Food and the memories created by sharing are at the heart of every Italian celebration, and Pasqua, Italian for Easter, is no exception. New York City is home to many Italian bottegas and bakeries that create delicious Easter desserts and treats if you’re looking to leave the baking to the professionals or would like to surprise someone with a gift on their door. Here are some of my top recommendations, many of which are available for online ordering nationwide shipping.
Sogno Toscano
An Italian importer and lifestyle café company, Sogno Toscano brings high-quality Italian products to the US, which remind us why Tuscany, and Italy in general, is a food lover’s dream. Supplying restaurants and home cooks with Italian essentials, such as olive oil, pasta, coffee, biscotti, and truffle specialties, among others, Sogno Toscano satisfies all your Italian ingredient needs. Here are a few of their Easter items:
Colomba, a staple of the Italian Easter table, is a dove-shaped cake with a sugary almond topping. A distant cousin of Panettone, it’s every bit as addictive with generous amount of candied orange peel that enhance each bite of this buttery cake. Wrapped in a floral gift paper and a yellow ribbon, it’s perfect for a present of the self-care kind or for loved ones.
The Pistachio Chocolate Egg, also offered by Sogno Toscano, is a pistachio lover’s delight and a more refined interpretation of a classic. White chocolate is infused with pistachio and then completely covered with finely chopped pistachios, making the crunchy outside a delicious contrast to the melt-in-your mouth chocolate shell.
Both Easter treats are available for purchase at their cafes in NYC and LA, and on e-commerce until March 31st.
Ferrara Bakery and Café NYC
Ferrara needs no introduction as it’s been a Little Italy institution since opening its doors in 1892. Choice is the name of the game at Ferrara, with a large assortment of menu sweets of which to indulge, and there are also some special Easter offerings.
Easter Pastry Assortment serving 10, is a collection of Ferrara’s Easter hits that is perfect if you’re looking for a sweet finale to a family feast. Comprised of an assorted cookie tray, an Egg Casatella, a Struffoli tray and mini Colomba, there’s something for everyone.
The cookie tray is one pound of assorted butter, chocolate, and nut cookies.
Casatella, the delicious Easter Egg Bread that’s braided and studded with eggs, is slightly sweet and great for breakfast or for an afternoon snack.
The Struffoli are puff pastry bites baked until golden and soaked in honey syrup and sprinkled with confetti.
And the Mini Colomba is mildly sweet with a sugary crust, filled with raisins and candied orange and shaped like a dove.
Some of the above offerings are also available for purchase individually as well as other staples, like Pastiera and Pizza Rustica.
Orders can be placed online for nationwide shipping or purchased on site at the bakery (195 Grand Street in Manhattan’s Little Italy), starting 3/11 and up until the week after Easter.
Fortunato Brothers
Established in 1976 and located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, this family-run pastry shop and café is filled with all the pastries and gelato flavors that your heart can desire, so make a stop and pick up a box of pastries along with your Easter goodies.
Fortunato Brothers serves up a taste of tradition with old school classics, such as chocolate bunnies, chocolates baskets filled with treats, and marzipan lambs. The first two, made of bittersweet chocolate, also include Ferrero Rocher bon bons as well as Hershey kisses and mini bars, which the kids will appreciate.
The marzipan lamb, known as Agnelli Pasquali, a pastry that originated in Sicily, is a great gift for the Easter table.
Easter treats can be procured at their store in Williamsburg, while their biscotti are available for shipping nationwide.
Settepani
This company, started by Italian immigrant Nino Settepani, now has three locations: a bakery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; a counter at Time Out New York Market in Dumbo, and an Italian restaurant in Harlem.
Nino and his daughter Bilena, who studied baking and has joined the family business, have become well-known for their panettone, made year-round in Brooklyn and available in a range of flavors. As Bilena recently told Appetito, they also make Colomba Panettone, which is one of their best sellers around Easter.
But that's not all! Settepani has a wide range of Easter-themed treats, including Easter eggs, marzipan lambs, Easter egg bread (with dyed eggs baked right in!), pizza rustica, pastiera di grano, and much more.
New Yorkers can pick up a Colomba at Settepani Bakery, but anyone in the U.S. can order via Goldbelly.
Venchi
This gourmet chocolate and gelato manufacturer originated in Turin in 1878 and has reached every corner of the world with its presence in over 70 countries. Take a stroll through Manhattan, and eventually you’ll pass by a Venchi, with an enticing display of gelato flavors and boxed chocolates to lure you in. Venchi also offers a large assortment of Easter goodies that can conveniently be ordered online.
The cutest goodies are their chocolate animals, individually sized and packaged. Chocolate chicks and bunnies, in milk or dark options, are the sweetest little gifts for the bambini in your life.
Order online or pick up at some of their stores wherever you might be in the world!
MANGIA NYC
With three locations in Manhattan, this gourmet Italian eatery is a favorite of mine for a quick lunch break meal or for afternoon espresso and biscotti. Having tried most of their biscotti, I can attest to their deliciousness. If chocolate is not your thing, MANGIA NYC offers a hand decorated bunny shaped sugar cookie sold individually. It also is available as part of an assortment of boxed biscotti.
Order for delivery in NYC or pick up at one of their stores. Available now until Easter day.
Buona Pasqua!
