Genoese low pandolce recipe taken from Massari’s book “Cresci.” Among all the Christmas sweets — along with panettone, pandoro, panforte and many others — the Genoese pandolce low certainly deserves a place of honor. Unlike the tall Genoese pandolce, it is easier to make, and like the first is a perfect union of taste and aromas.
I am Sicilian, it’s true, but I am in love with cooking and especially with Italian cuisine. I love travelling and learning about traditions and typical dishes from every place I visit. For a long time I was tempted to prepare one of the most important sweets of the Genoese Christmas tradition, which I had the chance to taste at a Genoese friend’s home. Among all the Christmas desserts he offered were the famous Ricciarelli di Siena, a delicious citrus mascarpone cream to enjoy with panettone and pandoro, and a delightful soft white nougat made at home.
When preparing the Genoese low pandolce — as traditional as Genoese pesto — I didn’t want to improvise, since I’m not Ligurian and I know Italians are protective of traditional recipes. I relied on Master Massari and took the recipe from his book “Cresci,” which also calls for adding almonds to create a richer, more sumptuous cake (as the master notes).
I hope I have done justice to this dessert, which was greatly appreciated in my home, and if you follow me I will explain how I prepared it. But first let’s talk a little about the origins of pandolce, which is said to have been born when Doge Andrea Doria launched a competition among Genoese pastry chefs to create a dessert that represented the wealth and power of the Republic. The requested dessert had to be simple to prepare, nourishing, easy to transport and able to keep for a long time, so it would be suitable for sailors’ long sea voyages: in short, an opulent bread rich in raisins, pine nuts, candied fruit and fennel seeds. According to some historians, however, pandolce derives from an ancient Persian recipe for a sweet bread with dried fruit and honey offered as a gift to the king on the first day of the year: the Genoese, great navigators and merchants, would have adopted this recipe during their travels to the East and modified it over time. The two theories are not mutually exclusive and are rather complementary: it is likely that the dessert’s origins are very ancient and that it evolved over time, combining different traditions and enriching itself with new ingredients brought back by Genoa’s trade voyages.
Today, the Genoese pandolce is a typical dessert of the Ligurian Christmas tradition, but it is prepared all year round in both the tall and low versions. Let’s go to the kitchen and make the Genoese pandolce. If you want to stay updated on all my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).

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