Desserts

Meals in Italy usually end with a strong espresso. Cakes and pastries are more often eaten at breakfast than as a dessert, and ice creams in the street.

Not all the desserts in this chapter are Italian but they are consistent with the food we cook at the River Cafe – strong in flavour and uncomplicated. Our lemon tart has more lemon than eggs, the chocolate cakes have no flour and depend on the best and most bitter chocolate; ripe peaches are simply grilled and then marinated in Amaretto. Our ice creams are intense with a larger than usual proportion of egg yolks to milk and cream, but this richness is offset by making them less sweet.