Sicilian Pastries: The Classics and How to Make Them

Sicilian pastries are some of the richest in Italy. Fresh ricotta, almonds, pistachios and candied fruit turn up again and again, a mix that reflects the island’s long history of trade and its many outside influences. This guide covers the classics, with a photo of each and a link to our recipe.

This page is part of our guide to Italian pastries.

What Makes a Pastry Sicilian?

• Ricotta. Sweetened ricotta, often from sheep’s milk, fills cannoli, cassatelle, iris and sciù.
• Almonds and pistachios. Sicily grows both, and almonds are the heart of pastries like pizzicotti and pantofole.
• Candied fruit and citrus. Candied orange and citron add color and a bitter-sweet note to fillings.
• Frying. Many Sicilian classics, from cannoli shells to graffe, are fried.

Classic Sicilian Pastries

Cannoli

The best known Sicilian pastry. A thin dough made with wine is wrapped around metal tubes and fried until crisp and blistered, then piped full of sweet ricotta just before serving. Chocolate chips, candied orange and pistachios are the classic add-ins. Make our Sicilian cannoli.

Cassatelle

Half-moons of soft wine dough folded around sweet ricotta. Around Trapani and much of Sicily they are fried. Our recipe bakes them, which is simpler at home, and explains how to fry them instead. Make our cassatelle siciliane.

Cassatella di Sant’Agata (minne di Sant’Agata)

A feast-day pastry from Catania, made for Saint Agatha. Little domes of shortcrust hold ricotta, chocolate and candied fruit, and each one is covered in white icing with a candied cherry on top. Make our cassatelle di Sant’Agata.

Iris

Palermo’s breakfast favorite. In the cafes it is a ball of brioche-style dough filled with ricotta and chocolate chips, then breaded and fried. Our home version wraps the same filling in a buttery dough and bakes it. Make our iris pastries.

Pantofola

A winter and Christmas specialty of Lercara Friddi, a small town near Palermo. Semolina shortcrust is folded around a filling of toasted almonds and candied orange, baked and brushed with a white lemon glaze. Make our pantofole.

Testa di turco

A showpiece from Scicli, in the Ragusa area of southeastern Sicily. It is a large, turban-shaped dessert of crisp fried dough layered with lemon custard and finished with cinnamon. Make our testa di turco.

Ciarduni

A pastry-shop sweet from western Sicily. Shortcrust is baked around a tube into a crisp shell, brushed with syrup, rolled in chopped almonds or hazelnuts and filled with sweet ricotta. Make our ciarduni.

Pizzicotti

Small, soft almond pastries found in Sicilian pastry shops, pinched into shape before they bake. If you like almond paste, these are for you. Make our almond pizzicotti.

Sciù

The Sicilian take on the cream puff. Light choux pastry shells are filled with sweet ricotta cream instead of custard, often with chocolate chips mixed in. Make our Sicilian sciù.

Ricotta and chocolate graffe

Fluffy fried doughnuts made from a soft yeast dough and rolled in sugar. This Trapani-style version is filled with ricotta and chocolate. Make our ricotta and chocolate graffe.

Pignolata messinese

Messina’s Carnival sweet. Small pieces of fried dough are piled into a mound, then one side is covered in a white lemon glaze and the other in chocolate. Make our pignolata messinese.

More Cannoli

Once you know the shells, try these fillings:

• Chocolate cannoli, with a filling made without ricotta
• Pistachio cream cannoli
• Limoncello cannoli
• Ricotta cannoli squares
• Cannoli tiramisu

Sicilian Pastries Compared

Looking for pastries from the rest of the south? See our Italian pastries guide and our guide to Neapolitan pastries.