Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen collects a treasure trove of desserts and savories from Mario Batali's Babbo restaurant (The Babbo Cookbook) in NYC. There are several forewords, including one by Mario Batali himself and Colum Sheehan, wine director of Babbo. Gina's thorough introduction includes her own earliest memories of her Nonni's kitchen and growing up in a Italian-American family that still revolved around the Italian style of shopping and cooking. She includes a section called Learning Italian that covers various regions, DOP and IGP origins, a recommended reading list, ten Italian ingredients you should know (some will surprise you!), and a brief, effective section on equipment.

The first section is devoted to Italian cookies and includes several almond-based cookies (almond fingers, chocolate kisses, mostaccioli), semolina cookies (lemony semolina cookies), polenta cookies, chestnut brownies, and several biscottis (almond, orange and anise, mosaic, polenta and sesame). Many are light and refreshing rather than the heavy, dense, cloyingly sweet desserts that Americans prefer, and the presence of polenta gives baked goods a rather toothsome crunch that will be unfamiliar to American palates.

Cakes include several gems, including grappa-soaked mini sponge cakes, citrus-glazed polenta cake, chestnut spice cake with mascarpone cream, almond and raisin cake, chocolate and walnut torte from Capri, zucchini-olive oil cake with lemon crunch glaze, yogurt cheesecake with pine nut brittle, obsessive ricotta cheesecake filled with candied orange and lemon rind, and Venetian apple cake rich with honey, spices, and polenta. The Venetian apple cake had just the right touch of sweetness from the shredded apple and honey, and the almond cake from Abruzzo was a delightful blend of toasted almonds, semolina flour, chocolate, and Amaretto.

Spoon Desserts consist of bonets, custards, bavarians, panna cotta, and zabaione, many of them savory additions such as pumpkin, fresh bay leaf custards, yogurt with caramel, aged balsamic, and pine nut brittle, and a lovely cool rhubarb soup with orange and mint fior di latte that is a refreshing start to a spring or summer dinner.

My favorite section was the Tarts, a personal favorite of mine. Unusual choices included a fresh cranberry tart perfect for fall, a sour cherry custard tart very similar to a French clafoutis, a blueberry and coconut tart, the divine honey and pine nut tart (you can't convince me that this isn't what angels eat!), chocolate and polenta tart (obscenely good with a scoop of gelato), and fruit tarts (fig, lemon, apple crumb, hazelnut and grape).

The next section sounded good, but lacking an ice cream maker, I was unable to try out any of the ice creams or sorbets. However, if/when I do purchase one, the fig and ricotta gelato, ginger honey gelato, and espresso cinnamon gelato are tops on my list.

I don't eat fried foods, so I haven't had the chance to sample any of these firsthand. Fried treats include fritters (pumpkin, herbed goat cheese, lemon ricotta, apple), Florentine doughnuts with vanilla custard, Neapolitan doughnuts with warm chocolate sauce, and cream puffs.

Ways with Fruit includes traditional fruit-and-alcohol combinations such as strawberries in Chianti, Balaton cherries with grappa and mascarpone, white peach and prosecco gelatina, honey-baked figs stuffed with walnuts, sweet apple omelet, and marmelades (Meyer lemon and spiced blood orange).

Celebrations includes holiday dishes such as St. Joseph's Day cream puffs (served on the feast day of St. Joseph, March 19), Easter egg bread, sweet grape focaccia (served at the annual grape harvest), chocolate "salami" (relax, vegetarians, it's made out of chocolate and nuts and rolled in powdered sugar to look like casing!), panforte (a traditional fruit-and-nut-stuffed bread from Siena) and pandoro (sweet Christmas breads).

The final chapter, Savory Bites, includes breadsticks, taralli (similar to pretzels), semolina and sesame crackers, calcioni, and cheese puffs (Gina includes notes on her favorite Italian cheeses).

