The Martorana Fruit!

Martorana Fruit

Did you know, that in Sicily, we celebrate the feast of the dead (November 2) with a typical fruit-shaped cake? Martorana fruit (frutta marturana in Sicilian) is a typical Sicilian dessert. Known for its typical fruit-like appearance, this simple marzipan cake was devised in Palermo, where the nuns of the Martorana monastery, in order to replace the fruit harvested in the garden, decided to invent a new recipe, with almond flour and sugar, to embellish the monastery for the visit of the pope at the time.

The church of the Martorana or Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, after which this cake is named, was erected in 1143 by George of Antioch, a Greek-Syriac admiral of the Norman king Roger II. Today, the tradition remains steadfast, and every year, bags filled with these sweets, in the shape of cherries, apples, pears and more, come out of bakeries! This, is a product on the list of traditional Italian food products (P.A.T.) of the Ministry of Agricultural Food and Forestry Policies (Mipaaf) and is recognized as a traditional Sicilian food product.

Did you ever tried this dessert? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments!