25 Classic Italian Desserts That Are Perfect for Any Occasion

When you want to please a crowd, one surefire plan is to opt for Italian food, and this is just as true when you hit the dessert course. We’re all for innovation, but when you’ve got a good thing, why reinvent the wheel? From Italian cookies to creamy gelato, these are dolci as we want them and as we have come to expect, and they will always conclude a meal with smiles. Wondering where to start? You can't go wrong with tiramisu. Yes, it does consume some time to assemble one, like this uber-traditional one from Alex Guarnaschelli, but there will be nothing outside of your skill set. Make it once, and you’ll be hooked, not from the gasps of delight of anyone you serve it to, but from those creamy, cool flavors that are truly the ultimate pick-me-up.

If you have a memory of walking into an Italian bakery in America and breathing in the aromas of almond, sugar and orange peel, you probably also have an image of a mountain of these sitting in the bakery case. They are elegant but also home-run kid pleasers.

Italian cheesecake is at once more delicate and more dense than an American-style, and it can make for a very satisfying, not-too-sweet dessert.

Alex says, "I love a cup of seriously strong coffee and a cannoli from an Italian bakery on Bleeker Street in Manhattan. When I am making these at home, I am holding them up to the standard of those memories. The dessert really comes together in two parts: make the shell, thin and crispy, and then make a filling with serious flavor." The recipe mentions filling right before serving, and this is key to keeping the shells crisp.

If you’ve traveled to Sicily, or perhaps especially if you haven’t, you’ll want to give in to the Sicilian genius of pairing a scoop of gelato with buttery brioche bread. There, it’s often served for breakfast (hey, it’s hot there) but it is just as much a treat for dessert.

Anne’s one-bowl take on these almond-scented cookies, studded with pignoli, are truly a classic, at home on a cookie tray, on the rim of an espresso saucer, or stuck into the side of a scoop of ice cream.

A first bite of panna cotta is a revelation: cool, creamy, light, tasting of vanilla and pairing excellently with just about any flavor, whether that be fresh fruit or a balsamic reduction. Michael Symon gets it right, including some Greek yogurt for a fabulous tang.

These are amaretti cookies in ideal form, with crisp exteriors and sticky, chewy interiors. Almond flour and almond extract gives them all the flavor they need.

Look, we get it—deep-frying is a project. That’s why we think you’ll love the ease of this recipe, where you can get straight to the frying and eating without fussing with whipping up a dough. One bite and you’ll be transported right to the state fair.

These delicate, crisp cookies prettify a cookie tray by about a thousandfold, but their intricate design comes from an iron, so making them is about as involved as making waffles. They come in many flavors, but the classic is anise. Serve them flat or roll them around a cone mold to make homemade ice cream cones.

We have yet to meet someone who can resist ordering one of these when they’re on a menu. An ice cream ball with a chocolate coating (Geoffrey Zakarian goes with cookie crumbles) and cherry surprise in the center, it’s sort of an inside-out ice cream sundae and an absolute treat.

We love Guy’s larger-than-life take on struffoli, oversized so that beneath the honeyed shell you get a soft, pillowy interior, gentle flavored with orange zest and enhanced with the crunch and richness of pine nuts.

This really falls under the category of keeping it simple, but with a huge impact. Light, custardy zabaglione sauce enhances the brightness of fresh berries. Anyone who has never eaten zabaglione before will not soon forget it.

Ina’s sophisticated plum tart lets the flavor of summer plums shine, underlined with a nip of crème de cassis. We love its simplicity, with the same dough that makes the crust crumbled into a toasty topping.

Do we even need to tell you why you need rainbow cookies? Those tiny bites of almond cake, topped off with a slick of dark chocolate, are the original Italian petit fours, and here’s their happy secret: Their adorableness is easily produced, even by a novice baker.

You’re practically transported to the old country just on sight of this log ostensibly fashioned to look like a stick of meat, and slicing into it only keeps the charade going. But honestly, the textural interestingness and deep, bittersweet chocolatiness should make it a classic stateside as well.

These homey and happy knots are a cross between a cookie and a cake, bright with the flavor of lemon and coated with a puckery, lemony glaze and pastel sprinkles. They are fun to make, and to devour.

Eating one of these out of a little paper cup cues up the nostalgia, big time. When it’s too hot or you’re too full to even think of dessert, one of these is both refreshing and thirst-quenching at the same time.

As Nigella notes, this cake’s rustic texture and lemony flavor makes it ideal for dessert, but also for an afternoon snack with some tea. Okay, and breakfast too, who are we kidding?

Those Italian-flag colors mean that these spiraled treats from Jeff Mauro make excellent Christmas cookies, as well! Cherry and pistachio are a favorite Italian pairing.

The utter delight produced by a platter of struffoli cannot be overstated. The little bits of fried dough (that do look uncannily like chickpeas) rolled in honey for a sticky sweetness and topped with confetti sprinkles are a serious party to dismantle and eat.