Dolce Italiano is an absolutely gorgeous cookbook that is unparalleled in terms of culinary technique, the quality of Gina's experiences in and out of various kitchens, and the delicious end results, whether sweet or savory. The only potential downside is difficulty in locating specific Italian ingredients such as millifiori honey, decent grappa, Piedmontese hazelnuts, fresh chestnuts and chestnut flour, fresh (not commercial) ricotta and mascarpone cheeses, "OO" flour, aged balsamic (although I've had luck at Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, [...]) and Sicilian pistachios, although Gina includes a "Sources" section at the back of the book (that is, if you don't mind the expense of having your cheese overnighted from NYC!!).

If you're a fan of Italian / Mediterranean cuisine, you owe it to yourself to add this to your collection, presto. This is a beautiful cookbook that will bring you hours of enjoyment as you discover traditional Italian desserts that combine sometimes unlikely pairings that result in taste bud-tickling creations that taste like something your Italian grandmother would have baked.

Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen collects a treasure trove of desserts and savories from Mario Batali's Babbo restaurant (The Babbo Cookbook) in NYC. There are several forewords, including one by Mario Batali himself and Colum Sheehan, wine director of Babbo. Gina's thorough introduction includes her own earliest memories of her Nonni's kitchen and growing up in a Italian-American family that still revolved around the Italian style of shopping and cooking. She includes a section called Learning Italian that covers various regions, DOP and IGP origins, a recommended reading list, ten Italian ingredients you should know (some will surprise you!), and a brief, effective section on equipment.

The first section is devoted to Italian cookies and includes several almond-based cookies (almond fingers, chocolate kisses, mostaccioli), semolina cookies (lemony semolina cookies), polenta cookies, chestnut brownies, and several biscottis (almond, orange and anise, mosaic, polenta and sesame). Many are light and refreshing rather than the heavy, dense, cloyingly sweet desserts that Americans prefer, and the presence of polenta gives baked goods a rather toothsome crunch that will be unfamiliar to American palates.

Cakes include several gems, including grappa-soaked mini sponge cakes, citrus-glazed polenta cake, chestnut spice cake with mascarpone cream, almond and raisin cake, chocolate and walnut torte from Capri, zucchini-olive oil cake with lemon crunch glaze, yogurt cheesecake with pine nut brittle, obsessive ricotta cheesecake filled with candied orange and lemon rind, and Venetian apple cake rich with honey, spices, and polenta.

Spoon Desserts consist of bonets, custards, bavarians, panna cotta, and zabaione, many of them savory additions such as pumpkin, fresh bay leaf custards, yogurt with caramel, aged balsamic, and pine nut brittle, and a lovely cool rhubarb soup with orange and mint fior di latte that is a refreshing start to a spring or summer dinner.

My favorite section was the Tarts, a personal favorite of mine. Unusual choices included a fresh cranberry tart perfect for fall, a sour cherry custard tart very similar to a French clafoutis, a blueberry and coconut tart, the divine honey and pine nut tart (you can't convince me that this isn't what angels eat!), chocolate and polenta tart (obscenely good with a scoop of gelato), and fruit tarts (fig, lemon, apple crumb, hazelnut and grape).

The next section sounded good, but lacking an ice cream maker, I was unable to try out any of the ice creams or sorbets. However, if/when I do purchase one, the fig and ricotta gelato, ginger honey gelato, and espresso cinnamon gelato are tops on my list.

I don't eat fried foods, so I haven't had the chance to sample any of these firsthand. Fried treats include fritters (pumpkin, herbed goat cheese, lemon ricotta, apple), Florentine doughnuts with vanilla custard, Neapolitan doughnuts with warm chocolate sauce, and cream puffs.

Ways with Fruit includes traditional fruit-and-alcohol combinations such as strawberries in Chianti, Balaton cherries with grappa and mascarpone, white peach and prosecco gelatina, honey-baked figs stuffed with walnuts, sweet apple omelet, and marmelades (Meyer lemon and spiced blood orange).

