Italy from the Inside

Il cestino di Natale

Cestino di Natale- Italy from the Inside

Photo by Francesca Tosolini

This cestino di Natale all’italiana (the Italian Christmas basket), which I spotted today at Eataly, the high-end food store/restaurant chain that is becoming so popular in Italy, clearly shows which food represents the Italian tradition, especially when it comes to gift-giving.

That is pasta, balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, olive oil, dried mushrooms, gourmet chocolate, coffee, wine, pesto sauce, cotechino (a large pork sausage, typically served with lentils and eaten on New Year’s Eve), honey, orange marmalade, chestnut cream, spumante (sparkling wine), and so on.

How to say Merry Christmas in Italian (and what it means)

Christmas in Rome- Italy from the Inside

Photo by Francesca Tosolini

Probably many of you know that the most common way to say Merry Christmas in Italian is Buon Natale, however, how many of you know what Natale means? The word comes from Latin natus which means “to be born”, plus the suffix -alem which indicates belonging, therefore Natale means “the day belonging to the birth (of Jesus)”.

Same Italian Christmas cake recipe, 6 years later…

Every year Christmas brings joy, presents and a wide range of Christmas recipes. The one I’m sharing with you today is actually a recipe that we posted back in 2011. However, since it’s an Italian classic and super easy to make, I’m going to share it with you once more.

Introducing, again, the pandoro farcito con crema al mascarpone.

Italian Christmas cake recipe

What you need:
– 1 pandoro (if you cannot find it in the stores, check on Amazon)
– 2 egg yolks
– 4 tbsp sugar
– 3 tbsp mascarpone cream
– powdered sugar
– Gianduiotti chocolate (optional)

First beat the egg yolks with the sugar, then add the mascarpone cheese until you get a smooth cream. Set aside.
Cut the pandoro in 5 layers.
Spread the crema al mascarpone on each layer (the more liquid the better, it will make the cake softer).
Place each layer back, without matching the edges, in order to create a Christmas tree-like shape.
I used Gianduiotti chocolate to decorate the cake, but you can use any other decoration, sometimes we even use small candles.
Finally, sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar and decorate the top with your favorite object (I “borrowed” baby Jesus from the nativity).

Buono, buono, anzi, buonissimo!