Sicilian pastry is the finest sweet tradition in Italy, and the argument for this is specific rather than promotional. The island’s specific history the Arab agronomists who introduced sugar cane cultivation in the 9th century and with it the sugar-based confectionery tradition that transformed the Sicilian monastic kitchen; the Norman and Spanish courts whose demand for elaborate ceremonial confectionery drove the technical development of the marzipan and the cassata; the Baroque pastry culture that produced the most visually extravagant sweet displays in the western Mediterranean has created a pastry repertoire of extraordinary depth and variety that the Venetian, the Neapolitan and the French traditions cannot collectively match for the combination of historical specificity, ingredient quality and sheer variety of form. This guide covers the essential Sicilian pastry programme.
In this guide
- Cannolo the essential Sicilian pastry
- Cassata the baroque masterpiece
- Frutta Martorana the marzipan fruit
- Sfince di San Giuseppe
- Iris the Palermitan fried brioche
- Granita the cold art
- Paste di mandorla
- Seasonal pastries
- Where to find the finest Sicilian pastry
- FAQ
Cannolo the Essential Sicilian Pastry
The cannolo is the most internationally recognised Sicilian pastry and the one that most directly communicates the island’s sweet identity to the world the fried pastry tube (the scorza, made from flour, lard, wine and the specific Sicilian technique of wrapping the dough around a metal tube before frying) filled with fresh sheep’s milk ricotta sweetened with sugar, the ends decorated with candied orange peel, pistachio or chocolate chips. The singular is cannolo; the plural is cannoli the international usage has largely standardised on “cannoli” for both, which is technically incorrect but entirely understandable given the word’s Italian-American career.
The quality indicators for a great cannolo: the scorza must be freshly fried and served within hours (the shell that has been filled and left overnight loses its specific crispness and becomes the soggy disappointment that gives the cannolo a bad reputation outside Sicily); the ricotta must be from sheep’s milk (the specific sweetness and the specific fat content of sheep’s milk ricotta produces a filling entirely different from the cow’s milk ricotta substituted at lesser establishments); and the filling must be cold from refrigeration but the shell at room temperature the temperature contrast between the cool ricotta and the ambient shell is part of the specific pleasure. The finest cannolo in Sicily is assembled at the moment of serving rather than pre-filled.
The cannolo tradition is island-wide but has regional variations: the Palermitan cannolo (typically decorated with candied orange and pistachio) differs from the Catanese version (more likely to use chocolate chips and the Bronte pistachio cream), and the Modica chocolate cannolo is a specific and extraordinary hybrid of the chocolate tradition and the classic ricotta filling. The cannolo in the pasticceria display case is always the most beautiful object in the room. Read our complete Sicilian cannoli guide.
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A guided Sicilian pastry tour the cannolo freshly assembled, the cassata at the historic pasticceria, the frutta martorana explained by the craftsman who makes it and the complete history of the Arab-Norman-Spanish heritage behind the finest sweet tradition in Italy. Available in Palermo and Catania. Morning tours only.
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Cassata the Baroque Masterpiece
The cassata siciliana is the most architecturally ambitious pastry in Italy the baroque confectionery achievement that the Palermitan monastic kitchen developed from the Arab original (the qas’at, the mixing bowl from which the name derives, and the ricotta and sugar filling that the Arab confectioners introduced to the Norman court) into the elaborate ceremonial cake of the Spanish viceregal period, with the green marzipan exterior, the ricotta and candied fruit filling, the fondant glaze and the decorative programme of candied fruit, marzipan flowers and coloured icing that makes the finished cassata the most visually complex single pastry object in the Italian repertoire.
The cassata has three essential components that the finest examples combine: the sponge base (pan di spagna), the ricotta and chocolate chip filling sweetened with sugar and reinforced with candied citrus peel, and the marzipan and fondant exterior decorated with the specific Baroque ornamental programme. The green of the marzipan exterior (the pistacchio verde or the almond-based green marzipan coloured with pistachio) is the specific visual signature of the cassata the colour visible in every Palermitan pasticceria display case from Easter through the year. The cassata is specifically an Easter cake by tradition (the Palermitan Easter table without a cassata is considered incomplete) but is available year-round at the finest pasticcerie.
The cassata al forno (the baked version, without the elaborate exterior decoration, with the ricotta filling enclosed in pastry and baked) is the more ancient version the Arab original before the Baroque decorative programme was added. It is less visually dramatic but often more flavourful, the baking caramelising the ricotta and concentrating the citrus notes in a way that the cold-assembled version does not. The finest address for cassata in Sicily is the Pasticceria Alba in Palermo (Via Libertà), whose cassata has maintained the most consistently cited quality in the city for decades. Read our complete Sicilian desserts guide.
