The Fruity Cream That's Been A Mainstay In Italian Desserts Since The 1970s

When life gives you lemons, make ... lemon cream! Crema al limone has been a custardy Italian dessert favorite for nearly five decades. Popularized in southern Italy (perhaps most famously in Sorrento and Sicily), where lemon trees are ubiquitous and citrus cultivation has been a major agricultural and economic pillar since the Roman Empire, crema al limone combines fresh lemon juice, pastry cream, butter, and sugar into a smooth, delicious concoction. It's often infused with the fruit's zest for an even tangier, citrusier flavor.

The Sicilian version of crema al limone adds mascarpone cheese for a thicker, velvety texture, making it a great topping or filling for cakes (like lemon cream cake), tarts, and other baked goods. The slightly lighter Sorrentine variety incorporates whipped cream and limoncello, the tasty, four-ingredient lemony liqueur; it's a fixture in the region's famous dome-shaped sponge cake desserts, known as delizia al limone (lemon delight), created by Amalfi Coast pastry chef Carmine Marzuillo in 1978. Lemon delight was further popularized by Sal De Riso, a pastry chef who followed in Marzuillo's footsteps. There's also a lemon cream cake variation from the Amalfi Coast known as torta di limone or torta al limone, with multiple variations.

While lemon delight likely helped mainstream crema al limone, the precedent of lemon cream in Italian sweets was also exemplified in Tuscany with the torta della nonna, or custard pie. This classic Italian dessert combines lemon cream with vanilla custard in a crumbly pastry shell. Crema al limone has also spread beyond Italy's borders; lemon cream cake found fans in the United States at places like Olive Garden and the Cheesecake Factory.

Through the years, crema al limone has continued to affirm its place among Italy's favorite dessert ingredients. In 2021, more than three decades after Sal De Riso's lemon delight gained attention, actor Stanley Tucci elevated it yet again by featuring the dessert on his CNN show, "Searching for Italy." Although it's probably best known in this form, crema al limone is also often served as a standalone pudding-like treat, sometimes paired with fresh berries. However, should you make it to the Amalfi Coast, you can snag De Riso's famed version and judge its crema al limone for yourself by visiting his eponymous Pasticceria Sal De Riso in the seaside town of Minori.

If you want to try your hand at making lemon cream or the full lemon delight yourself, keep in mind that the Amalfi Coast lemons that De Riso calls for are hard to come by and best substituted with Meyer lemons if you can't find the real thing. You'll also want to liberally douse the sponge cakes with limoncello, generously dunk them in the creamy, lemony glaze, and crown them in whipped cream and freshly grated lemon zest, as the storied chef does in a YouTube video showcasing his process. And of course, watch out for the many easy mistakes you can make when cooking or baking with lemons. Clearly, there's both an art and a science to using crema al limone skillfully in desserts.