | | different. Mascarpone, espresso and |
| A variation on this dessert, which is popular | | | | zabaglione cream make up the complimentary |
| in Milan takes a little bit more grown up | | | | tastes of this delicious dessert, but it |
| help. After the dates are stuffed with the | | | | would be impossible to create without the |
| cream cheese, a grown up can dip the date | | | | base of savoiardi cake, otherwise known as |
| into a mixture of bittersweet chocolate and | | | | lady fingers. These spongy biscuits make |
| milk and then let them harden. The product is | | | | trouble for pastry servers with their |
| a delicious, almost candy-like concoction | | | | delicate spongy nature, but like all Italian |
| that appeals to the sweet and the salty taste | | | | desserts are well worth the trouble. |
| buds. | | | | |