Frutta Martorana the Marzipan Fruit
The frutta di Martorana (marzipan modelled and hand-painted to simulate specific fruits figs, oranges, tangerines, pistachios, prickly pears, strawberries with an extraordinary trompe l’oeil realism) is the most visually arresting single Sicilian pastry product and the one that most directly represents the island’s specific art of making food beautiful before making it edible. The name derives from the Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio in Palermo (La Martorana), whose Benedictine nuns in the 12th century are credited with the development of the marzipan modelling tradition they made the almond paste fruits to decorate the church courtyard trees for a Norman royal visit, producing the first documented example of the trompe l’oeil pastry tradition.
The finest frutta di Martorana is made with pure almond paste (the ratio of almonds to sugar is the primary quality variable the finest versions use a higher almond proportion), hand-modelled without moulds by craftsmen who have spent years developing the specific skills and hand-painted with food-grade pigments applied with a delicacy that approaches miniature painting. The best address for frutta di Martorana in Palermo is the Pasticceria Fratelli Magri on Via Maqueda, whose window display of the marzipan fruits in season is one of the most beautiful single food displays in the Mediterranean. Read our complete what to buy in Sicily guide.
Sfince di San Giuseppe
The sfince di San Giuseppe (the cream-filled doughnut of the feast of Saint Joseph, March 19th) is the most specifically seasonal pastry in the Palermitan calendar the large fried dough pastry filled with ricotta, candied citrus peel and chocolate chips, topped with a pistachio and candied cherry decoration, that is prepared and sold exclusively in the days around the feast of San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph’s Day, March 19th). The sfince is the most elaborate and the most specifically Palermitan of the San Giuseppe pastry tradition the Neapolitan tradition has its own zeppole di San Giuseppe (smaller, cream-filled, baked rather than fried) but the Palermitan sfince is larger, more extravagant and more specifically identified with the feast day as a Palermitan civic institution.
Outside the San Giuseppe period, the sfince disappears from the pasticcerie this seasonal exclusivity is an important part of its appeal and distinguishes it from the cannolo and the cassata (available year-round) as the most specifically timed pastry in the Sicilian calendar. The visitor who arrives in Palermo in the week of March 19th and does not eat a sfince di San Giuseppe at one of the historic centre pasticcerie has missed the most specifically Palermitan food experience of the year.
Iris the Palermitan Fried Brioche
The iris is the most specifically Palermitan sweet pastry available at the bar counter the fried brioche filled with ricotta and chocolate chips (or with cream, or with pistachio cream in the contemporary versions) that is the Palermitan street food sweet in the way that the arancina is the Palermitan street food savoury. The iris is named after the opera of the same name (Mascagni’s Iris, 1898) whose Palermo premiere coincided with the pastry’s first commercial appearance; the coincidence of the opera’s Japanese flower theme and the round shape of the pastry produced the name that has stuck for 125 years.
The iris is available at every Palermo bar and pasticceria from morning through the day the warm iris, recently fried, filled with cold ricotta, is the most satisfying combination of temperature and texture available in the Palermitan sweet programme and the specific sweet that most consistently surprises visitors who encounter it for the first time. The pasticceria Cappello on Via Colonna Rotta is the most consistently cited Palermo address for the finest iris.
Granita the Cold Art
The Sicilian granita is not simply a flavoured ice it is the most specifically Sicilian breakfast and the most direct single expression of the island’s specific geography in food form. The granita al caffè (the bitter coffee granita that provides the same caffeine hit as an espresso in a texture and temperature that the espresso cannot provide), the granita di mandorla (the almond granita from the Sicilian almond orchards, floral and sweet), the granita al pistacchio (the vivid green pistachio from the Bronte volcanic terraces) and the granita di gelsi (the mulberry granita, available only in June and July when the Etna slope trees are in fruit) together constitute the most specifically Sicilian food experience available at a bar counter.
The granita with brioche (the fresh brioche bun for dipping into the granita as it softens) is the canonical Sicilian breakfast the specific combination that has been eaten at Sicilian bar counters since the 19th century and that no northern Italian culinary tradition has produced in the same form. The bar that serves the finest granita in Catania is the Savia on Via Etnea; the bar that serves the finest granita di mandorla in the eastern Sicilian tradition is the Gran Caffè La Caffetteria in Noto. Read our complete granita guide.
Paste di mandorla
The paste di mandorla (almond paste biscuits) are the most widely distributed Sicilian pastry product and the one most typically brought home as a food gift the almond biscuits in their various forms (the plain almond biscuit dusted with icing sugar, the almond biscuit flavoured with lemon zest, the almond biscuit with a single whole almond pressed into the top, the pistachio variant using the Bronte pistachio paste) represent the most consistent and most universally available expression of the Sicilian almond tradition. The quality range is enormous the finest paste di mandorla (made with a high proportion of Sicilian almonds, not a French or Spanish substitute) have a specific aromatic intensity and a specific moist-crumbly texture that the industrial version entirely lacks.
