Sunday dessert: journey of the senses between taste and tradition

Ours is a country with a thousand faces and a thousand realities and of which it is difficult to summarize, in a few strokes, the main characters and multiple nuances. However, there is one aspect, a ritual capable of overcoming regionalisms and which, albeit with different variations, brings everyone together: it is the tradition of the Sunday cake .

Obviously there is no a Sunday dessert: every region, every city and every town has its own recipe, to which it is closely linked, partly out of parochialism, partly for reasons of the heart.

Heart, yes: because the Sunday dessert is not simply a matter of quantity, weight, temperature, procedure. On the contrary, its value also and above all lies in its ability to evoke in us the images, smells, sensations, happy memories of our childhood. Like when on Sunday morning you were woken up by the scent of the cake baking in the oven and you couldn’t wait for it to cool down so you could taste a slice, before your mother or grandmother intervened to appease your hopes and enthusiasm by saying: “No, not now. It’s for lunch”!

Beyond this, it is the aromas and that expectation that we are fond of and that today are evoked every time we go back to taste the sweets typical of our places of origin and of our childhood and every time that the Sunday dessert ritual is renewed.

To each his own

Italy, as we well know, is a country with strong and consolidated traditions, especially in the kitchen and pastry. There is to be amazed in front of the number and the infinite variety of sweets and other delicacies from which we can choose.

For example, in the Marche custom dictates that it isn’t Sunday without the donut to be soaked in wine or without the cream (a sort of trifle), while in Tuscany it is forbidden conclude the lunch without castagnaccio or cantuccini.

In Bari the day of celebration is honored with donuts, the real ones: be wary of imitations! In Naples, on the other hand, there is a dessert for every occasion, but the sfogliatelle, to be enjoyed with coffee, are a must.

In the Northern regions, on Sundays strudel, sbrisolona, torte di latte and bònet (the typical Piedmontese chocolate pudding and amaretti biscuits) are prepared.

And then there are all those traditions which, in a transversal way, are found well rooted and consolidated in kitchens and pastry shops throughout Italy. Like tiramisù in its many variations: classic based on ladyfingers and coffee, with strawberries, chocolate, pistachio, like the famous one from Bar Pompi in Rome.

And like the timeless, as well as very Sunday, tray of pastries. Depending on the place, they are called differently, pastas, pastarelle, pastries, etc., but the substance remains more or less the same: a selection of assorted mignons such as puffs with various flavors, millefeuille, lobster tails, tarts and tartlets of fruit, cannoli, dry biscuits, meringues, to be enjoyed in company at the end of the lunch.

Journey of the senses, mind and heart

The artists of Italian pastry making these strong and appreciated traditions their own, enhancing them and making them a real world heritage site! They have been able to undertake and successfully carry on a path that from the past and through innovative choices has led them up to today for the joy and delight of our palates, but not only. In fact, a dessert is not simply the final course of lunch but a complex and multifaceted experience capable of making us travel 360° in space, history and culture and telling a story made up of flavours, colours, aromas and experiences.

And, above all, the dessert represents beauty, happiness and sharing: it is what, perhaps unconsciously, our mind associates with those moments of celebration and relaxed serenity in company and that our heart guards.

For this reason, those who make the sweets must know how to tell about themselves and transmit love , as well as the place. The pastry shop represents the origin of the journey, so it cannot be limited to being just a laboratory or a simple place: on the contrary, it must show its history and soul and be able to arouse the emotions of those who are looking for a moment of happiness.

Is all this possible? What are the characteristics and aspects that can make a pastry shop capable of making us travel with the senses, with the mind and with the heart?

How can a pastry shop arouse emotion?

Being able to arouse emotions means being able to stimulate and make the strings of the customers’ hearts play. But how? Let’s try, below, to collect three suggestions to make the trip to your own pastry shop unforgettable.

1. Telling about oneself without becoming fossilized

The pastry shop must tell itself and its history, whose roots are deeply anchored in traditions, without however crystallizing in the glory of the past. The past is important and constitutes that essential element that binds us to memories and memories, but equally fundamental is the ability to innovate, both in design and in recipes, so as to always be ready to satisfy desires of customers of all ages.

2. Identify yourself without distorting yourself

Pastry making must represent a unique experience, so it is important to identify which are the aspects, characters and peculiarities that make up its identity and make the most of them. Without however losing sight of one’s own nature and personality, made up of recipes but also of style, aesthetics, rituals and attention to detail.

3. Fall in love

As we have already seen before, dessert evokes moments of happiness and transmits love. So every aspect inside the pastry shop, the place where these feelings are born, must do the same: everything must be tidy, serene, relaxed, the design balanced, the staff smiling and calm, the music in the background enveloping but not intrusive, the bewitching but not overpowering aromas.

The pastry shop must like itself and give itself and its products the kind of attention reserved for a lover: and when love is in the air, everything is wrapped up in it.

It is among these objectives and needs that the experience and commitment of FB Showcases move every day, leading us in search of maximum performance and perfect design, through a sweet journey of the senses between taste and tradition.

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