ISO: ISO Italian dessert for a crowd

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mariadnoca

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Apparently our new mid December family holiday is going to be Italian themed. This will be interesting as these folks have basically never deviated from the same menu at every event I’ve been a part of for 40 or so years. (I’m kinda scared!)

So I’ve been assigned Italian dessert, which makes one first think of tiramisu, yeah me too, but I cannot eat that due to all the caffeine and of course it’s all about me 😉.

So. Need a crowd pleaser and feeder, including kids. Must be Italian. Must be able to travel (locally).

 
My first instinct was Affogato but we are clearly divergent on the caffeine issue. How about Panna cotta tarts? A lot of ways to go with Panna cotta and maybe do variations of fruit syrups or toppings for the kids and kids at heart? e.g. rasberry sauce, blueberry sauce, strawberry...

 
What about lemon tiramisu? It's amazing...you're basically replacing the coffee and coffee liquor with lemons, lemon curd and limoncello. I've made it several times and it's always a winner. Plus it still ties in with Italian as the basic recipe is Lidia Bastianich--and she's Italian.

For some unknown reason, people think it's a light dessert. Ha. hahahahaha.

I've got all the data if you want it.

 
Here is the 6" version (7 dinner guests) BEFORE dinner

....and here is the cake after the hostess's dog climbed up and licked it.

 
Maria, How about Panetone Bread Pudding.....Giada has a wonderful one, but not good for the kids.....Ina Garten has one that has good reviews also.....

 
I’ve never tried making this, mostly because fear of making the shells, but also in fear it won’t be good. I grew up with lots of Italian nonnas around and pretty much in that world one can never live down making bad cannoli. They would whisper under their breaths, oh she’s the one that makes the bad cannoli. At every gathering!

 
Hummm, I’ve only made individual panna cotta in the past. 🧐

I adore coffee, it just hates me. It’s practically an allergic reaction. It’s been decades since I had a bite of tiramisu, but I vividly remember paying a high price for that one bite. 😞

 
Decaf coffee bothers you too Maria? Try making the cannoli cream and put in a bowl as a dip and use pieces of cannoli shells as dippers. Or make super thin wafer cookies as dippers. Should feed a crowd and you don't have to worry about them breaking. :)

 
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