Food World Cuisines European Cuisines Italian Cuisine 18 Iconic Italian Desserts, From Affogato to Gelato Rely on these recipes for impressive rainbow cookies, panna cotta, Zabaglione, and more sweets from Italy. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 13, 2024 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Shell Royster From bombolini to tiramisu, Italian desserts are a sweet and impressive way to end any meal, especially after an Italian main course. We've rounded up some of our favorite Italian dessert recipes, with classic ingredients like espresso, mascarpone, stracciatella, prune plums, and pistachio, for la dolce vita. 01 of 18 Easy Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta Cara Cormack Panna cotta — literally "cooked cream" in Italian — is a silky, eggless custard thickened with a touch of gelatin. This easy panna cotta recipe is an especially rich version made with all cream instead of a mix of cream and milk. Get the Recipe 02 of 18 Tiramisu Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne Tangy mascarpone is layered with coffee-soaked ladyfingers for an alcohol-free version of the popular creamy Italian dessert. Get the Recipe 03 of 18 Pistachio Stracciatella Gelato Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Victoria Granof / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Gelato is denser than ice cream, thanks in part to the larger amount of milk versus cream and the slower rate at which it's typically churned. The slower churning pace incorporates less air, yielding a texture that's less fluffy, and the lower percentage of fat makes the flavors taste more intense. Ice cream maker Fany Gerson uses two classic Italian ingredients: stracciatella and pistachio. Get the Recipe 04 of 18 Hot Buttered Rum Biscotti Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Sweetened browned butter, rum, and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice form the base of blogger Jonathan Melendez’s twice-baked Italian cookies. Get the Recipe 05 of 18 Affogato Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele “Affogato” means “to drown” in Italian and refers to the melding of espresso and ice cream, two after-dinner classics. Bitter, sweet, hot, cold, black, and white, it's a celebration of contrast. Get the Recipe 06 of 18 Italian Rainbow Cookies Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Shell Royster Also known as rainbow cookies, Neapolitan cookies, or tricolore cookies, this Italian-American treat has a subtle almond flavor that pairs nicely with the bittersweet chocolate topping and layers of raspberry jam. Get the Recipe 07 of 18 Italian Almond Tart Frederick Hardy II / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Shell Royster This rustic dessert is from the Lombardy region of Northern Italy, where it's called sbrisolona. It's crumbly, buttery, and nutty; chef Suzanne Goin thinks of it as a cross between biscotti and shortbread. She recommends dipping chunks of it into the Champagne-spiked sabayon, an airy dessert sauce made with whipped egg yolks. Get the Recipe 08 of 18 Zabaglione with Strawberries © Stephanie Shih We love this zabaglione (a sweet custard spiked with marsala wine) served warm right off the stovetop, but it's also a great make-ahead dessert: Just add a bit of whipped cream and chill. Get the Recipe 09 of 18 Plum Cake with Hazelnut Brittle and Honey Mascarpone Zubin Schroff Peter Hoffman likes using purple plums, a.k.a. Italian prune plums, for this lightly spiced cake because they bake so well; the flavors intensify, but the plums don't become mushy. The garnishes are light and luscious, namely the soft Italian cheese mascarpone. Get the Recipe 10 of 18 White Peach Tart © John Kernick "This crust is not what you'd expect," chef Marco Canora says. "Instead of being crunchy, it's puffy and cakey." The dough is terrific for impromptu baking, because it doesn't need to be chilled before it's rolled out. For the filling, Canora recommends using peaches that are ripe but still firm, as drippy fruit will make the soft crust soggy. Get the Recipe 11 of 18 Raspberry Jam Bomboloni © Quentin Bacon Whenever chef Kate Neumann serves bomboloni (Italian doughnut holes), they disappear immediately. "They are easy to prepare in advance and then fry at the last moment," she explains, "and they are also quite easy to dress up." Neumann fills the doughnut holes with fruit jams or chocolate ganache, then rolls them in sugar and spices like anise and cardamom as soon as they come out of the frying pan. Get the Recipe 12 of 18 Concord Grape Granita © Tina Rupp This icy dessert gets its sweet, tangy taste from Concord grape juice, which also gives the dessert its vibrant purple color. Get the Recipe 13 of 18 Almond Semifreddo with Caramelized Apples © Tina Rupp The Craft of Baking co-author Kare DeMasco is known for classically elegant yet approachable recipes, like this super creamy almond semifreddo topped with warm caramelized apples. Get the Recipe 14 of 18 Frozen Chocolate-Chip Meringata © MARTIN MORRELL Meringata — Italian for "meringue cake" — is an elegant yet homey frozen dessert of whipped cream sandwiched between meringue rounds. Rolando Beramendi slices the meringata and serves it with a warm chocolate-espresso sauce. Get the Recipe 15 of 18 Chocolate Panna Cotta with Spiced Pepita Brittle © Con Poulos This light, silky panna cotta tastes a lot like hot cocoa in custard form. The brittle is easy to make; heat sugar and water on the stove, swirl in butter and spiced pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds), then let cool. Get the Recipe 16 of 18 Brutti Ma Buoni © John Kernick Antico Forno Molinari, a bakery in operation in the town of Frascati since the 1800s, makes this delicious and effortless four-ingredient version of the flavored biscuit that translates to "ugly but good." Get the Recipe 17 of 18 Stone-Fruit Panzanella with Zabaglione © Cedric Angeles A classic Italian panzanella (bread salad) combines juicy tomatoes and bread cubes. Here, chef Chris Cosentino swaps in stone fruits like apricots and peaches for the tomatoes. Then he pushes the dessert over the top by dolloping the "salad" with an airy zabaglione, a frothy sauce of egg yolks whipped with sweet dessert wine. Get the Recipe 18 of 18 Torta Della Nonna © Fabrizio Ferri "Grandmother's cake" is a traditional Tuscan dessert, though everyone's nonna makes it slightly differently. In his version, chef Joe Sponzo combines a delicate pastry crust with a silky pastry cream, which he flavors with vanilla and lemon zest (other Tuscan cooks add ricotta cheese). He tops the tart with pine nuts, another regional staple. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit