Olympic Treats

I love the Olympics. The thrill of the best of the best in their big moment – it often brings tears to my eyes. And then when I heard that chocolate is one of the major food groups of Torino, and since I’m doing a whole chocolate thing anyway, I thought it would be fun to investigate the Torino dessert scene and do a low carb take on a few of the specialties. Here are three of my favorites.

Bicerin (pronounced bee-che-REEN): It is apparently some kind of rule that anyone who goes near Torino must sample this rich local concoction, which dates back to 1763. The original, a drink with layers of espresso coffee, chocolate, and frothy cream is original to the Caffè Al Bicerin, and is a secret recipe, but I’m told that every café in Torino has their own version, and a common way to serve it is simply to serve a pitcher or glass of each and let you mix your own. A favorite way to consume it is to start with mostly espresso, and continue mixing and sipping, ending with a hit of rich liquid chocolate. To do this low carb, you only need some Sugar Free Chocolate Ganache - the other two are naturally low in carbs. Yum!

Bounet: This was a fun one. It is sort of a cross between a almond cocoa pudding (probably more like a British pudding, since you slice it) and a flan – maybe like a bread pudding only smooth? Since traditionally it is always made with amaretti cookies, this version is hardly authentic, but it is low carb and sugar free, and I think it is similar in texture and flavor to the “real thing”.

Torta del Re : Torta del Re means “King’s Cake”, but this is not to be confused with the Mardi Gras pastry. Torta Del Re is a lemon almond cake which is traditionally made without flour, so it’s already on its way to being low carb. It got very good reviews at our house, and was frankly a nice break from chocolate, if you can imagine such a thing!

Enjoy the rest of the Olympics, with or without the local treats!

More Desserts

Low Carb Cooking With Chocolate

More Recipes from the Torino Area from About’s Italian Guide

About’s Olympic Coverage, including a very cool “Insider’s Blog”

Thanks to Luca Cinacchio for the photo of the Italian flag.