Acclaimed food historian and cookbook author Francine Segan takes home cooks on a virtual tour of Italy with more than 125 recipes for cookies, cakes, sweet breads, crostate, pastries and more. Time-tested recipes for beloved favourites such as cannoli, biscotti and olive oil cake are featured along with unusual regional specialties, such as Rosemary and Grape Focaccia, Licorice Granita and Hazelnut Chocolate Pasta. Segan has a gift for making each recipe come to life by sharing the stories of the countless cooks she learned them from: Italian grandmothers and hip, young foodies, famous pastry chefs and bakery owners, food writers and internationally renowned sweet manufacturers. This book includes the dessert recipes Italian food experts surveyed by Segan herself consider most essential, as well as modern inventions destined to become classics. Along with recipes, readers will find detailed sidebars on subjects as diverse and compelling as legendary pastry artisans, national and local candy-making festivals, highly specialized, ancient Carnival, Easter and Christmas desserts and wines, liquors and digestives to complement the host of sweet offerings. Quite simply, this is an unprecedented contribution to the eternally popular universe of Italian cookbooks.