More Party Fuel for Your Carnevale Celebration

Catholics around the world continue to celebrate Carnevale with food and festivals in preparation for the Lenten season. The six-week-long fasting period and Carnevale is an opportunity to eat the foods prohibited during the fast. Across Italy, Italians eat a variety of delicious sweet treats as part of the festivities. Here are 6 more Carnevale foods worth trying:

Schiacciata alla Fiorentina 

Schiacciata translates to crushed, and this Carnevale dish is literally a flat, crushed cake. The cake is specific to Florence where it has historically been served on Fat Tuesday, although now is generally available during Carnevale. The sponge is typically bright golden yellow. In pastry shops, the cake is decorated with the giglio, meaning lily, the symbol of Florence, using cocoa powder and white sugar to create a contrasting image. 

Berlingozzo 

Another Tuscan treat is the berlingozzo cake. It is a circular cake with a hole in the center and some versions are tall like a bundt cake while others are somewhat more squat. The name originates from berlingaccio, a “Commedia dell'Arte '' figure in early Italian theater referring to the mask and costume. In Florence, there is a festival on Shrove Thursday, the last Thursday before the start of Lent, where the Berlingozzo cake is the traditional dessert. The top of the cake is often decorated with colorful confetti. 

Cauciuni

Typical of the Molise region, these are sweet ravioli that have been fried and covered in sugar. The dough is flavored with vermouth and there are a variety of fillings, including a mixture of chickpeas and cocoa; chestnuts; and ricotta. In addition to Carnevale, they are often given away as gifts at Christmas. 

Arancini di Carnevale 

Don't confuse these sweet treats with savory deep-fried rice balls. This specialty of Le Marche is actually a sweet pastry in the shape of a pinwheel. Both dishes are named after oranges, better known in Italian as arancia. The rice balls earned their name because of the round shape while the pinwheels are bursting with orange flavor. There is also a version made with lemons known as Limoncini. The dough of these pinwheels is enriched with milk, rolled flat, and filled with zest before the pinwheels are fried in oil. 

Migliaccio

This cake is associated with the Feast of the Candelora, a Catholic holiday celebrating the purification of the Virgin Mary. Celebrated on February 2, the cake is often part of Carnevale celebrations in Naples. It is a lemon and ricotta cake made with semolina flour, similar to the American cheesecake. The cake’s filling tastes like the innards of Sfogliatelle. 

Strauben

In the very north of Italy on the border with Austria, the South Tyrol region has many customs similar to the northern neighbors. Strauben is described as a sweet pancake, but Americans will recognize this dish as funnel cake. The term comes from the German word straub, meaning messy, curly hair. The dough includes milk, eggs, and grappa, and is swirled into hot oil creating a messy string of fried crispy goodness. Like American funnel cakes, they are served with powdered sugar and sometimes fruity jams.