Sweetness at Cipolline

When we started we did not imagine we would be making so many desserts from a classic Italian Nonna cake, to a basque style cheesecake and a chocolate budino. We are researching a panna cotta for the summer too!

The Desserts

• What is a Nonna cake? Uncommon in this area of restaurants in Palm Springs, but common to most, Nonna, is term of endearment given to the wonderful women in our life. If your grandmother was a baker perhaps she made something similar. This one in particular came from Saverio who showed us this recipe. Currently, it is a yellow summer citrus custard center to a cookie type crust on the outside and sliced almonds on top. The house compote adds tartness and a homestyle flair.
• Spamoni Gelato Ice Cream Cake Slice is way too of a name, and yet long but somehow it flows. Yes, it is spamoni, but instead of a round ball of ice cream or a traditional triangle slice it is a half inch slice of cold and creamy spamoni sprinkled on top with pistachios, drizzled with chocolate sauce, raspberry sauce, another cherry and fancy finishing salt. Mint leaf too if available. Three of the four edges have a hard chocolate ganache and then just outside that edge, waffle cone crumbs. It is the ultimate sharing ice cream because you and your three dinner-mates will find the most ease in going in spoon after spoon. It makes us feel like a happy hungry hungry hippo.
• The Cheesecake is Basque and it is really big too. We recommend sharing it. The cheesecake goes through all the steps from thawing the cream cheese to getting it real smooth, pre-whisking the eggs, letting it sit out then chill..on and on… but we love it and are so proud of our progress on this cake as well.
• The Chocolate Mousse Budino underwent various stages of appearance until finally landing on a layered presentation of delicious sweetness. The original recipe was lost so we turned to our textbooks for a simple egg and cream base with dark chocolate callebeaut callets. We are so happy with not only how cute it looks, but also the creativity in layered pairings like a lasagna. The Chocolate Mousse Budino is gluten free and chocolate-y rich on the bottom, with a berry compote in the middle, and espresso whipped cream on top.
• The Tiramisu is a classic, but we do not always have it so when we do, we recommend ordering a square.
• The cannoli shell (is store bought and it is eggcellent. When we have 5 other desserts we thought this would be allowed. The) filling is deliciously made in house with whipped ricotta, orange and a little cointreau. Small chocolate chips are pressed to the cream after piping and a gentle powdered sugar layer is dusted on top to garnish.
• We also pull espresso shots with lavazza beans and decaf too. We recommend a caffè corretto with your choice of sambucca, kahlua, o licor 43, instead of an espresso martini because we make those too.