Italian pastry recipes

Italian fried knots dipped in honey glaze and topped with colorful non-pareils. A traditional Italian-American holiday pastry with a crispy, golden shell and sweet honey coating.

Oysters Mosca: chopped fresh oysters cooked down with garlic, scallions, lemon, and Romano cheese, then spooned into puff pastry shells. The classic Italian-Creole New Orleans appetizer from the legendary Mosca's restaurant.

Farfallette Dolci are Italian bow-tie fried pastries flavored with orange and almond, tied into loose knots and dusted with powdered sugar. A traditional Italian Carnevale sweet with a crisp, delicate shatter.

Jamaican beef patties with a flaky shortening crust and a spiced ground beef filling with thyme, scallion, paprika, and hot pepper. Baked golden in hand-held half-moons.

Masterclass frozen raspberry souffle layered with crisp almond meringue discs and Italian meringue mousse with whipped cream, served with raspberry puree. A pastry chef's showpiece.

Italian frangipane custard with ground almonds, cooked like pastry cream then cut into squares. Traditional holiday treat similar to Turkish delight in texture.

Breakfast sausage bread rolls mild and hot Italian sausage, mushrooms, onion, and mozzarella into a stuffed jelly-roll loaf for sliceable, freezer-friendly brunch wedges that beat any boxed pastry.

Classic Italian ricotta torte in a double-crust pastry with ricotta, cream cheese, candied fruit, and a splash of rum or brandy. Silky, not heavy.

Italian sausage and ricotta filling with spinach, pine nuts, and garlic for yeast pastry pockets. Savory hand pies baked golden with an egg wash crust.

Italian crostata di frutta with a lemon-scented shortcrust pastry, homemade crema pasticcera, fresh seasonal fruit, and an apricot jam glaze. A classic bakery-style tart.

Italian rum cake with a dense sour cream butter cake sliced into six layers, soaked with dark rum, and filled with lemon pastry cream. A showstopping celebration dessert.

Roman pepper pastry crust made with lard, coarsely ground black pepper, and egg. A savory, peppery Italian dough for pizzas and savory pies that rests in 30 minutes.

Tomato cheese tart with provolone, Parmesan, fresh basil, and thick tomato slices baked in a blind-baked pastry shell. A savory Italian-style tart best with peak-season tomatoes.

Italian fig and raspberry crostata with almond cream filling on a buttery sweet pastry crust. Fresh figs, scattered berries, and a dusting of powdered sugar make this tart stunning.

Prosciutto di Parma with warm fig tartlets drapes salty-sweet prosciutto over individual pastry rounds baked with fresh fig halves. A stunning Italian appetizer for summer or early fall entertaining.

An elegant French strawberry chibouste-style dessert: pastry cream lightened with Italian meringue, set with gelatin, molded against fresh strawberries over a thin genoise base. A patisserie classic at home.