If you’re someone who loves living seasonally, you also likely love seasonal baking. That’s probably why you’re here. You’re doing the research now, saving easy fall baking recipes you can make later, not just for the taste, but for the cosy atmosphere that baking brings to your fall days.
Hello, and welcome. I’m Alessia, the writer and founder behind Italy with an Italian.
Like you, I adore baking, especially once the weather turns colder.
This year, I decided to do something a little different.
Instead of waiting until I’ve baked everything before publishing this article, I’m sharing it as I go. I’ve spent time looking into the traditional Italian bakes that start appearing towards the end of September in Italy. I wanted to gather them all in one place, both for myself and for anyone else who loves discovering authentic Italian baking.
But that’s not all.
Inspired by what I discovered, I’ve also come up with three original recipes of my own that I’m excited to try this season. If they sound like something you’d enjoy, you’re welcome to follow along and bake them too.
For now, I’m publishing this post before I’ve had the chance to make them all. As I bake each recipe, I’ll come back and update this article with my own photos, notes, and how they turned out. So feel free to save this post and check back later.
Even better, you can join my newsletter – Buona Settimana, and we can chat about what’s rising in our oven this season. Subscribe through one of the boxes on this page. I hope to see you there.
Table of Contents
The Best Italian Fall Desserts
Italian autumn baking isn’t really defined by a single list of iconic desserts. Instead, it follows the rhythm of the seasons. As soon as September turns into October, kitchens across Italy naturally shift towards warmer, more comforting flavours, with apples, chestnuts, pumpkins and pears taking centre stage.
As I went through traditional Italian recipes and seasonal baking ideas, I kept noticing the same ingredients appearing again and again. Not in complicated desserts, but in simple cakes, rustic crostate, homemade biscuits and spoon desserts that feel made for this time of year.
Here’s what I found, organized by ingredient.
Apple Desserts
Apples are the most common fall ingredient in Italian baking, and the classic Torta di mele (apple cake) is the one you’ll find in nearly every home, made simply with apples, flour, sugar, eggs, and a bit of cinnamon. In Trentino, you’ll find Strudel di mele (apple strudel), a rolled pastry filled with apples, raisins, and pine nuts, a clear nod to the region’s Austrian influence. Apple fritters (frittelle di mele) are another popular option, especially for using up fruit that’s a little too soft to eat as is.
Chestnut Desserts
Another ingredient that defines Italian autumn baking it’s chestnuts. Castagnaccio is the dessert most tied to this season: a flat, unleavened cake made from chestnut flour, water, olive oil, pine nuts, and raisins, with no added sugar at all (the sweetness comes entirely from the chestnuts). It’s originally from Tuscany, though you’ll find regional versions under different names, like pattona. Beyond castagnaccio, chestnuts also show up in Montebianco (a chestnut cream dessert), tiramisù ai marroni, and even chestnut flour cookies.
Pear Desserts
Pears show up in Italian baking in quieter, more understated ways than apples. Torta di pere (pear cake) is the most common version, but you’ll also find Crostata ricotta e pere (a ricotta and pear tart), and pere cotte, pears poached gently in red wine and spices, which are more of a spoon dessert than a bake, but worth mentioning since they capture the season so well.
Pumpkin Desserts
Pumpkin (zucca) is not as popular as in the States, but it’s definitely gaining more interest. Italians are loving experimenting with things like Torta di zucca (pumpkin cake), pumpkin tarts, muffins, and even pumpkin fritters. Pumpkin jam (marmellata di zucca) is also common, and it’s often paired with cheese rather than eaten as a standalone dessert.
Fig and Grape Desserts
These two ingredients are tied closely to the grape harvest season in September. Schiacciata all’uva is a flat, sweet focaccia studded with whole grapes, traditionally made in Tuscany during harvest time.
Figs, meanwhile, show up in Torta di fichi e noci (fig and walnut cake) and in simple fig jam tarts, a nice way to use up the last of the season’s fresh figs.
