Tuscan Easter recipes: 3 tasty sweets of Elba Island

On Elba Island, Easter is a very important event of the year. An event that is celebrated in the way required by the religious tradition. But it is also an event that, to be celebrated, needs the preparation of traditional dishes. Such as these three sweets, always present on Elba tables during the Easter:

1. Sportella. This is the Easter sweet of Elba Island par excellence. It’s a peculiar and tasty anise bread, its shape is a kind of braid. Its flavour is unique and not taste it during an Easter holiday on Elba would be a shame.
2. Ceremito. The custom of preparing ceremito (or cerimito) has almost disappeared, but not completely. The ingredients are very similar to sportella (flour, walnuts, sugar or honey, anise).
3. Corollo. Traditionally, the corollo of Elba Island would be a Christmas cake but it is also prepared during Easter. It is, in practice, a large donut flavoured with anise, grated lemon rind and sugar.

A tradition regarding two of these sweets Elba: in Rio Marina, during Palm Sunday, young boys gave their girlfriends a basket with flowers and ceremito; if the girlfriends returned their love, they gave their boyfriends a Sportella.

Image source: Flickr.com/photos/annabanana74