Italian dessert recipes: Classic & creative recipes
Explore a taste of “la dolce vita” with Italian desserts that blend tradition and innovation:
- Classic favourites: Enjoy pannacotta, panettone, tiramisu, and torta di riso
- Brilliant bakes: Prep delicious sweet treats like cannoli or limoncello drizzle cake
- Creative twists: Try raspberry cream maritozzi buns or a brown butter caramel and rye bread gelato
These recipes bring the heart of Italian sweetness to your kitchen, perfect for any dessert lover looking to indulge in authentic Italian treats.
If you’re planning a full Italian spread, check out our Italian starters, Italian pasta recipes and Italian chicken recipes too.
Showing 1-16 of 59 recipes
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Italian desserts
Chocolate budino
With only five ingredients, this creamy Italian pudding – chocolate budino – is incredibly simple but beautifully smooth and indulgent.
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Italian desserts
Theo Randall’s torta sacripantina (cherry and raspberry genoise)
Torta sacripantina is a dessert from Liguria. Theo Randall shares his recipe for this genoise cake with cherries, raspberries and zabaione.
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Italian desserts
Theo Randall’s torta barozzi (flourless chocolate, almond and rum cake)
Torta barozzi is a rich and fudgy flourless chocolate cake from Northern Italy. Perfect when you need an easy make-ahead dessert.
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Italian desserts
Theo Randall’s torta della nonna (lemon custard tart with pine nut topping)
Torta della nonna is a lemony custard tart topped with pine nuts, popular across northern Italy. Chef Theo Randall shares his recipe.
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Autumn desserts
Zabaione with hazelnuts and figs
Through the alchemy of heat and whisking, eggs, sugar and sweet wine are transformed into the silky cloud of loveliness known as zabaione.
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Apples
Strudel di mele (Italian apple strudel)
Apple strudel gets an Italian makeover with pine nuts and lemon. It's a classic Alpine dish, often served in cafés in Trentino-Alto Adige.
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Almond
Tegole (Italian almond and hazelnut biscuits)
These Italian biscuits are named for their shape – tegole means ‘tiles’. They’re a nutty treat from the Alps and go perfectly with espresso.
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Italian desserts
Almond granita ‘affogato’
Sicilian chef Alfio Laudani shares a make-ahead dessert perfect for hot summer days. Almond granita is topped with a gorgeous espresso foam.
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Italian desserts
Bonet (Italian chocolate and amaretti pudding)
Bonet is a classic Piedmontese dessert showcasing two of the Italian region’s favourite things – chocolate and amaretti biscuits.
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Christmas recipes from around the world
Bicerin (Italian coffee and chocolate drink)
Bicerin is a hot drink from Turin, Italy. Espresso is topped with a layer of melted chocolate followed by a layer of whipped cream. Heaven.
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Italian desserts
Cannoli
Cannoli are undoubtedly the most popular dessert of Sicilian baking. A bite into a homemade cannoli delivers a simple yet glorious triumph of flavours.
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Medium
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Pannacotta
Marsala pannacotta
The addition of marsala wine and rum, plus the light coating of caramel, creates a complex flavour to this irresistible pannacotta recipe.
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Sponsored by Camp Coffee
Pannacotta
Coffee and malt biscuit pannacotta
In need of a speedy dessert recipe? You can't go wrong with this creamy, light (and vegetarian) coffee pannacotta.
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Easy
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Summer fruits
Raspberry cream maritozzi buns
Maritozzi, delightful enriched-dough buns from Italy, are as light as a cloud. We've filled them with a raspberry cream to finish.
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October seasonal
Quince crostatas
Quince has a short season. Make the most of it by topping rustic spelt-pastry crostatas with slices of the golden autumn fruit.
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Medium
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Sweet tarts
Sweet ricotta tart
Julia Busuttil Nishimura's sweet ricotta tart with dark chocolate and Italian candied fruit is a perfect dessert for Easter or a dinner party.
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Easy
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