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Brazadela (Ciambella)
Torta Sbrisolona
Tenerena al Chocolate
Torta Pasticciotto Leccese
Bergamot Olive Oil Cake

In this feature, I give a sampling of Italian dessert recipes from north to south.

We start with the Brazadela from the Piedmont region. Try a sizeable crumbly cookie called Sbrisolona from the town of Mantua in the Lombardy region. From the area of Ferrara comes a delicious double chocolate cake. From Puglia we have the Torta Pasticciotto Leccese, a cream custard in sweet pastry dough, and from Calabria, “the boot” of Italy, my favorite Bergamot olive oil cake. These recipes carry lots of history from my favorite part of the world.

John F. Carafoli is an international food stylist, consultant, and author. He wrote the seminal book Food Photography and Styling, Cape Cod Chef’s Table, Recipes from Buzzards Bay to Provincetown, and Great Italian American Food in New England: History, Traditions & Memories. He has been published in Gastronomica, The Journal of Food and Culture, The New York Times, L’italo-Americano Italian Newspaper, and edible CAPE COD, where he won an EDDY for best use of recipes in a feature. He was profiled in the Italian publication ER (Emilia Romagna) and presented papers at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery in England. carafoli.com