• Eat Your Books

  See Seattle Tall Poppy's review of this cookbook and her take on Ricotta pound cake (with sample recipe).

  See Lisa Is Cooking's take on Ricotta pound cake from this book.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Almond cake from Abruzzo (parrozzo)

  • Avocet on May 04, 2015

    This was not a success. Despite the headnote description, it was not "oh-so-soft and tender". It was dense and crumbly. like a failed shortbread. The proportions of flour (1.5 cups of cake flour and 0.5 cups of semolina) and 1 cup ground almonds to two eggs and 4 oz. of butter were way off for making a cake like texture. The quarter teaspoon of nutmeg called for was too much and the flavor didn't jibe well with the basic ingredients. Thanks to EYB, I found a recipe for parrozzo in Ada Boni's Italian Regional Cooking. She uses five eggs and less than half the flour.

• Bittersweet chocolate and hazelnut cookies (biscotti di cioccolato a nocciole)

  • Avocet on May 04, 2015

    Very good, very rich cookies. Like Nutella with a college degree.

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    Excellent

• Chestnut spice cake with mascarpone cream (torta di castagne con crema di mascarpone)

  • PatriciaScarpin on August 20, 2012

    What a delicious cake! Very tender and perfumed with the spices.

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    Very good. I had to bake the cake for 60 minutes. Might have just been my oven.

• Chocolate kisses (baci di cioccolato)

  • landriani on December 18, 2009

    Love this book! Have made the baci di cioccolato twice and both times turned out fabulous. They keep best in the refrigerator.

• Citrus-glazed polenta cake (torta di polenta con agrumi)

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    Very good.

• Cranberry tart

  • Astrid5555 on November 01, 2012

    Nice flavor and chewy texture from the polenta, but would cut down on the sugar next time. Did not wait for the dough to chill, just pressed it into the tart pan which worked perfectly as well.

• Ginger honey gelato (gelato di zenzero e miele)

  • JoanN on November 12, 2018

    Can't believe I've never reviewed this recipe. I've made it often, and recommended it to others who have made it often. It's the best ever topping for Thanksgiving apple pie.

• Hazelnut cookies (nocciolati)

  • fultre on May 09, 2022

    Best hazelnut cookies I’ve ever eaten, and among top cookies I’ve made (which is saying a lot for a cookie monster like me). Used high quality hazelnuts from Willamette Valley, and didn’t bother to skin them. They are delightfully chewy and quite addictive.

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    Very good.

• Honey and pine nut tart (crostata di miele e pignoli)

  • cadfael on October 21, 2024

    A Family favourite

• Lemony semolina cookies (biscotti di limone e semolino)

  • fultre on May 09, 2022

    Another superlative recipe from Gina DePalma! Described by my husband as “lemon clouds”, they are tender yet have a toothsome quality—maybe from the semolina. Highly recommend and will go in my repeat recipe file.

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    Very good.

  • mzernone on December 30, 2025

    Excellent - got rave reviews

• Mosaic biscotti (Biscotti di mosai)

  • fultre on May 11, 2020

    Delicious and beautiful biscotti! It required longer baking times for both the first and second bakes, but her description of what the biscotti should look like at each stage guided me well.

  • kzwa on January 09, 2021

    This is absolutely the best biscotti I’ve ever made. A huge hit every time.

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    Very good.

• Obsessive ricotta cheesecake (Torta di ricotta)

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    I enjoyed this cake. However, it took an additional 40 minutes to cook. My oven may be off, but that is a large discrepancy.

• Ricotta pound cake

  • anniette on October 10, 2021

    The answer to all of my pound cake questions. I doubt I'll ever use another recipe for pound cake. This is moist, rich, and perfect. I am thrilled with this recipe.

• Sour cherry custard tart (crostata di ciliegie con crema)

  • LauraMB on September 08, 2023

    Delicious. The tart took much longer to bake than specified. Needed to bake a long time for the crust to be dark enough. May parbake the crust next time.

• Venetian apple cake

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    An excellent cake.

• Zucchini-olive oil cake with lemon crunch glaze

  • Frogcake on August 17, 2017

    A delicious, moist cake with just the right balance of spices and walnuts. And I used up two zucchinis of ten from my garden! One full cup of olive oil seems like a lot but I resisted the urge to cut back and it was perfect and not oily at all. I did reduce the sugar in the cake to 1.5 cups. We loved the lemon glaze too. Will be making this one again!

  • okmosa on September 14, 2020

    This zucchini cake was good but nothing extraordinary. In fact, it was a bit plain despite the spices and lemon glaze.

  • pavolva on July 18, 2023

    A back-pocket, archetypal recipe for zucchini cake. The cake itself is tender and plush. I opted to swap out about 40% of the olive oil with vegetable oil instead and am glad that I did, as the cake leans vegetal. I toasted my nuts before adding to the cake and found this to enhance the earthy qualities of the bundt in a positive way. The glaze is important in counteracting the savory flavor of the zucchini; the texture of the glaze reminds me of that of Safeway glazed donuts (in the best way possible!) Adding some orange zest into the glaze kicked the citrus flavor up a notch — would recommend, as it complements the nuttiness of the cake nicely. Ideas for experimenting: coconut & golden raisin add-ins, using part whole wheat/spelt flour to complement the nuttiness of the cake, adding five spice into the spice mix for the cake.

  • LauraMB on August 08, 2023

    Made as written. Very good.