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Italian dessert recipes

Italians know how to do dessert: there’s a reason they call it ‘la dolce vita’. Get your sweet fix with our dessert recipes from Italy – we’ve got classics like pannacotta and panettone, tiramisu and torta di rose, but we’re also bringing you twists to try.

Get baking with sweet treats like cannoli or raspberry cream maritozzi buns, or add a bit of booze to your bakes with this limoncello drizzle cake. You can even keep cool with a brown butter caramel and rye bread gelato.

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 dessert recipes

Chocolate budino

With only five ingredients, this creamy Italian pudding – chocolate budino – is incredibly simple but beautifully smooth and indulgent.

Gluten-free

Easy

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Italian dessert recipes

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.

Medium

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Italian dessert recipes

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.

Gluten-free Make-ahead

Easy

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Italian dessert recipes

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.

Vegetarian

Medium

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Autumn dessert recipes

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.

Dairy-free Gluten-free Vegetarian

Easy

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Apple recipes

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.

Freezable

Medium

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Almond recipes

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.

Easy

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Italian dessert recipes

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.

Dairy-free Freezable Gluten-free Make-ahead

Easy

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Italian dessert recipes

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.

Make-ahead

Easy

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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.

Gluten-free

Easy

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Italian dessert recipes

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.