The almond paste tradition in Sicily is Arab in origin the Arab agronomists who introduced the almond orchards to the Sicilian agricultural programme in the 9th century also introduced the specific confectionery use of the ground almond as the basis of a sweet paste that the Sicilian monastic kitchen subsequently developed into the marzipan tradition. The paste di mandorla are the most accessible daily expression of this tradition, available at every Sicilian pasticceria and food shop year-round. The finest producer of paste di mandorla in western Sicily is the cooperative of Noto, whose almond orchards on the Hyblaean limestone produce the specific variety (the Romana di Noto almond) most prized for the paste. Read our complete Bronte pistachio guide.
Seasonal Pastries
The Sicilian pastry calendar has a specific seasonal programme that rewards the visitor who arrives at the right time for the right pastry:
Easter (March/April): Cassata (the Easter cake par excellence), cuddureddi (the honey and sesame rings), the agnello pasquale (the marzipan lamb modelled for the Easter table). The specific Easter pastry display at the Palermitan pasticcerie in the week before Easter is the most elaborate and most specifically seasonal sweet display available in Italy.
San Giuseppe (March 19th): Sfince di San Giuseppe (the large fried doughnut described above) and the frittelle di riso (the fried rice fritters of the Palermitan San Giuseppe tradition).
All Souls (November 2nd): Ossa dei morti (the “bones of the dead” hard almond biscuits in the shape of bones) and the specific All Souls pastry tradition of the Sicilian interior towns.
Christmas (December): Buccellati (the fig and almond Christmas ring), cuddureddi (the honey sesame rings), mostaccioli (the spiced honey biscuits of the Val di Noto) and the panettone di Castelbuono (the Fiasconaro panettone widely considered the finest in Italy).
Where to Find the Finest Sicilian Pastry
The finest Sicilian pastry is found at the historic pasticcerie of the main cities the establishments that have been producing the same recipes for 80 to 150 years and whose specific interpretation of the classic preparations represents the reference standard for each city’s pastry tradition:
Palermo: Pasticceria Cappello (Via Colonna Rotta finest iris and cassata in the city), Pasticceria Fratelli Magri (Via Maqueda finest frutta di Martorana), Pasticceria Alba (Via Libertà reference cassata address). Read our complete best restaurants Palermo guide.
Catania: Pasticceria Savia (Via Etnea finest granita al pistacchio and arancino), Pasticceria Russo (Via Etnea finest paste di mandorla and cannolo). Read our complete best restaurants Catania guide.
Noto: Pasticceria Mandorla d’Oro (Via Cavour finest paste di mandorla in southeastern Sicily, using the Romana di Noto almond). Read our complete where to eat Noto guide.
Modica: Bonajuto (Corso Umberto I oldest chocolate shop in Sicily, finest Modica chocolate and mostaccioli). Read our complete Modica guide.
FAQ about Sicilian Pastry
What is the most famous Sicilian pastry?
The cannolo is the most internationally famous the fried pastry tube filled with sweetened sheep’s milk ricotta that has become the global symbol of Sicilian (and Italian-American) food culture. The cassata is the most elaborate the baroque ricotta and marzipan cake that represents the highest expression of the Sicilian monastic pastry tradition. The granita is the most specifically daily the flavoured ice that defines the Sicilian breakfast culture from June through September.
What makes Sicilian pastry different from other Italian pastry?
Three specific differences: the use of sheep’s milk ricotta (specific to Sicily, fundamentally different from the cow’s milk ricotta of mainland Italian pastry), the Arab-derived confectionery tradition (the almond paste, the sugar, the pine nuts and raisins in savoury-sweet combinations) and the specific Baroque visual tradition (the cassata, the frutta di Martorana) that treats pastry as an art form rather than simply a food.
What is the best Sicilian pastry to bring home as a gift?
Paste di mandorla (almond paste biscuits) travel well and keep for 2 to 3 weeks; the Noto cooperative paste are the reference quality. Modica chocolate (the cold-process Aztec chocolate) is the most internationally distinctive Sicilian food gift and travels perfectly. Pistachio cream from Bronte is the most specifically volcanic Sicilian product and available at the Bronte cooperative shops and at Catania airport.
The Sweet Heritage
The specific quality of Sicilian pastry is the quality of its inheritance. The almond paste tradition that the Arab agronomists introduced in the 9th century has been refined, elaborated and specifically Sicilianised over 1,100 years of continuous practice in the island’s monastic and domestic kitchens. The cassata that the Benedictine nuns of Palermo developed from the Arab qas’at is not a historical reconstruction it is the continuous product of a tradition that has never stopped. The frutta di Martorana that the Norman royal court admired is still being made by hand in the Via Maqueda workshops using the same materials in the same forms. Sicilian pastry is not a heritage product in the museum sense. It is a living tradition, daily and local, that has the specific quality of things that have been made every day for a very long time by people who understand what they are making and why it matters.
For the complete Sicilian sweet picture, read our cannoli guide, our granita guide, our Sicilian desserts guide and our Sicilian food guide.
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