Product Description

Gina DePalma, the pastry chef at Babbo, New York's most famous Italian restaurant, has created a cookbook of the most scrumptious and easy-to-make desserts."Follow the seasons. Keep the flavours pure and straightforward. Use proper yet simple techniques." Applying this aesthetic to the Italian tradition, from her imagination spring desserts such as Sesame and White Corn Biscotti, Little Grappa Soaked Spongecakes and Chocolate and Tangerine Semifreddo. Recipes for classics like Cassata alla Siciliana join new interpretations of traditional desserts such as White Peach and Prosecco Gelatina.More than just a cookbook, Dolce Italiano reveals the ten ingredients readers need to know to make Italian desserts, along with wine to accompany the recipes. Never before have cooks been given such a chance to experience the full variety and subtlety of Italian desserts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131719 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-30
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.24" h x 8.42" w x 10.18" l, 2.30 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. DePalma, pastry chef at upscale Italian restaurant Babbo in New York City (owner Mario Batali contributes a foreword), approaches Italian-American desserts from three directions: traditional Italian (Polenta Cookies from the Veneto); Italian-American, learned at the elbow of her Calabrese grandmother (in a charming introduction, DePalma recalls how her grandmother used to visit her family in Virginia, stepping off the plane from New York bearing hunks of cheese, cans of olive oil and DePalma's favorite taralli); and what are best described as American-Italian. The latter are true hybrid desserts, such as a crustless Yogurt Cheesecake with Pine Nut Brittle, which combines mascarpone and the Greek-style yogurt now widely available in U.S. grocery stores. This concoction has probably never appeared on any menu in Italy, but it successfully marries ingredients and techniques from both places, without losing sight of the genuine quality that is the hallmark of Italian food. DePalma's tone is genuine, too, whether she's recalling how she woke up in the middle of the night in her Brooklyn apartment to obsess over a lemon tart or patiently explaining why real balsamic vinegar is costly, but worth it. (Oct.)
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About the Author
GINA DEPALMA has been nominated for the James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef Award.