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Italian cakes to sweeten the whole Christmas season

Cake, Christmas, Gift, Product / By
Gilber Panettone

Pandoro, Panettone or Panforte? Italian Christmas cakes to taste all through December.

Italians will be gifting their Pandoro, Panettone and Panforte all through December, eating generous slices of Pandoro with cafe latte for breakfast or a piece of Panettone mid-afternoon with a glass of Vin Santo.

The treats taste like cakes, but are actually classed as sweet breads (‘pane’ means bread in Italian). Pandoro and Panforte are made from dough rather than cake batter so no need to feel guilty about eating them at any time of day. They’ve become increasingly popular in UK supermarkets over the years, but if you’ve yet to try an artisanal version like the ones we stock in Amaretto then do give it a shot – they are quite different to the mass produced versions. Crafted with picky customers in mind, they have to stand out amongst a very crowded Italian market so they really are something special. But which to choose?

Pandoro: a melt in the mouth classic

Our favourite of the three treats is without doubt the Pandoro (‘bread of gold’). The tall star-shaped cake is melt in the mouth, light yet in no way dry. It gets its colour from egg yolk, and its appeal lies in its simplicity. Pandoro originally hails from Verona and is a sweet lacy treat covered with icing sugar; delicious.

Panettone: shake it up

For many, the taste of Italian Christmas is the domed Panettone (large bread). The candied treat is wrapped in that brown and gold paper from Milan and can be varied (unlike Pandoro which is always plain). This year we have a variety of flavours in stock: pistachio, chocolate, orange; they are all delicious. We also have a great gluten-free version.

Panforte: great for after dinner

The small round, harder discs of fruit and nuts wrapped in yellow or pink paper are Panforte (‘strong bread’). They hail from Sienna (like the light egg-white, almond and vanilla cakes Ricciarelli) but are eaten all over Italy at Christmas time, and for good reason. They  are filled with Christmasy spices and honey and are slightly chewy. Melt in the mouth sugar paper gives an extra pop; addictive. We also have a gluten-free free Panforte that is almost more delicious than the original. All in all this little cake is  great for an after dinner treat, and goes very well with Christmas spirits and wine – lovely after a cheese plate.

Santangelo Pandoro
Panettone
Panforte di Siena in Amaretto Deli

All of the above cakes are wrapped in card in Christmassy colours. They make a lovely addition for under the tree, to a hamper, or just to eat throughout the Yule-tide season – alongside your classic mince pie of course.

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Buona Pasqua: have a good Easter 2018

Cake, Deli food, Product / By
Home-made Raspberry and Lemon Cake, Amaretto Deli

Looking for something special this Easter?

We’ve got lots of new stock in, including delicious pasta, lovely artisan breadsticks, Amaretti biscuits, fresh Gnocchi and Pesto, as well as our usual favourites…

Fresh Gnocchi in Amaretto Deli, Norwich
Fresh Gnocchi in stock now

If you’re looking for something special for the Easter weekend, do come in tomorrow, Thursday 29th, if you can, as we will be closed right across the Easter weekend – this is a small deli and we like to give the team a proper break.

Artisinal Italian pasta in Amaretto Deli
Artisanal Italian pasta in Amaretto Deli

++We are closed from Friday 30th March, including Saturday 31st March, re-opening Tuesday 3rd April. ++

If we don’t see you before, do have a very happy and restful Easter 2018, and see you next week.

Amaretto Deli

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Join us in ditching the plastic part two: taking out the take-out boxes.

Deli food, Fresh food, Product, Single use plastic / By
Lamb Moussaka and our new cardboard take-out boxes.

Introducing our new cardboard take-away boxes

Last month we blogged about our commitment to ditching single use plastic in Amaretto Deli, after one too many horrifying accounts of what our use of throw-away plastics is doing to our oceans.

We’d just like to update you on where we’re at – yesterday we were proud in introduce our new cardboard take-away hot food boxes, and biodegradable straws. We are also now serving only wooden cutlery.

