CHRISTMAS 2022 – THE SWEETS OF THE PARTIES OF THE GREAT INTERPRETERS BY MULINO CAPUTO
The comparison theme of Christmas 2022 of the traditional event Sweets of the Great Performers Parties by Mulino Caputo è stato il Babà.
On the occasion of the eleventh edition of the format, held on Thursday December 1st at the Grand Hotel Vesuvio of Naples, ten master pastry chefs from all over Italy have proposed their own reinterpretation – in a Christmas dress – of the king of Neapolitan pastry.
Luigi Biasetto (Pastry Biasetto - Padua) soaked his chocolate Babà with “Vin da viajo”, a fortified wine that Venetian merchants used to transport during their sea voyages because it did not deteriorate.
The Paduan master also brought two other traditional proposals to Naples: the Pandoro and the Mandorlato, typical nougat (produced in Cologna Veneta), made with almonds, miele, sugar and egg white.
Santi Palazzolo (Palazzolo pastry shop – Cinisi, Palermo) opted for a Babà Savarin with Sicilian flavours: a syrup with orange blossom infusion, a filling made from dried figs, almonds and walnuts, with a Pantelleria passito syrup and a ricotta mousse finish.
His Sicilian Cassata is very elegant, topped with candies, royal icing and dark sugar.
Andrea Sacchetti (New World Pastry – Prato) proposed the BabàBabboNatale: a very honeycomb dough, dressed in red and white, with a glossy raspberry glaze and a whipped vanilla ganache. On the top, a scoop of chocolate, decorated with snowflakes.
In his roundup of Tuscan Christmas specialities, the Ricciarellis, he Panforte, Gingerbread and Prato Almond Biscuits.
Fabio Scozzafava, of Calabrian origins but in force at the Felice Restaurant in Lucca, invented the Babànettone, Gluten-free and lactose-free version by the glass of the classic Neapolitan.
Per l’occasione, Scozzafava has revisited in a sweet version, vegan and gluten free, also the Tuscan Torta co' i becchi (stuffed with beets) and proposed the Befanotti from Lucca, typical holiday cookies, dedicated to the little ones.
Raffaele Capparelli (Capriccio pastry shop – Naples) presented two creations: a Babà coated with marzipan, surmounted by a miniature, and a Babà Pandoro, with traditional Babà dough and Pandoro shape, completed by a pipette containing a dip of coffee infusion or black cherry syrup.
Per Salvatore Capparelli (Pasticceria Salvatore Capparelli – Naples) of the small Cassate al Babà (in which the sponge cake has been replaced with the typical Babà paste) in the shape of the numbers of the Neapolitan bingo; inoltre, Roccocò and the Babatone, Babà flavored chocolate panettone dough.
Raphael Christian (Raffaele Cristiano pastry shop – Naples) has revisited the classic Babà with a filling of mascarpone cream. The creation, called The Santa Hat, it comes with a red chocolate glaze and is placed on a coffee crumble disc.
Among other traditional specialties, the Struffoli, that come out of a cone of sfogliatella like a cornucopia.
Sal De Riso (Sal De Riso Amalfi Coast, president of AMPI – Academy of Italian Pastry Chefs) brought for tasting small bites of babà with berries, soaked in a vanilla syrup and covered with raspberry icing.
Among his Christmas leavened products, the Neapolitan Passion Panettone, stuffed with candied orange peels, Australian sultana raisins, Vesuvius apricots, Citron of Diamante and dried white figs of Cilento DOP and Panettone Oro Puro, filled with Sur Del Lago dark chocolate 72% Venezuela and covered with gold leaf.
Marco Infante (Leopoldo and Casa Infante – Naples) has developed a Babandoro, a summary of the Neapolitan Christmas proposals: babà dough enriched by the aroma of the Neapolitan pistol, filled with ricotta cream, typical of ravioli, and garnished with nasper, the traditional sugar glaze. On the top, a festive red cherry.
Dulcis in fundo, the Knight of Neapolitan pastry, Sabatino Sirica (Sirica Pastry - San Giorgio a Cremano, Naples) and his Btree, a scenographic Babà with mandarin syrup and garnishes made with tufts of Sicilian cassata.
Among the master's Christmas specialties, the Mostacciuoli with dark chocolate and the unmissable Raffiuoli with cassata.
All versions of BabàNatale 2022 are available at the pastry shops of the ten protagonists.
Edizione 2021: https://allassaggio.it/farina-e-cioccolato-i-dolci-delle-feste-dei-grandi-interpreti-by-mulino-caputo-2021/