It doesn't look like many of us are going to get to spend a long, lazy holiday in Italy this summer, eating ice-cream-stuffed brioche for breakfast, perfectly ripe peaches for lunch, and mountains of creamy, boozy tiramisu for dinner, ahem, dessert.
There's still a slight sliver of hope, but if the anticipation is liable to leave you sad and restless, it might be wise to throw open your own kitchen windows, don a red and white checked apron, locate an Italian radio station on your phone, and capture a little continental charm right here.
We recommend grabbing a copy of England-born, Sicily-based food writer Letitia Clark's new collection, La Vita e Dolce, dedicated solely to 'Italian-inspired desserts'. Gladly, we had a go at three recipes - a sponge, a chocolate fridge cake and a sorbet. Here's what we learned...