Overview
Christmas Day is stressful enough without hovering by the oven waiting for your pavlova to rise. So it's a good thing Melbourne gelateria Pidapipo are swooping in to save the day with a limited-edition gelato cake, known in Italy as the Tronchetto di Natale.
Tronchetto di Natale is what some people might call a Yule log. We've decided to call it a Gelato Finger.
It's a cylindrical layer cake, covered in a milk chocolate glaze and house-made chocolate ganache. Inside you'll find Pidapipo's signature cherry sorbet and raspberry cream gelato, wrapped in a chocolate almond sponge. If this thing doesn't have you groaning on the couch at 3pm on Christmas Day, we don't know what will.
Pidapipo's co-founder, Lisa Valmorbida, says she wanted to cut out a lot of that Christmas stress by offering a ready-to-eat dessert. There's no prep and no cooking time with this one. You simply unwrap the Tronchetto di Natale and gobble it up as quickly as possible.
"Christmas is such a happy time and I love making things as festive as possible. This is reflected in the cake and I'm excited for everyone to taste and enjoy the Christmas flavours," Lisa says. "It represents having something to celebrate, which is a nice change, especially for us here in Melbourne."
Pidapipo's Tronchetto di Natale is $95 and serves around 8-10 people, depending on how much turkey they've already consumed. You can pre-order it online from Friday, November 5.
If you want to play things fast and loose with Christmas dessert, Lisa says there will be a limited number of cakes available for collection in-store each day (starting from 1 December).
You can pre-order your Pidapipo Tronchetto di Natale via the website, or pop into your local Pidapipo to pick up.