Cuisine Cookbook

10 Authentic Italian Baking Cookbooks & Recipe Books

Among dozens of mouth-watering Italian desserts, most of them require your hands dusty with flour or skill to bake. With modern devices nowadays, it is not something hard to cook, but to bring perfect products with sufficient ingredients and temperature, you still need some expert instructions. Then, 10 cookbooks about Italian baking we are going to introduce to you in this post are exactly what you need. Let’s check it out!

Authentic Italian Desserts: 75 Traditional Favorites Made Easy

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“A great cookbook to add to my collection. The recipes are easy to understand. Great for home cooks.” – Amazon Customer

With the book, Rosemary Molloy takes you on a culinary journey through Italy’s cities and countryside. You will find out how to make incredible classics like biscotti and tiramisu. You can dunk in the morning coffee and Italian butter cookies by turning over pages of this book. 

The diverse baking traditions of Italy that the author brings could satisfy a crowd or even a sweet tooth. The recipes are simple to apply and require little time to prepare.

About the Author: Rosemary Molloy is the creator of An Italian in My Kitchen, the popular Italian food blog. After moving from Toronto with her husband, she has lived in Rome for more than 25 years. 

The Italian Baker, Revised: The Classic Tastes of the Italian Countryside–Its Breads, Pizza, Focaccia, Cakes, Pastries, and Cookies [A Baking Book]

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“Some really wonderful bread recipes.” – A. M. Glaeser

This book is the updated version for the first one, which is The Baker in 1995. Being written comprehensively in either English or Italian, the book covers the whole range of Italian baking from breadsticks and cornetti to focaccia, tarts, cakes, and pastries. New recipes, ingredients and equipment sections, source guides, and weights plus lively photography has been added to this latest version.

Spending over two years traveling all over Italy, Carol Field has experienced the regional specialties and tested it later in her American kitchen to bring the recipes into real for anyone seeking the authentic Italian.

In this baking book, she introduces artisanal doughs and techniques used by generations of Italian bakers. If you intend to become a serious baker, you could ignore this one of the best inevitable baking books prized by the International Association of Culinary Professionals Award.

About the Author: Carol Field is the writer of five cookbooks, In Nonna’s Kitchen, Focaccia, Italy in Small Bites, Celebrating Italy, and The Italian Baker, as well as The Hill Towns of Italy and Mangoes and Quince novel.

She is an acclaimed journalist and has contributed to Bon Appétit, Gourmet, and Food and Wine. Carol Field was invited to feature on the PBS series “In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs.” She lives in San Francisco but continues to visit Italy usually.

Baking with the Cake Boss: 100 of Buddy’s Best Recipes and Decorating Secrets

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“Having a lot of fun with this book. The recipes are great and I learned some new tricks. It may not survive being in the kitchen with me though. I’m kind of a messy baker. Hope I don’t have to buy a second copy LOL. Love it!” – Marla Jones

Buddy Valastro is the star of TLC’s smash hit Cake Boss, and Baking with the Cake Boss is an education in baking and decorating art, from kneading to rolling, fondant to flowers, taught by him. In this book, he shares everything a home cook needs to know about baking as he takes readers through the same progressive training he had in his own on-the-job training or like everyone who comes to work at Carlo’s Bake Shop.

With more than 100 of his most favored tried-and-true recipes, including birthday and holiday cakes and other exclusive theme designs, this book is a master course that round offs in the top-notch cakes for which Carlo’s Bake Shop is famous. He also provides the tools for creating your trademark cakes, with a chart that lets you mix and match the cake, frosting, and liqueur syrup for pies following your way.  

Various photos illustrate artistic flourishes and decorations you can use to dress up your creations. With 650 vivid step-by-step instructional photos, you feel like standing next to Buddy in the bakery, observing and receiving his support. 

About the Author: Buddy Valastro is the star of TLC’s hit series Cake Boss and Next Great Baker and Food Network’s Buddy vs. Duff. He is also the author of four cookbooks, including the New York Times bestsellers Cake Boss and Baking with the Cake Boss. Carlo’s Bake Shop is his own business, and he lives with his wife and four children in New Jersey.

Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Baking Revolution Continues with 90 New, Delicious and Easy Recipes Made with Gluten-Free Flours

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“The one thing I craved since being diagnosed as coeliac around 10 years ago was French crusty bread. Now I can make my own anytime thanks to this book. The crunch is there and it tastes and smells wonderful, thank you.” – Mrs. C Westwood

Through a long period of research, Jeff Hertzberg, MD, and Zoë François have proven that people want to bake their bread, as long as they can do it quickly and easily. But here when the idea of the book lighted up when it comes to the solution for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity and the answer is gluten-free bread.

