Amaretti, the famous Italian almond cookies are so popular in their homeland that almost every region has their version of the recipe, using different proportions and combinations of the basic ingredients: sweet and bitter almonds, apricot kernels, eggs, and sugar.
Mombaruzzo, a small town near Asti in Piedmont region is renowned for their version – crunchy amaretti di Mombaruzzo, made with sugar, egg whites, sweet almonds, and finely ground apricot kernels.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Along with honey, sugar, glucose syrup, and egg whites, the other main ingredient in torrone di nocciole is the local Piedmontese hazelnut. Cities in the region have their local version of torrone di nocciole, most noted of which are torrone Asti and torrone d'Alba e delle Langhe.
It was invented in the 19th century by the confectioner Giuseppe Sebaste — because they were cheaper and accessible, he opted for local Langhe hazelnuts instead of the more typical almonds. Torrone di nocciole was initially a Christmas treat only, but nowadays, one can enjoy them every day of the year.
Cornmeal is widely used in northern Italian cuisine, in dishes which can be either savory or sweet. The region of Piedmont is renowned for their paste di meliga (meliga is a local name for polenta), crunchy cornmeal shortbread-style biscuits.
Made with a mixture of wheat and corn flour, sugar, vanilla, grated lemon zest, egg yolks, and butter, they are simple, yet very delicious. These little golden gems are traditionally served with zabaione and a glass of sweet dessert wine, but they also go wonderfully with espresso or a cup of tea on the side.
The decadent, chocolate-laden Torta Novecento (cake nine hundred), was created by a renowned Canavese master pastry chef Ottavio Bertinotti to celebrate the turn of the 20th century – hence the name. This seemingly simple cake, consisting of a mousse-like chocolate filling sandwiched between two layers of cocoa-flavored sponge cake, eventually became so popular that Bertinotti, tired of countless knockoffs being passed off as the real thing, finally patented the secret recipe for Novecento in 1964.
In 1972, he sold the recipe rights to Umberto Balla, founder and owner of Pasticceria Balla. His family-run pastry shop has been making the famous Torta 900 ever since, thus establishing itself as a culinary landmark of Ivrea.
MOST ICONIC Torta 900
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “4 Worst Rated Piedmontese Desserts” list until March 26, 2025, 1,143 ratings were recorded, of which 928 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.