Celebrations includes holiday dishes such as St. Joseph's Day cream puffs (served on the feast day of St. Joseph, March 19), Easter egg bread, sweet grape focaccia (served at the annual grape harvest), chocolate "salami" (relax, vegetarians, it's made out of chocolate and nuts and rolled in powdered sugar to look like casing!), panforte (a traditional fruit-and-nut-stuffed bread from Siena) and pandoro (sweet Christmas breads).

The final chapter, Savory Bites, includes breadsticks, taralli (similar to pretzels), semolina and sesame crackers, calcioni, and cheese puffs (Gina includes notes on her favorite Italian cheeses).

Dolce Italiano is an absolutely gorgeous cookbook that is unparalleled in terms of culinary technique, the quality of Gina's experiences in and out of various kitchens, and the delicious end results, whether sweet or savory. The only potential downside is difficulty in locating specific Italian ingredients such as millifiori honey, decent grappa, Piedmontese hazelnuts, fresh chestnuts and chestnut flour, fresh (not commercial) ricotta and mascarpone cheeses, "OO" flour, aged balsamic (although I've had luck at Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, [...]) and Sicilian pistachios, although Gina includes a "Sources" section at the back of the book (that is, if you don't mind the expense of having your cheese overnighted from NYC!!).

If you're a fan of Italian / Mediterranean cuisine, you owe it to yourself to add this to your collection, presto. This is a beautiful cookbook that will bring you hours of enjoyment as you discover traditional Italian desserts that combine sometimes unlikely pairings that result in taste bud-tickling creations that taste like something your Italian grandmother would have baked.

I have made quite a few recipes from this book and almost each one needed adjusting in bake time or temperature (or both!). It is not my oven; I never have problems with recipes from other sources. Also, some of the directions are vague; if I were not a seasoned baker I would be in a quandary about a few steps here and there. The end result of almost everything I have made turned out pretty terrific, so I can't complain on that front. I just wish the recipes were better written and better tested. Perhaps next time Ms. DePalma and her editors would be well-advised to employ less editorial interludes and more time spent on instruction in their approach to writing a cookbook.

De Palma does a great job creating unique, clever, delicious and easy Italian desserts. Her knowledge and experience are evident in her style descriptions and recipes. I love this cook book and will continue to use it as a reference for years to come.

I have been making a cookie from the recipes in this book each week for the last two months and bringing them to work. Each time I bring them in everyone just can't get enough of them. Comments like, "This is the best biscoti that I've ever had in my life." and "This is my favorite so far." until the following week when the same comment is repeated. Let me tell you, I have no experience or expertise in making cookies, pastries, cakes or pies so it isn't me. Just a wonderful book with great easy to follow recipes. You won't be disappointed. I'm not.

One of my treasures in my collection. Have passed on some of the recipes to my relatives in Germany and all are raving about them.
I will buy some more of this same book as a "Thank you" for a hosts of dinner invitations I received.
A Pleasure of a Book! Gina is such an inventive great cook!

I wanted this book for Christmas but had to go out and buy it myself beforehand. I actually made the pandoro for Christmas morning, and it was delicious--great flavor and rich textures; my kids and even my Italian mother loved it. The pine nut tart which I made for dessert on Christmas was out of this world! I love how these recipes, in addition to the purely traditional ones, take traditional Italian flavors and ingredients and give them a great innovative spin. And I've actually been reading the book in bed because it's a fun read. Great tips and stories.

Having mastered both Panettone and Colomba di Pasqua, but never having made Pandoro, which is my most favourite, I was excited to find a recipe in Dolce Italiano. After fastidiously following the recipe, the result looked gorgeous, but once sliced into, it was so bad (dry and dense) it went straight into the garbage. This recipe was obviously not tested, the timings were way off and the preparation instructions were at times illogical, vague and incomplete, especially for such a complicated bread. In reviewing the rest of the book, I didn't find anything exceptional, just "one more" of what I could find elsewhere. What I found almost to the point of blasphemy, was how Ms. DePalma has deconstructed some of the most classic and distinguished desserts to the extent that they bear no resemblance to the original, yet still has used the original name - the Cassata Siciliana is a case in point. I am only thankful she didn't include Cannoli.
For me, this book was a waste of money and the recipe I attempted a waste of time. It is unlikely I will ever look at this book again. I caution anyone considering purchasing Dolce Italiano to peruse it first and avoid making the same mistake I did.