Macaroni Cheese in cardboard: looking good
Lamb Moussaka loving its new home
A stack of goodness.

Our customers have reacted really positively to these changes – it’s helping us all to feel better about our daily impact on the planet; and we’re going to keep going, watch this space.

Join us – and here’s why

To all the other small businesses (and individuals) out there, we are in many ways more fleet of foot than large businesses, let’s turn that to our advantage. Why don’t you join us in giving people what they want and need – and cut out the plastic, because this battle looms ever larger and we need to keep this revolution moving. Why? Here are some recent developments:

Plastic Island bigger than we thought

If you’re doubting the importance of all this have a look at today’s reports on research published in the journal Nature that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is greater than previously thought. Laurent Lebreton, an oceanographer and lead author of the study says:

‘We need a coordinated international effort to rethink and redesign the way we use plastics. The numbers speak for themselves. Things are getting worse and we need to act now.’

Ocean plastic will triple in the next ten years

Apart from that headache, the ocean plastic problem is set to get worse: only yesterday the Government’s The Foresight Future of the Sea Report warned that the plastic littering the ocean is  currently due to treble in the next ten years. Professor Ed Green said:

‘When people get to see what is in the ocean, and the Blue Planet series and so on have helped people to visualise it, and then I think their reaction is twofold, one is complete wonder at what is there, and in other cases complete horror at what we’re potentially doing to it.’

Still not convinced? How about this report from Orb Media last week that 93% of top bottled water brands are contaminated with micro-plastics (!)

It’s easy to feel hopeless in these circumstances, but there is a great deal we can all do, and we can do it now. Do keep us updated on how you’re getting on, and we’ll do the same.

Good luck with it!

Amaretto Deli

Join us in ditching the plastic part two: taking out the take-out boxes. Read More »

Maple is so last year. Why not try some birch syrup?

Gift, Product / By
North Pennine Birch Syrup

Know a gourmet in your life who is looking to discover something new? Have you ever tried birch syrup? Until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t even heard of it. Then the North Pennine Birch company popped up on twitter, and my curiosity was piqued.

The North Pennines is an area of outstanding beauty located in the far North of England between Carlisle and Darlington and the company is the first producer of birch syrup in the UK – normally it’s produced in Russia, Alaska or Canada. Birch syrup is rarer than its famous maple counter-part, because, amongst other reasons, it is so hard to tap. This makes it something of a speciality.

North Pennine have done a splendid job of bottling this syrup; it is beautifully presented in an elegant bottle with an equally elegant design showcasing their beautiful birch trees. Pop the lid and the syrup that comes out has something of the consistency of balsamic vinegar and a subtle woodland taste, with notes of caramel. Whilst the syrup can be used for sweets, this is no maple substitute; it’s comprised of fructose rather than maple’s sucrose and has a more complex flavour which means it doesn’t taste that sugary. It’s not really for lacing over pancakes but is ideal for glazes, marinades and, (here thanks to the Alaskan websites), vodka, as well as giving a subtle infusion of the forest to cakes and autumn bakes. It’s full of vitamins and minerals (including vitamin C, potassium, manganese, thiamin and calcium); a kind of super-syrup.

Helpfully, North Pennine have a host of lovely recipes on their website, savoury and sweet – and you can order the syrup direct there too; how great to try something new and to support a fantastic and original new UK venture too. It’s a truly unique product – as the Alaskan site Birch Boy says:

“Syrup from each producer has distinctive qualities….Flavour and colour varies, depending on the type of trees, the minerals in the soil, and the different equipment and methods used. The qualities even vary from season to season and day to day.”

So why not try some out. Our favourite recipe on the North Pennine site is the marzipan almond cake with birch plums: but what do you think?

Take a look at the North Pennine Birch website; you can order a bottle direct there too. Let us know what you think if you do…

Maple is so last year. Why not try some birch syrup? Read More »