Pignolata (
Sicilian: ''Pignulata'') is a
Sicilian pastry, which originated in
Messina and is also common in
Calabria. It is a soft pastry, covered in
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...
and
lemon
The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China.
The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...
-flavoured syrup or icing. This pastry is half covered or iced in one flavouring and the other half in the other flavour, which hardens when the pignolata is ready to be served. Each pastry serves several people, and is meant to be cut into small pieces when served. In Sicily, this dessert was made for Carnevale, the last celebration before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.
Pignolata can be also made of small portions of fried pastry, like large pearls, in a hot honey sauce, with chopped almonds or hazelnuts. Before serving, they are set on a plate, as a crown, with chopped nuts sprinkled over the top.
See also
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Struffoli
Struffoli also known as Honey Balls (; nap, struffule ) is a Neapolitan dish made of deep fried balls of sweet dough. The dough is used in many Italian sweet treats such as chiacchiere. For struffoli, the dough is formed in to balls about the s ...
*
Croquembouche
A ''croquembouche'' () or ''croque-en-bouche'' is a French dessert consisting of choux pastry puffs piled into a cone and bound with threads of caramel. In Italy and France, it is often served at weddings, baptisms and first communions.
Name
T ...
*
List of doughnut varieties
Doughnuts are a type of fried dough food. The following is a list of doughnut varieties.
Variations and specialties by region
The terms below constitute either names for different doughnut types created using local recipes, or for the local la ...
References
{{pastries
Cuisine of Calabria
Cuisine of Sicily
Italian desserts
Italian pastries
Messina
Cuisine of Messina
Carnival foods