Historical story

Renaissance pastry:the most popular sweets and news

Sumptuous and varied Renaissance patisserie

What characteristics did the Renaissance pastry shop have?

If in the Middle Ages this art had remained almost confined within the walls of the monasteries, starting from the 1500s it made a comeback and also spread among the population.

The discovery of America radically changed European gastronomy and eating habits ( see also: https://www.pilloledistoria.it/12401/storia-moderna/lo-zucchero-cucina-rinascimentale).

Some hitherto unknown foods arrived on our tables to never leave them again.

However, the tastes were different and some typical South American dishes underwent changes, even the desserts.

The typical pre-Columbian chocolate , just to give an example, it was considered too spicy.

European Renaissance pastry made extensive use of vanilla and sugar, but also cocoa forcefully entered the dough.

What's new?

First of all the confetti, should be mentioned more or less the same as we know today, and candied fruit.

A dessert that was also popular was the so-called "milk snow" , made with whipped cream, sugar and various aromas, very similar to today's chantilly cream.

Finally we began to experiment with pasta reale , made with almonds, a delicacy that we know well even today.

The general line can be said that Renaissance pastry was rather rich and decidedly less repetitive and monotonous than that of previous centuries.

Alongside the novelties, however, we continued successfully to prepare cakes, biscuits and waffles more traditional flavor ( Photo from :blog.giallozafferano.it).