Not a bad book but, too much reminiscing waffle at the start of every recipe and not enough pictures

Gina's charm and wit entertain, as one reads his or her way through this delightful book! The photos need to be framed! The recipes are to die for....both "in person" at Babbo or duplicated in one's kitchen. CONGRATULATIONS, Gina; we can't wait for Volume II!

Cookbooks have never topped my reading list. Truth be told, they've never been anywhere on the list. However, having a fully functioning sweet tooth, I was drawn to this repository of tasties by the mouth watering full page full-color pictures. Then, I was intrigued by famed chef Mario Batali's description of the author's ability, "From a nearly criminal situation, with lack of space to store products, lack of burners to cook on, tiny ovens, a room often as warm as 118 degrees, and a walk-in fridge shared with the entire savory kitchen, Gina is miraculously able to produce one tasty treat after another."

Readers of this cookbook will agree that is not all DePalma is able to do for her descriptions of the sweets she loves literally sing, and her written candids of life not only at the acclaimed restaurant, Babbo, but also on the streets of Brooklyn where she lives and the markets she frequents are as tantalizing as any travelogue. DePalma's description of being awakened in the middle of the night by dreams of "dolce past" brings smiles, as does her depiction of an American supermarket where fruit "bears the indignity of a numbered sticker smacked onto it." Her standards are high, yet she appaently continues to raise the bar.

Of special help to this reader was the chapter devoted to Italian ingredients that we should know. Of course, when you read DePalma's definition of mascarpone you want to rush out and buy it. Or, once introduced to Amalfi lemons, none other will do. DePalma is a Scherazade, tempting you with every page.

The recipes included cover the gamut of sweets from cookies to cake to spoon desserts to tarts. Then, DePalma moves on to my personal favorites - ice creams and sorbets. "All Things Fried" offers a heavenly Neopolitan Doughnut with Warm Chocolate Sauce, and "Ways With Fruit" presents not only fresh fruits but also marmalades.

Whether you're an experienced cook with a love for Italian sweets or a newbie to the kitchen, you'll find much to enjoy in Dolce Italiano. DePalma writes skillfully and clearly, offering step by step directions as she shares her passion for perfect desserts.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

