Pasticceria Zoccola

It was the year 1820, Vittorio Emanuele I reigned in Piedmont, and Italy was still to be created, when Luigi and Maddalena Zoccola opened a bakery in Cassine, in the province of >Alexandria. Since then many things have changed, Italy was reunited in a monarchical state, went through two world wars, and then became a Republic. The Zoccola family's business has also changed over time: from a bakery it gradually transformed into a pastry shop, and from Cassine it moved to Alessandria, first to Via Mazzini and then to Corso Alfonso La Marmora. It is there that every morning the counter is filled with delicacies starting from the famous ""cannoncino"" which, due to its characteristics, is considered unique in Alessandria, despite countless attempts at imitation. There are 4,000 baked on any opening day with production increasing significantly on weekends and during holidays. The sixth and seventh generations of the Zoccola family run the pastry shop in Corso La Marmora. Massimo Zoccola, born in 1947, has been the pastry chef ever since he put aside his work in the bank at the age of thirty to dedicate himself completely to the family trade: it is he who makes the dough for the cannoncini with his father Cesare's recipe and that secret about the flour mix that changes depending on the humidity of the air. Alice Zoccola, born in 1978, degree in advertising graphics, preferred management to the laboratory (of which, however, she knows every secret): it was she who chose pink as the colour, gave a new look to the packaging and dedicated herself to the welcoming customers. Another member of the family, an irreplaceable element for the balance of the business, is mother Paola.