Experiences

The recipe for Donizetti Cake was conceived in 1948 by Angelo Balzer to celebrate the centenary of Donizetti’s death. Balzer, the descendant of a historic family of confectioners in Bergamo, took a sponge cake as a base, gave it a donut shape, and enriched it with pieces of apricot and candied pineapple. It was immediately acclaimed by the general public, and quickly spreads to all the pastry shops of the city. The ingredients, according to the recipe of Caffè Balzer, are: butter, flour,...

A drink dedicated to the great composer from Bergamo for a Donizetti-inspired happy hour. Tony Foini, famous bartender of the "Le Iris" bistro in Bergamo, by revisiting a classic cocktail, created the "Donizetti Spriss" in the name of the city’s most famous figure. The main ingredient couldn’t be anything other than the "Elixir D'Amore Bitter 24" from the Sarnico distilleries, which, as it happens, is also one of the "Ambasciatori di Donizetti" (Donizetti Ambassadors) of the...

In 2016, on occasion of its eightieth anniversary, the historic Caffè Balzer, bar and pastry shop, as well as meeting point for audiences attending the theatre "Teatro Donizetti", created an elegant series of handmade chocolates dedicated to the composer and named "Le Melodie di Donizetti", or "The Melodies of Donizetti". The official presentation and the beginning of sale to the public took place at the beginning of the Donizetti Festival in November 2016. There are nine ‘Melodies’,...