Based on overwhelming requests from their readers, the two authors have returned to their test kitchens to create an entirely gluten-free bread cookbook. Most of the recipes that readers loved in previous Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day are refreshed in a gluten-free version with just five minutes a day of active preparation time.

You can find here European Peasant Bread, 100% Whole Grain Loaves, French Baguettes, Crock Pot Bread, Caraway “Rye” Bread, Challah, and even fabulous dessert bread-like Brioche, Doughnuts, and Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls.

With 90 recipes plus 100 black-and-white instructional photos and 40 gorgeous color images, the authors modify the rich palette of world bread to their distinctive method. With this innovative approach, you can have mouth-watering gluten-free artisan bread very quickly.

About the Author: The two authors met each other in their children’s music class in 2003 and wrote the best-selling Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Jeff Hertzberg M.D. lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters. He grew up eating New York pizza and trying to figure out how to make a dough convenient enough to use for daily pizza, flatbreads, and loaves for years. But actually, he just wanted to learn to throw pizza dough high into the air. 

Zoë François lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two sons, is a pastry chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America, but she is pizzaiola at heart. While writing this book, she traveled everywhere to eat every pizza and flatbread she could find. In addition to tossing pizzas, she creates desserts on her pastry blog.

Eataly: All About Dolci: Regional Italian Desserts and Sweet Traditions

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“Met every expectation.” – Philip Cooper

All About Dolci, from the pastry chefs at Eataly-most trusted seller of Italian gourmet food worldwide, is an appealing presentation from biscotti to gelati, torte, and classic pasticceria, with more than 50 recipes that inspire the perfect flourish to any Italian meal. 

The book takes readers through the history and tradition behind biscotti, holiday recipes to the culture of Italian mini-pastries. All About Dolci is a one-stop source for classic Italian dessert traditions and recipes like Eataly itself.

About the Author: Eataly is a worldwide retailer of the highest quality Italian foods, with more than twenty-six stores, including ten in Italy, thirteen in Japan, and six in the United States. Oscar Farinetti is the creator and founder of Eataly. Adam and Alex Saper are the brothers who helped bring Eataly to America.

Natalie Danford is the co-author of the book, and Francesco Sapienza is in charge of photography.

Panetteria: Gennaro’s Italian Bakery

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“Another book I bought on a whim, has already made two things from it, one of those “Hey, I know I’m not in Italy, but it feels like I am” books. Great recipes, easy techniques for this experienced cook/baker. Pictures and everything!” – H. Chirinian

Making bread has always been a passion for the famous chef and TV-personality Gennaro Contaldo. Being deep-rooted since childhood with memories of his mother’s weekly bread-making and visits to his uncle’s village bakery, Gennaro Contaldo had remembered them in head and bring along through career. 

Here in beautiful Panetteria: Gennaro’s Italian Bakery, he takes you onto a journey into the magical world of Italian bread and baking and publishes his secret tips on making the perfect dough to create excellent Italian bread for all occasions from amazing focaccias, pies, pizzas, sweetbreads, cookies, to tarts and even traditional homemade cakes just like Nonna

About the Author: Gennaro Contaldo is widely known as the Italian legend who taught Jamie Oliver all he knows about Italian cooking, as well as his talent. Born in Minori on the Amalfi Coast, Gennaro’s typical Italian spirit and positive nature have made him a TV favorite.

He regularly makes appearances on Saturday Kitchen and, more recently, his own TV series, Two Greedy Italians on PBS. In 1999 he opened his own restaurant, Passione, in Charlotte Street, London, which was awarded the Best Italian restaurant in 2005.

Gennaro Contaldo is the author of many cookbooks, including the well-known Panetteria: Genarro’s Italian Bakery. He also has his own YouTube food channel and is an ambassador for Citalia and Bertolli. He resides in London with his wife and two daughters.

The Italian Baker 

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“Great Italian Bread and Pastry Recipes!” – susan

Generally, bread and cookies vary dramatically in shape and taste from region to region. More than that, the occasion when they are made also contributes to the different recipes in baking tradition.

Behind each kind of local specialties is a story that people have to travel throughout the Italian countryside. Knowing and putting the methods on paper, Carol Field has succeeded in preserving the Italian village’s culture that has never documented before. 

To prepare for this book, Carol Field spent two years working with the Italian bakers and continuously crossing the country from Lugano and Como in the North to Lecce and Palermo in the South. In that process, she keeps tasting and testing then try to adapt the recipes with American ingredient in an American kitchen.