`Dolce Italiano, Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen' by Babbo pastry chef, Gina DePalma is another in a long list of cookbooks from high end restaurant pastry chefs such as Sherry Yard (Spago), Kate Zuckerman (Chanterelle), and Emily Luchetti (Stars). And, like all of these other superior books, Mme. DePalma offers far more than a simple presentation of recipes.
While both Yard's `Secrets of Baking' and Zuckerman's `The Sweet Live' both serve as excellent manuals on baking in general, and Yard's latest `Desserts by the Yard' is a great culinary memoir with even greater recipes (as well as a great source of recipes for Austrian classics), DePalma takes yet another route by presenting a serious reference on shopping for, baking, and serving Italian dessert specialties. A jaded reader of Italian cookbooks has some right to be just a bit skeptical that Mario Batali's employee Ms. DePalma, a better than average restaurant chef (not yet at the heights of the Wolfgang Puck's Sherry Yard), can come up with a better than average book on her well-travelled subject. But, she does succeed and I am happy to have this book among all these other distinguished books.
To be sure, Ms. DePalma does cover much familiar ground, but starts to broaden her appeal when she adds discussions of desserts and wines to her narrative, with the assistance of the very impressive credentials of the Babbo wine experts, lead by employer Joseph Bastianich. In fact, she mentions a major Italian staple, vin cotto (cooked wine), which has escaped my attention in all these readings. In a nutshell, it tends to fit many of the same roles as the far more expensive balsamic vinegar.
While this book will not serve as a complete baking manual, it has many sections of truly superb instruction on how to do some basic Italian cooking procedures, as in her three page sidebar on `Pastry Crust 101'. Having read everyone from Martha Stewart to Rose Levy Beranbaum to Nick Malgieri on making basic pie crust, I amazingly find Ms. DePalma's description to be one of the pedagogically most satisfying. In plainer words, she says the same things, but the way she describes them make the subject easier to understand if you are a beginner. For a Brooklyn girl, her insights into Italian cuisine are often as interesting and as profound as her boss, the orange-clogged Batali. One observation is especially acute, when she notes that unlike many Americans, the crust to a pastry is at least as important to Italians as what you put in that crust. This is entirely consistent with their passion for the quality of breads and pasta, giving them equal attention as the more splashy sauces and toppings which go with the spaghetti or the pizza. And, like the French, there are many desserts which may be no more than two exquisitely prepared ingredients, the crust and a fruit jelly, jam, or preserve. This is yet another instance of the Italian genius for prepared and preserved intermediates, adding fruit preserves to the list of wines, cheeses, breads, vinegars, salumis, and pastas which make Italian cuisine appear so effortless and yet so great.
While virtually all the recipes in the book were developed to be served at Babbo, they still represent a superb reference for so many classic Italian sweets. Some leading examples are biscotti, ricotta cheesecake, zucchini cake, panna cotta, zabaione, baked polenta, breadsticks, panforte di Siena, and strufoli. The only major Italian dessert I did not find were the iconic canolis.
The book's design leans just a bit toward the budget-conscious, as all the color pics of the desserts are in a few centrally bound rotogravure signatures, rather than right next to the recipe. I also miss illustrations of the basic kitchen tools and graphic instructions on the otherwise excellent tutorials on technique. And yet, I was immediately impressed with Ms. DePalma's excellent map of Italy with all its major political regions and cities plainly and clearly laid out. It could have used just a bit more detail, such as pointing out the location of the Amalfi coast (south of Naples), the source of Italy's best lemons.
Like Ms. Yard and Ms. Zuckerman, Gina has a way with her words in putting together her recipes and procedures. All procedures are effortlessly detailed and all ingredients such as type of fruit, vinegar, wine, of flour, are precise, without being arcane. She is also so kind as to recommend methods for both garnishing the dessert and storing the leftovers.
In case this is not obvious, there is very little in this book about bread baking. For that, I suggest (as does Miss DePalma) that you go to Carol Field's classic `The Italian Baker'. And, a thank you to Mario for suggesting to Miss Gina that she write this very worthy book.

Italian desserts are not fancy. They are sublime in their simplicity, and the choices which Gina DePalma included from her professional reportoire in her excellent book are reflections of this truth. It is not accurate to call this book simply a "cookbook". It is a chronicle of the author's personal reflections about Italy, its regional cuisines, about family, about professional influences, and about the love of food preparation. It is so complete and accurately written, so clear, and so easy to follow that no one need be intimidated by DePalma's professional credentials - the book makes these wonderful desserts accessible to everyone.

It is all that, and it is something else. It is beautiful. The photography is this book should be used as the standard by which all other food related books judge themselves. These pictures make a person want to run to the nearest kitchen and start cooking.

I think this book is a must for everyone who takes Italian food seriously. It is a classic and will sit on my shelf (dog eared and worn) for the rest of my days.

I pre-ordered this wonderful dessert cookbook because I have eaten at Babbo and loved it. There are many excellent Italian cookbooks out there, but few include as many authentic and delicious desserts as are in Dolce Italiano. The book reads like an insider's guide to the best of the best! The photographs make you want to try everything. I've already baked the Mosaic Biscotti and they live up to their description. They are chock- full of hazelnuts, pistachios, and chocolate -- among the best biscotti I've ever baked, and I've baked many. I was planning on freezing some, since the recipe is large. Guess what? They were scarfed down in no time!!!

