Meet Dough & Dolci: We visit the Italian bakery based in the Peak District

Located in Baslow, Dough & Dolci offer fresh desserts, coffee, and some savoury snacks.

Walking through the front door, I was immediately impressed by how the shop looked. The first thing to catch my eye was the glass cabinet housing the Sicilian desserts - from the classic cannoli, filled bomboloni, to the lobster tail-shaped aragostines and I could even spot some lovely focaccia.

The rest of the store is decorated to feel very warm and welcoming, with a few features from the period of the property.

Welcoming me to the store was the owner, Giuseppe, who told me a bit about how he started: “I’ve been doing this for about eight years, without a shop. I started off importing Italian food and selling business to business.”

After difficulties with Brexit and covid, he took his entrepreneurship in a different direction and looked towards offering fresh desserts. Giuseppe said: “I did a lot of practising at home, baking and making the bread. I converted my garage with a full kitchen in, just to do some practice during covid, and I started selling a bit online.

“I decided that it was time to get a place, we kept looking at this building - we come to Baslow as a family, it’s a nice place. It was available but needed a lot of work, at first it was a shall we shan’t we situation but I decided to take the plunge. I took the whole unit on and sublet the clothes shop next door.”

A man of many skills, Giuseppe turned the building into something special. “I did it up all myself, I even put a kitchen in the back as there was nothing in there - it was a garage.”

As a child Giuseppe spent every Sunday at his grandparent's house where his grandmother would always be cooking up a treat. “My heritage is Italian, I was born in Sheffield but my mum and dad were both born in Italy,” he said.

Wherever you look in the store, there’s a treat for the eyes waiting to be eaten - however, talking to Giuseppe, the passion for the cannoli is explicit. “The cannolis are the thing that I do a little bit different to everyone else, they are filled fresh to order and made with ricotta cream. The whole point of a cannoli to me is that you get that crunch.”

If you don’t fancy something sweet, there is a selection of focaccia bread to take out as well as ciabatta ready to be grilled to order: “I do have a passion for the sweet side of things, but I do sandwiches now as well as bread and a bit of focaccia.”

I’ll be the first to admit that I am a huge fan of anything sweet. However, my usual go-to’s are caramel shortbread and Bakewell pudding. Cannoli is something I’ve always seen on YouTube or in a travel documentary, but I’ve never actually had one in person. To say I was excited to taste what they were like is an understatement!

My order consisted of classic cannoli - filled with ricotta and dark chocolate bits, pistachio cannoli - filled with ricotta cream and pistachios, two differently filled aragostines, lemon curd bombolini, and a chocolate cornetti.

The desserts are perfect for those Instagram shots, it almost feels a shame to eat them - but after the first bite, you won’t be stopping any time soon.

I shared the desserts with my parents and my 11-year-old daughter. We first went for the cannolis, and I took my first bite from the classic version. When I felt the crunch of the cannoli shell, I understood what Giuseppe meant by only doing them fresh to order, the crunch added a great bit of texture. Then came the ricotta cream, I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was smooth and delicately sweet, a perfect combination for the flaky shell and dark chocolate pieces.

The room was quiet while we were eating, a sign that something is particularly good - the only comment to come out was, “this is the best I’ve had”, from my parents who have been lucky enough to try cannolis before.

The pistachio cannoli had the same effect on us, silence as we were enjoying the Sicilian dessert. I’m usually a chocolate guy, but the pistachios really added an interesting texture which I think I preferred - whichever you try, you’ll be impressed.

As for the two aragostines, those were for my daughter and all she could tell me is that she wants to go back for more - a very positive comment from a usually indifferent girl. They were definitely the prettiest of the desserts.

The next day I had the bombolini for breakfast, as a treat of course, and my daughter had the cornetti. The bombolini essentially looks like a doughnut, and texture-wise I would say that it is lighter and a bit softer. Filled with a generous serving of lemon curd, the tartness was a great combination with the dusted sugar sweetness of the doughnut.

I was hoping for a little taste of the cornetti, but my daughter devoured it within seconds. The girl who just loves her food was very happy.

Overall, I was incredibly impressed with everything we had. The desserts definitely tasted just as good as they looked, and Dough & Dolci will be a regular visit when we are heading out to the Peak District.

You can visit Dough & Dolci at HGM House, Baslow, or order online at www.doughanddolci.co.uk

They can also be found on social media – www.facebook.com/doughanddolci www.instagram.com/doughanddolci or contact them by phone 01246 469572.

Opening hours at 10-4 Tuesday to Saturday. Open on Sunday during the summer months.