Six years ago, Maria Bruscino Sanchez opened a bakery in her hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut, to satisfy the ever-increasing orders for her cookies and cakes, baked from handed-down recipes. Today, Sweet-Maria's is a booming business that has garnered terrific reviews, numerous baking awards, and a passionately devoted clientele. This book collects 65 of Maria's most asked-for recipes. Line illustrations.
Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts is baker Maria Bruscino Sanchez's loving tribute to the desserts her family has enjoyed for generations - desserts you'll find in Italy and in Italian-American homes on special occasions and, in many cases, any day of the year. These are festive favorites like Traditional Cannoli, Espresso Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Amaretto Chiffon Cake, Spiced Gelato, and many others. The result of years of baking in Italy, in her popular bakery, and in the kitchens of her grandmother, mother, and aunts (many of whom do the baking at Sweet Maria's), the book includes cookies, cakes, pies, tarts, pastry, sweet breads, frozen desserts, fruit dishes, and other specialties-all made with warmth, tradition, and a love of great desserts. Presented with simple instructions, tips from the bakery, and a dollop of background information on the customs and history of the desserts, these creative, top-notch recipes will bring delicious favorites to your kitchen. "In her latest endeavor, Sanchez serves up enticing recipes for Italian and Italian-American specialties, including the ubiquitous cookies as well as cakes and tarts."--Publishers Weekly
For a sweet snack or a delectable dessert, Maria Bruscino Sanchez, baker and author of three previous cookbooks, offers this cookie collection of family recipes, popular bakery treats, classics, and variations on familiar favorites. Cookies and cookie-lovers come in all shapes, sizes, and tastes, and this book has something for everyone, including Cappuccino Drops, Cheesecake Squares, Amaretto Biscotti, Chocolate Nutella Sandwiches, Italian Love Knots, classic Chocolate Chip, and a selection of low-fat, low-sugar, and gluten-free cookie recipes. Complete with information on ingredients, kitchen equipment, as well as baking tips and techniques, this collection of easy to make recipes is sure to produce tasty results. Whether you like your cookies dropped, rolled, filled, piped, or fried, Sweet Maria's Cookie Jar has the recipe you're looking for, and more than a few you'll be thrilled to discover.
The author of Sweet Maria's Italian Cookie Tray shares her simple secrets for making bakery cakes at home. Sweet Maria's is an amazingly popular bakery that brings together family recipes, and contemporary favorites. Now, those of us who aren't lucky enough to drop by Sweet Maria's can make wholesome, delicious bakery-style cakes at home to celebrate a birthday, get-together, fresh pot of afternoon tea, or any other cakeworthy occasion. Basic enough for beginners but creative enough to satisfy experts as well, Sweet Maria's Cake Kitchen collects 65 of the bakery's most popular cakes, including: Almond Pound Cake, Orange Plum Loaf Cake, Amaretto Apple Cake, Tiramisu Cake, White Chocolate Ganache Wedding Cake (it's easier than it sounds!), Mini Chocolate Mocha Loaves, Cappuccino Chiffon Cake, and many more, plus bakery secrets for prepping the ingredients and decorating with simple panache.
An authentic guide to the festive, mouthwatering sweets of Southern Italy, including regional specialties that are virtually unknown in the US, as well as variations on more popular desserts such as cannoli, biscotti, and gelato. As a follow-up to her acclaimed My Calabria, Rosetta Costantino collects 75 favorite desserts from her Southern Italian homeland, including the regions of Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia, and Sicily. These areas have a history of rich traditions and tasty, beautiful desserts, many of them tied to holidays and festivals. For example, in the Cosenza region of Calabria, Christmas means plates piled with grispelle (warm fritters drizzled with local honey) and pitta 'mpigliata (pastries filled with walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon). For the feast of Carnevale, Southern Italians celebrate with bugie ("liars"), sweet fried dough dusted in powdered sugar, meant to tattle on those who sneak off with them by leaving a wispy trail of sugar. With fail-proof recipes and information on the desserts' cultural origins and context, Costantino illuminates the previously unexplored confectionary traditions of this enchanting region.
