Certosino milk chocolate bar

Certosino Milk Chocolate Bar Bologna-Style

The Certosino bar from Majani is a milk chocolate with candied orange peel, almonds, hazelnuts, and candied cherry. Not an ordinary nut bar, but the translation of the Bolognese Christmas pastry Certosino into a 115-gram bar.

The Certosino milk chocolate bar translates the Christmas pastry of the city of Bologna into a bar of chocolate. It contains 14 percent candied orange peel, plus 4 percent almonds, 3 percent hazelnuts, and candied cherries. It is produced by Majani in Bologna, where the Certosino is a must-have on every table during the Christmas season.

The bar is densely packed, and hardly a piece comes without an inclusion, as the milk chocolate melts softly while the orange peel provides a counterpoint with its bitterness and the almond offers firm resistance. Fruity, nutty, soft.

Candied orange against soft milk chocolate

The appeal of this bar comes from the contrast, because milk chocolate alone would simply be sweet, but the candied orange peel introduces a bitter note that cleanly balances this sweetness.

At 14 percent, the orange peel is the most prominent inclusion and thus defines the character of the entire bar. Almonds and hazelnuts provide the crunch between your teeth, while the candied cherry adds a dark red spot here and there. Because all four ingredients come from the Certosino recipe, the bar ultimately tastes like a reminder of this pastry.

One bar is enough for an espresso after a meal, as the chocolate is richer than its size suggests. Alongside a glass of Vin Santo or a Passito, the candied orange stands out particularly clearly. It also finds its place on a plate with mandarins and nuts. If you want to give it as a gift, leave it in its red wrapper, as it bears the house's signature nutcracker motif.

What the Certosino is

The Certosino is Bologna's Christmas cake, a dense spiced pastry with candied fruits, almonds, and honey, also well-known under its second name, panspeziale.

In the Middle Ages, it was baked by the speziali, the city's apothecaries, who possessed the spices and used them to prepare their remedies. Later, the Carthusian monks of the Certosa took over the baking, and because they did it so well, the cake adopted their name.

In 1740, they sent a huge specimen to Pope Benedict XIV, and since then it has been considered the quintessential Christmas pastry of the city. The official recipe has been registered with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce since 2003.

Bologna and Italy's first chocolate factory

Majani began in 1796 next to the Basilica di San Petronio as a "Laboratorio delle Cose Dolci" and is thus considered Italy's oldest chocolate factory, and the house has remained in family hands without interruption ever since.

In 1832, the Scorza, the country's first solid chocolate, was created here, the recipe for which has not changed to this day. In 1878, Majani became a purveyor to the House of Savoy, followed by awards at the World's Fairs in Paris, Vienna, and Milan between 1867 and 1881. Today, the factory is located in Valsamoggia just outside Bologna, while the historic shop on Via de' Carbonesi has been at the same address since 1830.

You can find more from this house at Majani Chocolate, and other bars in the Chocolate category. A cake that can be broken.