Carnival Desserts in Italy: Names and Recipes by Region

Carnival desserts are a key element of the celebrations along with the masks, which are indispensable for the festivities of Carnival.

Carnival sweets are traditional recipes that sweeten the parades and parties, in the atmosphere of excesses and pleasures typical of Carnival.

For the most part, the carnival sweets in Italy are fried, simple, and made from few ingredients, but they are rich and tasty.

There are also lighter versions and similar recipes that can be baked, but let's just say that imposing a ban on eating fried foods during Carnival is a challenging task.

Each region and country has its variations, typically named in dialect, which in some cases differ only slightly.

In this guide, you will find all the typical carnival sweets to taste or prepare at home.

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Fried sweets, however, remain the undisputed symbol of Carnival in Italy. Krapfen, popular in South Tyrol, are balls of leavened and fried dough filled with cream or homemade jam.

Castagnole are the queens of Carnival and are found all over Italy, although everyone calls them differently. They are soft dough balls, either filled or plain and fried. Frittole, for example, are similar to castagnole and are the typical Venetian version.

Frittelle are prepared in Mantua and Cragnoli in Molise. Zeppole are made all over the peninsula, although in certain regions they are a typical dessert for the Feast of St. Joseph. They are cream puffs (baked or fried) and filled with cream and sour cherry.

Chiacchiere have different names in every region and city (bugie, cenci, frappe, sfrappe, sfrappole, manzole, crostoli, galani, intrigoni, lattughe, maraviglias, fiocchi, fiocchetti), and then there are Carnival Arancini (found in the Marche) and Cicerchiata, which is eaten in Umbria, Marche, and Abruzzo.

In Abruzzo, there are Bocconotti, sweets filled with almonds, chocolate, and cooked must. Pignolata is a dessert similar to struffoli but shaped like a pine cone, fried in lard and covered in honey, traditionally prepared during Carnival in Calabria. In lower Lazio, they make Cecamarini, which are very similar to pignolata but smaller and pebble-shaped.

In Molise, they eat Scorpelle, round and fried desserts similar to zeppole. In Sardinia, they prepare Cattas, fried doughnuts. In Piedmont, they make Friciò, fritters with apples and raisins and bugie.

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Carnival literally means "farewell to meat." During the celebrations, according to an ancient tradition, people indulge in meat and good food before entering the period of fasting and privations of Christian Lent. It is traditional for meals across various Italian regions to not lack pork, the quintessential fatty food, especially on Fat Tuesday and throughout Carnival.

Each region has its own carnival recipes. In Campania, they prepare lasagna filled with eggs, meatballs, and cheese.

In Ivrea, where the famous Orange Battle is held, they eat fagioli grassi: a dish of beans and pork. The carnival dish of Liguria is ravioli with tocco (meat sauce) and pork chops.

In Sardinia, they eat lard with fava beans abundant at all the events of Sardinian Carnival. Scrippelle are typical of Abruzzo and are thin crepes made of flour, eggs, and water, served soaked in hen broth.

In Puglia, they have an abundance of panzerotti, which are fried dough filled with ground pork.

The origin of chiacchiere is ancient and dates back even further than Carnival itself. During the Saturnalia (the ancient pagan festival that is the precursor to Carnival), Roman women would prepare rectangles of fried dough in pork fat very similar to modern chiacchiere.

The dough is made by rolling out a simple mixture of flour and water, then fried and dusted with powdered sugar. They are enjoyed throughout Italy, although they have different names and slightly varying shapes everywhere.

Castagnole are along with chiacchiere the quintessential carnival dessert in Italy. They are small balls of fried dough made with flour, butter, lemon zest, yeast, and sugar. Of course, every region and every family has its variations.

There are castagnole with sambuca, ricotta, rum or pastry cream. Everyone can also enjoy experimenting with creative variants with different liqueurs and alternative fillings. It is possible to make baked castagnole, gluten-free or vegan, without losing the tasty and distinctly carnival flavor of the castagnole.

Sicilian pastry does not need an introduction because it is one of the most famous and appreciated in the whole island.

Alongside the ubiquitous and representative sweets of Sicily (cannoli, frutta martorana, iris, cassate, and cassatine), there are the typical Carnival desserts. Among these, in addition to classic chiacchiere, there are pignolata and teste di turco.

Pignolata is a dish of fried gnocchi covered in chocolate glaze. The 'teste di turco' in the area of Scicli are enjoyed all year round and are similar to cream puffs filled with ricotta or cream.

The Ambrosian Carnival takes place in Milan and is perhaps one of the largest and longest-standing in Italy, accompanied by traditional desserts made expressly for it.

Chiacchiere in Milan are typically baked. The 'farsòe' are the St. Joseph's zeppole, which have a variant called 'làciàditt,' similar to fried pastries but enriched with apple cubes in the dough with a variant that includes raisins.

The traditional sweets of Venice Carnival have an ancient origin rooted in the gastronomy of Roman festivities.

Galani are similar to chiacchiere and are very thin. Frittelle, on the other hand, are made from a dough of water, flour, yeast, and raisins, traditionally fried in lard. In Venetian dialect, they are called Fritoe, and they are very similar to castagnole and are served everywhere during Carnival days.

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