Ricky Nix III of Piccione Pastry and Tamara Keefe of Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery showcase their new collaboration.
 
What do you get when you blend creamy gelato with crunchy cannoli? If you are a bakery in St. Louis, the answer is “gennoli.”

The pastry world has witnessed plenty of hybrid pastries (sometimes called mashups) in recent years, as shops across the country aim to bring excitement and creativity to a mature product category.

Now in St. Louis, Piccione Pastry, an Italian pastry shop, is pairing with Clementine’s Creamery, a local all-natural ice creamery, on a new sweet collaboration. Piccione Pastry is adding Clementine’s gelato and sorbet to the menu, in addition offering creative and collaborative sweet treats.

One such product success story is known as the gennoli, a crispy, crunchy cannoli shell stuffed with Clementine’s gelato.

"We are delighted to partner with Piccione Pastry to add our hand-crafted gelato to their already amazing menu," says Tamara Keefe, owner of Clementine's Naughty & Nice Creamery. "We have some innovative flavor ideas in store and can't wait to share them with visitors to The Loop."

Smooth, creamy and made with natural ingredients, Clementine’s gelato comes in flavors ranging from the traditional (chocolate, vanilla) to the trendy (salted caramel) to the St. Louis locally inspired (gooey butter). There are also seasonal flavors like the blood orange sorbet.

“We are thrilled to partner with Clementine’s Creamery. The popular St. Louis micro-creamery shares the same passion and values for high-quality ingredients and handcrafted desserts that Piccione Pastry is known for,” says Richard Nix, Jr., president of Butler’s Pantry, owner and operator of Piccione Pastry. “An Italian Pastry shop isn’t complete without authentic gelato and sorbet, and Tamara and the Clementine’s® team create the perfect flavors for Piccione’s guests.”

Piccione Pastry, located in the historic Delmar Loop, is a unique concept in St. Louis as a late-night Italian pastry shop that features single-serve Italian desserts, Italian coffees, locally handcrafted gelato and sorbet and seasonal breakfast and lunch choices, including vegan, vegetarian, sugar-free and gluten-free options. Piccione’s pastry chefs create recipes from scratch and bake in small batches.

Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery bills itself as the only micro-creamery in the state of Missouri. Located in historic Lafayette Square in St. Louis, all dairy used in their creations is from local, grass-fed, pasture-raised, hormone and RBST-free cows. Clementine’s combines their all natural proprietary dairy base with the finest handpicked ingredients to churn up a decadent 16-18% butterfat ice cream. In addition, Clementine’s also boasts a line of patent-pending boozy ice cream delights.