There's nothing subtle about Sicily. From the towering cake known as the Triumph of Gluttony to the pert cherry-topped pastries called Virgin's Breasts to puckery, palate-tingling ices made from the island's luscious lemons and tangerines, Sicily is known for its audacious -- and delicious -- desserts. Pastry chef and food stylist Victoria Granof has traveled throughout Sicily learning sweet secrets and local lore from the island's pastry chefs and home bakers, and the result is Sweet Sicily, a lushly photographed exploration of authentic Sicilian pastry-making. For more than two thousand years, Sicily has been coveted for its fertile land and unique location in the Mediterranean. The Greeks, Romans, Normans, Austrians, French, Bourbons, and Saracens have all landed on its shores, and in turn left their imprints on its food. Granof's magical tour takes us to Modica, where Franco and Pierpaolo Ruta of the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto create chocolate pastries using a five-hundred-year-old recipe that originated with the island's Bourbon conquerors, and to the Baroque town of Noto, where master pastry chef Corrado uses jasmine blossoms planted by Saracens more than a thousand years ago to flavor his jasmine gelato. Granof goes on a quest to find the most authentic ingredients and recipes, including delectable homemade ricotta made from the milk of sheep that graze on fragrant herbs and pistachios that grow in the shadow of Mount Etna, the island's still active volcano. In Sicily, every holiday and festival has its proper sweet accompaniment: marzipan lambs at Easter, honeyed pastry fritters at Christmas, crunchy, clove-scented cookies called "bones of the dead" for All Soul's Day. Granof explores these customs and festivals, gathering heirloom recipes, along with local anecdotes and advice. In addition to sweets that are already familiar to Americans, such as cannoli, cassata, and lemon ice, she introduces us to dozens of delectable pastries, confections, and cookies that are destined to become favorites as well. With a guide to festivals and pastry shops throughout the island, and nearly one hundred recipes formulated for use in American kitchens, Sweet Sicily is an unforgettable exploration of the desserts of the world's most beguiling island.
Bring Home a Taste of Italy with Delectable Desserts That Are Molto Deliziosi Rosemary Molloy, creator of the blog An Italian in My Kitchen, takes you on a delicious and decadent culinary journey through the cities and countryside of Italy. Make incredible classics like biscotti and tiramisu, as well as bundt cakes you can dip in your morning coffee—a staple in Italy—moist ricotta cake, or Italian butter cookies that melt in your mouth. Whether you’re serving a crowd or simply satisfying your own sweet tooth, Rosemary brings the rustic and diverse baking traditions of Italy into your home kitchen. And with recipes that are simple to make and require little prep time, indulging in a true Italian baking experience is easier than ever.
Delicious Home-made Italian Cookies (Biscotti)Fifty-five traditional and newer Italian-American recipes. Both English and Italian names for each cookie.Full-Color Photos for each recipe!Cookie History, Legend and FolkloreThe Wedding "Cookie Cake"Types of Cookie CategoriesEasy to follow instructionsHelpful Baking TipsCommon Baking Ingredients and EquipmentChristmas cookies, Carnevale fritters, Easter cookies, and Fall favorites.Recipes include: Almond Macaroons (Amaretti), Carnival Fritters (Cenci, Wandi), Biscotti, Queen's Biscuits (Reginelle), Lady Fingers (Savoiardi), Lady Kisses (Baci di Dama), Sicilian Fig Cookies (Cuccidati), Bones of the Dead (Ossi dei Morti), Rainbows (Tricolore), Crooked Mustache (Krumiri), Pine Nuts (Pignoli), Pizzelles, and even Cannoli!These classic Italian cookie recipes feature easy instructions. Even if you have never baked before, you can delight your family and friends with the aroma and flavor of fresh home-made cookies for any occasion.
Learn to cook traditional Italian food for every holiday of the year with Rossella Rago and her Italian nonna in Cooking with Nonna: A Year of Italian Holidays. They’re back! Rossella Rago and her adorable Nonna Romana have returned with Cooking with Nonna: A Year of Italian Holidays, a traditional cookbook no Italian kitchen should be without. This Italian cookbook is a culinary treasury, jam-packed with over 125 classic holiday recipes for Italian-food lovers, including classic holiday recipes like Struffoli, Christmas Fish, Manicotti, Cannelloni, Cannoli Cheesecake, and more. With advice from nonnas all over the country, this unique book covers holiday classics from every region of Italy, from Milan to Sicily, and includes holiday memories from the nonnas themselves. The nonnas also give their personal tips on cooking for a crowd (and it's always a crowd). And, of course, no new Cooking with Nonna cookbook would be complete without Rossella's signature dishes and unique voice. Rosella and her nonnas will have you enjoying Italian culinary delights around the year. In addition to the major holidays of Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, you will find recipes for New Year’s Eve and Day, the Epiphany, Little Easter, St. Joseph’s Day, Carnevale, All Souls Day, Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Saint Rocco's Feast. To complete you year-round Italian tasting tour, recipes for weddings and other celebrations are included. Nothing brings family together like delicious food around the holidays, and Cooking with Nonna: A Year of Italian Holidays has everything you need to keep your family full and happy every holiday of the year. Bring the dishes and the memories you grew up with to a whole new generation of Italian Americans!
