Florentine Pastries & Sweets

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The pastry and sweets shops in Florence were just terrific. They had such interesting displays in their windows that I tried to take photos whenever I could. Following the post on Pinoy Dessert Favorites, I figured a photo tour of Florentine offerings might be nice. I have to admit that I didn’t even taste most of these desserts… between our voluminous meals and the gelatos we were eating almost 2-3 times a day, I figured I would qualify as a glutton if I stuffed myself with even a fraction of these baked goodies. What was interesting is that the stuff wasn’t too fancy or contrived…they kind of looked like they were baked in a home kitchen. Many were seasonal with raspberries and blackberries in full force just as they peaked in the markets… Up top here are mini raspberry tarts with a pastry cream. They looked utterly delicious! I apologize for not having accurate names for each one…it would have been too much to keep track of them all!

Right next to the raspberry tarts were the blackberry ones…

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How about a large slice of panforte?

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Crunchy meringues with a wisp of chocolate…

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Almond brittle…

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Muffins(?) of some sort…

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Short pudgy biscotti…

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Raisin squares…

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And finish them all off with just one or two exquisite fruit jellies!!!

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7 Responses

  1. Those patries look really yummy Marketman! It’s a pity you didn’t get to taste all of them, heheh. Don’t you just love traditional European pastries? Simple and unpretentious, they rely on good technique and good ingredients, not good looks.

    I don’t like it at all when my food looks better than it tastes. You know the type that looks too structured, as if it’s a collaboration between an architect and a structural engineer? You get really excited then you find out its taste doesn’t quite live up to expectations. Anticlimactic.

  2. Chris, I totally agree, leave those architectural and color wonders for photo shoots…give me sould and flavor any day. The desserts in florence were so driven by the fruit in the market that week that the connection was immediately obvious and totally sincere…imagine a day at the market picking up several boxes of blackberries…walking down the road and having two freshly made blackberry tarts then several hours later, freshly made gelato with blackberries…yum!

  3. The desserts/pastries i really like the most or at the top of my list are the ones that has fruits or nuts in it and seeing those berry tarts make me crave. . . .mmmm

  4. Are the almonds in Italy a different shape? The brittle looked liked peanuts or pinenuts.
    The tarts look amazing, I can just imagine the sweet, silky, and tart flavors blending on the palate. Will now scrounge in the fridge for any desserts….

  5. Mila, I think these were skinned almonds (just the white part, then split in half…or at least that’s what I thought…but they’re definitely not pine nuts as the brittle in real life was quite large and I am pretty sure they aren’t peanuts… coming up, gelato photos…talk about sweet hits!

  6. they look so good!! i showed my mom your photos and the panforte–hehe, it is her frustration. she cannot make it properly! :)

    gelatos are the best!!! i can’t wait to see them! when we were in florence–i ordered a scoop of baci flavored gelato and the gelato guy said (which my sister translated for me) “oh no, not here signorina!” (he can’t kiss me there daw–heehee. such flirts!)

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