Delicious Corsican desserts
A French island, but geographically much closer to Italy, it's not surprising that these two gastronomic giants have had a major influence on Corsican cuisine. If you look at a dessert menu or the temptingly varied stalls of local bakeries, you'll see many familiar desserts such as tiramisu and brioches, to name but two.
However, you'll also find unknown, truly Corsican sweet treats, whose uniqueness derives from one or both of the local ingredients, chestnut flour and brocciu.
Corsican specialities: cakes with brocciu
Brocciu, made from goat's or sheep's milk, is the most famous of Corsican cheeses. It's quite similar to the Italian cheese ricotta, though different in that it comes from a cheese by-product, whey. It is generally made from the solid curds, which are separated from the liquid whey, which is discarded. Corsican shepherds, however, not wanting to waste a drop of their precious milk, developed a recipe for making good use of whey. This recipe has been handed down from generation to generation. As well as being eaten as it is, it is popular in recipes, particularly Corsican desserts. Note that this cheese is only produced from November to May!
Discover our gastronomic stays and tours
Our traditional brocciu pastries
- Fiadone
Fiadone is Corsica's signature dessert, a delicious brocciu and lemon cake. A light cheesecake made with brocciu, eggs and sugar, flavored with lemon or orange zest and brandy, grappa or vanilla essence.
- Ambrucciata
Ambrucciata is very similar to fiadone, for the simple reason that the word fiadone is used in Haute-Corse, in the Bastia region, and ambrucciata is a specialty of Ajaccio. The basic recipe is identical, except that ambrucciata has a pastry on the underside... A dessert equally delicious in each version, inevitably better in winter because it's made with brocciu... and a little different in summer with Brousse.
- Falculelle
These are eaten mainly in Central Corsica, but also in Bastia. It's a Corsican culinary specialty made with brocciu, eggs, lemon and sugar, then baked on a chestnut leaf.
Easy cooking with Corsican chestnuts
In the 16th century, it was decided that each landowner would plant four trees a year - an olive, a fig, a mulberry and a chestnut. Chestnuts in particular play an important role in the economy and cooking. Corsica's famous wild boars eat them, but they are also used to make chestnut flour for bread, cakes, pastries, pasta, nougat, porridge and even Corsica's most famous beer, Pietra.
Examples of traditional Corsican desserts
- Chestnut Cake
An absolute must! You'll find it in just about every grocery and food store in Corsica. Restaurateurs prefer to serve it with a Corsican citrus sauce or brocciu ice cream. Not to be missed!
- Chestnut flour flan
A very simple but tasty dessert, combining the basic ingredients of a typical Corsican recipe: chestnut flour, eggs, milk, sugar, flavored with vanilla and eau de vie (a spirit that literally translates as "water of life").
- Chestnut flour fritters
Don't miss the chestnut flour fritters. Delicious fried doughnuts, sprinkled with sugar, sometimes stuffed with brocciu or flavored with lemon, orange, aniseed or even brandy. You'll find them freshly fried in boiling fat at all Corsican festivals and celebrations.
- Fig jam with chestnuts
Fig jam, plain or with various additions, including chestnuts, is very popular and is served with pâté and bread. A jam that goes very well with smoked cheese and smoked whisky!
Corsican desserts: even more delights!
- Puff pastry Clementines
Layers of crispy puff pastry that tend to explode as you cut them, with a succulent, clementine-flavored cream in between. clementine.
- What to do with hard bread? Pastizzu for dessert
Another mainstay of Corsican sweet cuisine is pastizzu, which can be enjoyed all year round on Corsican vacations. Closely resembling pudding, it's made from stale bread or semolina and flavored with lemon and a capful of pastis. A caramel sauce on top completes the whole... a real treat!
- Frappes
Frappes are a Corsican specialty in the doughnut family. They are eaten all year round, but are especially popular at family celebrations (christenings, birthdays...) and Mardi Gras. The recipe is based on lemon or orange zest. A hint of orange blossom can also be added.
- Panette (A panetta or Corsican brioche)
Classified as a brioche, panette is eaten for breakfast or coffee. Its brocciu-flavored version (Panette Paysanne) is most popular at Easter. Flavored with lemon or orange zest, they can also be filled with custard and fruit.
- Tarte Paysanne
A great classic for children's birthday parties or tea parties, tarte paysanne is a traditional cake that looks nothing like a tart. It's a sponge cake soaked in a Grand Marnier or rum syrup and filled with a pastry cream. It is then covered with chocolate icing and colored vermicelli.
- Panizze
Closely related to polenta, panizze are a Corsican pastry that can be enjoyed with coffee or as a snack. A simple recipe made with chickpea flour, water, oil and sugar.
- Canistrelli - Cuggiulelle
Corsican cookies par excellence, canistrelli are a must-have Corsican sweet. Made with flour, yeast, oil and sugar, recipes vary from producer to producer: plain, white wine, almond, hazelnut, lemon, fig... Cuggiulelle is the Balanese version of canistrelli.
Corsican specialities that should bring sweetness to your palate during your vacation in Corsica! For breakfast, a snack, to take with you on your walks and hikes, to put in your picnic basket... Treat yourself and don't forget to bring some back home to make your friends drool.