Nuts and Dried Fruit
Hazelnuts, walnuts, and almonds are baking staples once autumn arrives, especially in Piedmont, where hazelnut cakes and cookies are a point of local pride. You’ll also find Panpepato, a dense, spiced dessert made with nuts and honey, more common in central Italy.
Persimmon Desserts
Persimmons (cachi) are one of the most visually striking fall ingredients, and Italian bakers like to use their natural sweetness well. Torta di cachi (persimmon cake) is the most common option, along with budino cachi e cioccolato (a persimmon and chocolate pudding). Persimmon jam also comes up often, similar to how pumpkin jam is used.
Jams Worth Mentioning
Beyond the fruit cakes themselves, autumn is also jam season in Italy. Pumpkin, fig, and grape jams are all common, and they’re often used as tart fillings or spread onto breakfast bread rather than served as a dessert on their own.
But there’s also one other jam worth knowing about that didn’t come up in my research. It’s mostarda Bolognese, though different regions might have their own variation. This is a jam made with quinces (but you can use regular apples and pears instead), oranges, dried prunes, almonds, and raisins.
A Few Regional Specialties to Look Out For
If you want to go beyond the basics, a few regional desserts are worth knowing:
- Torta Bertolina, from Crema in Lombardy, made with uva fragola (a fragrant grape variety) and tied to a local festival each September.
- Pan dei morti (translates to bread of the dead), a spiced Lombard cookie traditionally made for the Day of the Dead in early November.
- Torta Gubana, from Friuli Venezia Giulia, a rolled pastry filled with nuts and dried fruit.
- Necci, a Tuscan specialty made from chestnut flour crepes filled with sweet ricotta.
3 Easy Fall Baking Recipes To Try This Season
As mentioned above, I’ve used the inspiration from the research above to come up with three completely new Italian fall baking recipes to make in my kitchen.
I’m used to doing this both for myself and my client’s recipe blog, so I’m confident all these recipes will be a success. Having said that, I will include a note with the results after I bake each one. The difficult choice is going to be choosing the first one to bake!
Soft Mostarda Bolognese Cookies
Let me remind you the mostarda Bolognese is traditional from Bologna (as the name suggests) and I had the pleasure of tasting it in on of the most famous local bakeries during my time in the Italian food capital.
You can read more about that experience here.
Ingredients for the mostarda Bolognese jam:
- 5 apples
- 2 pears
- 12 dried prunes
- 1 orange (juice and peel)
- Half a lemon (juice and peel)
- Optional 50 gr raisins
- 2 tablespoons almond butter or 50 gr almonds
- Pinch of cinnamon
- 100 gr coconut sugar (8 tablespoons)
- 500 ml water
How to make the jam:
- Wash, peel and cut the apples and the pears.
- Grate the zest of the orange and half of the lemon.
- Juice the orange and half the lemon.
- Add everything to a large pot, including the pitted dry prunes, and the optional raisins.
- Add the cinnamon, if you’re using it.
- Add the water, mix, let it boil, and then leave to simmer for two to four hours at low heat.
- Take it off the heat, let it cool, and store overnight in the fridge.
- The next day, blend it; if it’s not thick enough, you can add it into a pot and let it thicken over low heat for about 30 minutes, mixing often.
- Your mostarda Bolognese jam is ready.
- Now, let’s make the soft cookies.
Ingredients for the cookies:
- 150 gr 00 flour
- 50 gr butter cold (as we’re making a soft pastry)
- 50 gr sugar (I am using coconut, but you can use white or brown)
- Half an egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¼ sachet Paneangeli lievito vanigliato
How to make these soft cookies:
- Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Add the egg and the butter sliced into pieces.
- Add the milk, and work the ingredients together using a fork first, and your clean hands after.
- You want to make a soft shortcrust pastry.
- Then wrap it in cling foil and refrigerate for an hour.
- Divide the dough into three parts.
- Roll each part on a separate sheet of baking paper. We will use this to bake the roll so it stays soft.
- Take your mostarda Bolognese and fill the centre only.