Gina DePalma's book has kept me up late for three nights now! While I usually love persuing cookbooks, looking at the pictures, and making a couple of recipes, this book is different--it reads like a novel, or compilation of short essays. I can't put it down. The information is presented in a very non-intimidating manner. I am not an expert on Italian cooking at all, but I feel like I have learned so much from the little essays that accompany each recipe. The amount of information, important & interesting information, is immense. The background information about each desert provides fascinating, funny and sweet stories that make you understand "where" the desert comes from--beyond the broad location "Italy."
For full disclosure, I should note that I have been friends with Gina for years. With that said, I honestly was BLOWN AWAY by the book. I always knew she was smart (Mario calls her a "smart cookie"--well put), but I didn't realize the depth of her talent and very special ability to cook, but moreover, her ability communicate her passion so well.
This would be a great gift to yourself or anyone who has any interest in deserts or Italian culture.

The desserts in this book are just incredible; if you close your eyes, you will think you are eating in Italy, but then you will be missing the gorgeous photos in this book.

My little group of friends and I have already made, and eaten, the hazelnut cookies (devoured), the biscotti, and the fig tart! Go, buy this book and try the fig tart while they are in season! 'Cuz that's a clue to this book --- fresh ingredients, wonderfully prepared.

Last week I got a copy of Dolce Italiano for my birthday. Now you have to know a few things, I love reading cookbooks. I also love cooking from cookbooks, but rare is the book that provides excellent reading material, excellent insight, and excellent recipes. For example, I love the recipes in Ina Gartens' Barefoot Contessa series, but I can read one of her cookbooks in a sitting.

Not true, for Dolce Italiano, Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen. Gina DePalma has crammed so much incredible information, and heartfelt stories into her book, that I've been reading it for five days now and still have several more nights of enjoyment left to look forward too (not to mention months of recipes to try). From the introduction which gives you insight into Gina's background, to the ten Italian ingredients you must know (which section, by the way, I still haven't finished digesting), even if every recipe was a dud, you'd still have gotten your money's worth in entertainment and reference.

Now, in all honesty, I've only made one recipe, the Fresh Fig Tart, (well two if you count the crust and actual tart as two separate recipes), but man is that good, and easy - so I highly doubt there will be any duds in this book.

Tarts (and pies) have always intimidated me, but this crust came together so easily in the food processor. Then rolling it out, well, once I got over my fear of flouring the surface (I put a scant amount down the first time), it rolled out great on the second try. I followed Gina's advice and carpet-rolled it over my rolling pin to transfer it to the tart pan, simple. Also, throughout the book Gina gives practical advice on other things too. So like she suggested, I saved the leftover crust from trimming the excess, wrapped it and put it in the freezer. Gina notes that after you make two tarts, you'll have enough of these left over scraps to do a third (that's good advice as far as I'm concerned). She also gives advice on ingredients, how to choose, and where to buy some of the more obscure items (though there aren't too many of these, things like "00" flour and almond flour, maybe).

The book covers, cookies, cakes, spoon desserts, tarts, ice creams, sorbets and semifreddos, fried desserts, fruit and more (personally, my husband can't wait to try the fried dough as he's been searching for something close to his grandma's lost recipe for years now - we're hopeful) all as authentically Italian as I've ever seen on this side of the Atlantic. Next up though will be the lemony semolina cookies.

So basically, if you love desserts, you need this book. If you love all things Italian you need this book. Or even if you're like me, where dessert has been a second thought to your meal planning (I'm queen of cookies and washday cobblers), you really need this book.

Enjoy!

I don't usually buy dessert cookbooks, relying on recipes given me by friends and family. But after eating desserts at Babbo, I had to buy this book and begin cooking from it. What's fabulous about Dolce Italiano is that it makes these interesting, luscious desserts completely approachable and workable for the average home cook. The author's passion for good ingredients, interesting combinations, and good technique is always helpful, never off-putting. There are many traditional Italian sweets, and some that are twists and interpretations that always make sense to the palate. The recipes I tried worked beautifully, and I learned a lot from the little essays on ingredients and regions. I want to cook my way through the book--each chapter has recipes I'm eager to try. Now I need to find a more reasonably priced source for hazelnuts, since I've learned how much I adore them! (Good thing there's a source listing in the book!)