Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Pastry Shops in Anzio, Italy

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

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Italy is known for its flavorful foods, and its pastry scene is no exception. Italian pastries, or "pasticceria" in Italian, encompass a wide variety of sweet treats, ranging from delicate pastries to rich cakes and desserts.

Our hotel in Anzio offered us a complimentary breakfast each morning. It was quite the deal, actually, because to purchase these pastries individually would have been costly.

In our day-to-day living at home, Billy and I have a morning pastry from time to time, but we were in Anzio, Italy, and the selection we saw there was too good to pass up.

Don't believe me?

Take a look!

Various donuts and sweet bites

Ok, ok, so donuts are a semi-ordinary choice. But look at this variety!

Beautifully decorated too!

Shelf after shelf of goodies

Each one of these delectables have special names, and I know only a few of them.

If you look on the top shelf you'll find profiteroles, also known as cream puffs. They are light and airy pastries filled with various creamy fillings.

One popular variation is filling them with chocolate pastry cream, or they can sometimes be dipped in chocolate ganache.

On the bottom shelf you see little tarts, cookies filled with chocolate pastry cream and cakes covered in powdered sugar.

Shortbread jelly-filled cookies

Every morning we'd go to a coffee shop and pastries were displayed wall to wall.

These are little shortbread cookies filled with chocolate pastry cream, Nutella, or jams, then covered with powdered sugar.

Pies, cheesecakes, cookies and cream puffs

On the bottom shelf, second from the left you'll see some cannolis. These originated from Sicily and are crispy, tube-shaped shells made of fried dough, filled with a sweet ricotta cheese filling. These cannolis are garnished with pistachios.

You can also see some cheescakes, perhaps a Torta della Nonna or "Grandmother's cake" and some individual pies and tarts.

On the top shelf are various sandwiches and wraps for a wonderful lunch treat.

Rum Baba in the center

There are differing stories about the origin of rum baba.

One legend goes that a Polish King took some stale bread and soaked it in rum and sugar. This tasted so good that the dessert became famous all over Europe.

If you ask the French, they will say they invented this delicious dessert, but the Italians say it originated from Naples (Italy) in the 18th century.

Baba is a small yeast cake soaked in a rum syrup. It has a moist and sponge-like texture and is sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream as you see here.

These babas are considered to be a delightful and indulgent dessert.

Pastries filled with chocolate cream

If you are a chocolate-loving person, how can you pass these up?

The pastries in the back are filled with both chocolate cream and pistachio cream.

Crostatas

Crostata is an Italian tart or pie made with a shortcrust pastry base filled with various sweet fillings.

The fillings can range from fruit preserves (such as apricot, cherry, or fig) to pastry cream, Nutella, or ricotta cheese with chocolate chips.

Say what you want about watching your weight and not succumbing to eating pastries, but with all the variety that was offered in Italy, we found ourselves nibbling on one or another almost daily.

Chocolate and pistachio cream filled pastries

Pistachios and pistachio cream are very popular in Italy.

Sicily and the southern part of the country have the climate and soil conditions favorable for the cultivation of this nut. You will even see jars of pistachio cream for sale, pistachio gelato and even pistachio liqueur.

Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta is an egg, cream, sugar and gelatin style of dessert also popular in Italy.

The gelatin firms up the creamy mixture, and is almost a fail-proof dessert to make. This gelatin can be flavored, made into individual servings and beautifully decorated such as the ones you see above.

Overall, the pastries were hard to pass by without grabbing a taste. Pastry shops were literally everywhere - stand alone shops, a part of the ubiquitous cafes, and even in lunch places that sold food choices like sandwiches, pizza or pasta.

We found that pastries were integral to the Italian way of life.

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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