- Roll close the dough with the jam, using the baking paper to help you.
- Repeat for all 3 rolls.
- Place on a baking dish, and bake in your pre-heated oven for 25 minutes at 160°C or 320°F.
- Take them out of the oven and let them cool.
- Remove the baking paper and slice them in your preferred slice. You can do mini cookies or larger ones.
- Once cut, dust with powdered sugar.
Note: You’re going to have a lot of leftover jam, though, I’m sure it won’t be a problem :). You can enjoy it simply on bread, or with cheese boards.
However, I’d like to give you three other ideas:
- You can use it as a filling for the next recipe, replacing the ricotta and the grapes, or swirling it into the ricotta filling.
- You can make a quick strudel with pre-bough puff pastry, using the mostarda Bolognese as the filling, with pine nuts and chopped apples for the bite element.
- You can swirl it into my yogurt cake recipe, and omit the chocolate chips.
Soft Tart With Ricotta & Grapes
This is inspired by two well loved Italian desserts: the schiacciata all’uva and the ricotta and pear tart. However, you can see it’s completely different. I am pretty sure it’s going to be incredible.
Ingredients for the dough:
- 150 gr flour
- 80 gr sugar (6 tbsp)
- 1 egg
- 70 ml Italian EVOO
- A pinch of vanilla essence
- Optional grated lemon zest (¼ of a lemon is enough)
Ingredients for the filling:
- 300 gr black grapes
- 200 gr fresh ricotta
- 60 gr sugar
How to make it:
- This is a really simple and quick recipe.
- All you have to do is mix the ingredients in a bowl to create a soft dough.
- Then, press it into a well oiled baking dish for tarts, or use a sheet of parchment paper.
- Make the filling by simply mixing the ricotta, with the sugar and the washed and dried grapes.
- Pour onto the tart base.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 180°C or 360°F.
- Take out and dust with powdered sugar, let it cool and serve.
Torta Tenerina with Pumpkin
I must admit this is the one I’m most excited to bake.
Torta tenerina is one of my favorite Italian chocolate cakes, but because I’m intolerant to chocolate, I try to avoid baking full on chocolate cakes. This is what makes this the perfect recipe for fall. It’s soft like a torta tenerina (tenera means tender in Italian) but it’s made with pumpkin, my favorite vegetable.
To give a nod to the original recipe I will add a chocolate element too.
Ingredients:
- 500 gr pumpkin raw
- 3 eggs
- 100 gr butter or 90 ml evoo
- 150 gr coconut sugar
- 50 gr flour 00
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon
- Milk chocolate for melting and drizzling (50 to 100 gr)
How to make it:
- Wash and slice the pumpkin; bake for 45 minutes.
- Leave to cool and blend until creamy.
- Separate the egg yolks and whites in two bowls.
- Add half the sugar into each bowl.
- Beat them separately, starting with the whites.
- Once you beat the yolks, add the melted butter and mix gently.
- Add the sifted flour and fold delicately.
- Finally, add the whites, again folding delicately.
- Pour into an oiled baking dish (better if springform), or use parchment paper.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for 35 to 40 minutes at 170°C or 340°F.
- Take it out, and let it cool for as long as possible.
- Serve with a chocolate drizzle (I simply melted some milk chocolate) and a dust of powdered sugar.
More Italian Fall Inspiration
I hope you enjoyed discovering what treats Italians enjoy during the cosy months preceding Christmas. And I’d love to know which of my three fall baking recipes will you be trying. Don’t forget you can join my newsletter and come tell me inside it.
Here are more fall recipes I think you’ll enjoy:
Pumpkin Bread With Amaretti Streusel
My Healthy Italian Banana Bread
If you’re also excited about fall fashion, here are two posts to help you transition into the new season:
Fall Capsule Wardrobe (Italian-style)
How To Layer Like an Italian This Fall
Italian-Style Fall Reset Inspiration & Ideas
Before you go, please like and share this with a friend. It helps me a lot; thank you so much for that.
A presto,
Alessia