Finally, her attempt seems to be fruitful with the ultimate recipes written for absolute ease and flexibility. Those earthy and elegant recipes become another source for Americans, not the limited, stereotyped range until now. Each method provides clear step-to-step instructions with ingredients and equipment for making the dough by hand or electric mixer depending on your conditions. 

About the Author: Carol Field is the writer of four cookbooks: In Nonna’s Kitchen, Focaccia, Celebrating Italy, and The Italian Baker, as well as a novel named The Hill Towns of Italy and Mangoes and Quince.

She has been prized two IACP Cookbook Book Awards and a James Beard Award, then the Gold Medal for Cookbooks at the World Media Awards in Australia. She keeps traveling back and forth to Italy while living in San Fransico with her architect husband. 

Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Classic, Disappearing, and Lost Dishes: A Cookbook

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“This book is filled with traditional and interesting food and drink from off the beaten path in southern Italy. A must-read.” – David Marcelli

Great cookbooks show us how to make beautiful dishes, but the very best share something more. The food of the Italian South is precisely that. Through 85 authentic recipes and 100 impressive photographs, the book describes the cultural and cooking traditions of the Italian South, from the mountains to the coast.

In most cultures, exploring food means exploring history, and the Italian South has plenty of both to offer. Stories of how dishes came are told, and the taste of stories enriches both the act of reading and eating.

Parla shares both original and reimagined recipes and historical and cultural that sum up in those is the miles of beaches, sheep-dotted mountains, quiet towns, and each unique precious specialty.  

About the Author: Katie Parla is a New Jersey native, but she works as a Rome-based food and beverage journalist, culinary guide, and educator. She is the author of KatieParla.com, which receive the Saveur Award-winning food and travel site. More than that, she composes the ebook Eating & Drinking in Rome and more than twenty travel guides.

Her co-author Tasting Rome (2016), won the IACP Award for the best international cookbook. Many Katie’s travel writing, recipes, and food criticism are chosen to post in the New York Times, Food & Wine, Saveur, Australian Gourmet Traveller, the Guardian, Condé Nast Traveler, Punch, Eater, and so on. 

Italian Cooking School: Desserts (FOOD COOK)

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“Excellent ĺittle book if you like Italian desserts and cooking!” – Dr. Gillian S. Hayes

The Silver Spoon is the most influential and bestselling Italian cookbook publisher for the last 50 years. The Silver Spoon Italian Cooking School series is designed for modern cooks to prepare healthy, delicious, with authentic recipes in their own homes. 

In Italian Cooking School: Pizza, they teach everything you need to know about making Amaretti Biscuits to a Strawberry Custard Tart to a Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake. With comprehensive step-by-step guidance, readers could follow and learn to make cookies and cakes, then advancing to pies and tarts and so many more.

Readers could build their cooking handbook as they progress through the books from beginners to advanced level with 75 inspired Italian recipes. 

About the Author: The Silver Spoon Kitchen is a collection of long-established recipes collected throughout the country and includes every regional specialty. Cooking and food are two of the most elegant expressions of Italian culture, so the Italian cooking skills are handed down from one generation to the next.

The Italian Baker: 100 International Baking Recipes with a Modern Twist

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“A beautiful book with creative recipes and classics as well. Not just a book to look at, I plan on making so many of the recipes.” – Axew

Melissa Forti is an Italian native and learns baking by herself concerning old and new baking books over time and places. In her tea room in a rustic antique town near Tuscany, she bakes beautiful cakes that present combination Italian traditions with her own modern twists. This book is a collection of tarts, cakes, loaves, biscuits, and coffee-time treats born out of Melissa’s signature style of baking. 

Every recipe is a popular treat with Italian ingredients like olive oil, mascarpone, almonds, and fresh fruit. Melissa gives never-ending favorites like carrot cake, brownies, chocolate cake, and cheesecake a new Italian makeover. Through every cake and cookie, a story is told reflecting Melissa’s travels, her passion for good food, and the love of her Italian heritage.

About the Author: Melissa Forti was born in Rome and has lived in Los Angeles and London. She learned how to bake by herself and started to collect old and new baking books to learn about the art of baking through the ages and throughout the world.

After settling in Sarzana, located between Cinque Terre and Tuscany, she opened a boutique bakery and tearoom where both locals and visitors enjoy her incredible, freshly baked cakes every day.

We hope you like this post and finally find out your favorite Italian baking cookbooks. Meanwhile, we welcome you to explore our site and discover more cookbook recommendations from the same cuisine below.

Doris Frasier

Hi. I'm Doris! I am a foodie that has traveled to 78 countries and loves trying cuisines from different countries. I try anything related to food and share my opinions on this blog. Send me a message with any requests!
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