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The most characteristic cakes & sweets in Sicily

There are plenty of sweet reasons for the food lovers to plan a trip to Palermo, especially for those that love sweets. Some of the most famous sweets in Sicily, like cassata, cannoli or the best ice creams and chocolates, are available here. You can eat them on holidays or special occasions and is one of the most common culinary habits for the people in Sicily.

Before you get inside one of the well-known 'pasticcerias' in Palermo, you need to know a little bit more about this delicious desserts.

Cassata is the most typical cake in the area of Palermo. Generally speaking, it has a round shape and is made of layered cakes softened by liquor and fruit, plus layers of ricottacheese. Toppings are usually baroque, made of marzipan and all kinds of decorations, usually candied fruit from the area.

The famous cannolis are a dessert, very typical in Sicily, which you should try if you are in Palermo. It is made of a wafer cone pastry filled with sweet cottage cheese and usually toped with hazelnuts, pistachio or chocolate, depending on the area, sprinkling with powdered sugar.

The buccellato is a cake made of shortcut pastry filled with dried fruit like figs, raisins or almonds, aromatized with orange peel or other ingredients, depending on the area. The dessert is toped with cake icing and candied fruit.

The ice cream from Sicily is probably one of the best ice creams in Italy, due to the wide variety of fresh fruits in the area. In fact, the regular breakfast here is usually a roll filled by ice cream, generally of the classic flavours like pistachio, almond, chocolate or seasonal fruits.

The baduzziare pastries made of almond and cocoa powder. Another sweet made of almond are cardenales, made of candied fruit, pistachio, lemon zest and eggshell, the cucchiteddi from Sciacca are almonds paste filled by pumpkins and mostachones from Mesina are aromatized with cinnamon.

The chocolate from Módica is made in southern Sicily, with a traditional technique inspired by the Aztec, using only three ingredients: cocoa, sugar and spices.

Some of the best bakeries and confectioners in Palermo

Pasticceria Matranga
Via Cesareo, 38
www.pasticceriagbmatranga.it

Pasticceria Capello
Via Colonna Rotta, 68
www.pasticceriacappello.it

Pasticceria Costa
Via D’Annunzio, 15
www.pasticceriacosta.com

Pasticceria La Cubana
Via G. Pitrè, 143
www.lacubana.it

Pasticceria Oscar
Via Mariano Migliaccio, 39
www.oscarpasticceria.it

Spinnato
Via Principe di Belmonte, 107
www.spinnato.it

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