Typical desserts of Ferrara

The city of Ferrara offers a great deal of local products and dishes, often arising from a historical tradition and the passion of its inhabitants towards the culinary arts. A place of honor is reserved to the desserts of Ferrara, real delights for the palate, all stemming from ancient recipes, which almost always hide a historical anecdote behind their creation.

Ferrara Store offers you a wide range of local products you cannot miss, including the desserts of Ferrara, real delicacies that will not leave dissatisfied your palate. Our staff, basing on the ingredients that you like, will point to the dessert that can meet your needs.

The typical sweets, that most represent the province of Ferrara, are:

• The Pampepato or pampapato of Ferrara: the best known of the desserts of Ferrara, is the traditional Christmas cake of Ferrara. The ingredients in this cake are variable as there are many recipes, but the main ones are chocolate, hazelnuts, pine nuts, cinnamon and nutmeg. This dessert was invented at the Este court and over the centuries its recipe has been modified and perfected; just think that the chocolate cover did not occur until the last century. The story of this typical dessert of Ferrara is also the reason for its name: its name would mean, according to some, “spicy bread”, while for others it would have been so named in honor to the Pope during the occupation of Ferrara by the State of the Church (ie bread of the Pope);

• The Ciambella ("brazadèla"): the ciambella is a typical cake that is prepared for Easter celebrations and it belongs, as the pampepato, in that group of desserts called "rich", ie the loaves that were enriched and made more sweet tooth for a specific occurrence. This typical dessert of Ferrara is easy to prepare: just mix flour, butter, sugar, eggs, milk and yeast, then put the consistent dough in the oven in the classic ring-shaped cake pan. The term “brazadèla”, the name of this typical dessert in the local dialect, comes from the fact that it was stuck in arm by vendors, while those who bought it slipped it in their arms as well while with the other hand they poured the wine;

• The Mandorlini del Ponte (called "Mandurlin dal pont"): the Mandorlini del Ponte are a typical dessert of Ferrara, and more specifically they are meringues with sugar, flour and blanched almonds. This dessert was born in the town of Pontelagoscuro. There are two anecdotes about the birth of this dessert, both from the nineteenth century: the first one starring a clever boy of an ice cream shop of Pontelagoscuro who, tired of throwing away egg whites advanced from the manufacture of ice cream, decided to mix them with flour , sugar, ground almonds and whole blanched almonds and bake the dough in the oven, resulting in the Mandorlini del Ponte. In the second anecdote the typical dessert of Ferrara was specially created in 1857 in honor of Pope Pius IX at the bakery Apollo of Pontelagoscuro; it is said that the Pope was amazed by their taste. Whatever the truth, fact is that with the Mandorlini del Ponte Ferrara was enriched of a delicious dessert, crunchy and that melts in your mouth;

• The Topino Ferrarese: the Topino is a cookie, and it is the typical dessert of Ferrara we prepare for the day of All Saints. It is a typical dessert created in the town of Comacchio and its dough is the same one of the Ciambella; its "mouse" shape is also defined by the eyes, made with two grains of sultanas. Even in regard to this typical dessert of Ferrara there is a historical anecdote dating back to the Napoleonic conquest of northern Italy. During the reign of Napoleon in fact, by law you had to bring the cemeteries beyond the city walls. The citizens of Comacchio then transported their deads to the new burial ground of Raibosola, that at the time was a dune on the coast. The mice, however, made havoc of those graves, and the inhabitants of Comacchio began to pray to their patron saint, the Virgin Mary, who made the miracle, and drove away all the rodents. As mentioned, this typical dessert of Ferrara is prepared for the day of All Saints and must be given to each member of the family so as to avoid, for the person who eats it, to be in the same situation as the corpses buried in Raibosola;

• The Tenerina (Tacolenta): the Tenerina is a typical cake from Ferrara; it was born in the early '900. Its preparation is done by mixing dark chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs and a little flour. The particularity of this typical dessert of Ferrara is that once out of the oven, the Tenerina has a slightly crispy crust, but in the center the chocolate is still melted. Even this typical dessert has its story: it seems that its name derives from Elena Petrovich of Montenegro, wife of Victor Emmanuel III, who was called the sweet and soft-hearted bride. Given its characteristics, this typical dessert of Ferrara was dedicated to her, and was in fact known in the early twentieth century as Montenegrin Cake or Queen of Montenegro Pie;

• The Persicata: this typical dessert of Ferrara consists of pasta cut into thin slices, caramelized and put in the oven. It seems that this typical dessert was invented by the Benedictine nuns in the monastery of St. Anthony, as a gift to the strangers and the ill ones;

• The Raviole of Ferrara: the Raviole are a typical dessert made like sweet dough ravioli in with a jam filling. Once closed, the Raviole are brushed with alchermes and sprinkled with granulated sugar, then cooked in the oven.

• Noodles Cake. It is a typical dessert of Ferrara consisting of a base of pastry with almonds, lemon, bitter almond liqueur, while noodles made of eggs and flower are put all around and top of the dough in decoration.

We invite you to visit us in Ferrara Store: you will find a welcoming environment in which you can choose with care between the various typical foods and desserts of Ferrara and where you can find, in addition to the desserts, the garlic of Voghiera, the pampapato, the salama da sugo, the pumpkin cappellacci, the wine of the Eliceo forest, the coppia ferrarese and the pumpkin flatbread. If you could not come and visit us in person, you can buy our products in our online shop by clicking here.

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