October on the lake
October has arrived on Lake Como with summer reluctant to leave. The first days of the month have remained remarkably mild, with daytime temperatures reaching into the low to mid-twenties, bright skies, and terraces still very much in use. The lake continues to catch the strong autumn sunlight, while the mountains are only beginning to exchange their summer greens for shades of amber and gold. Yet there is a change beneath the warmth. The evenings arrive earlier, mornings feel fresher, and the season is slowly beginning to turn.
This is a wonderful month to look beyond the landscape and discover the extraordinary tradition of craftsmanship that surrounds the lake. For generations, this region has been shaped not only by cooks, farmers, and fishermen, but by woodworkers, silk printers, furniture makers, artists, and ceramicists whose skills have passed from one pair of hands to the next.
This month, we explore some of our favorite places to experience these living crafts, from the woodworking traditions of Cantù to silk printing in Bellagio and contemporary ceramics in Como. Back in the kitchen, we celebrate Mele, crisp apples from the nearby Alpine valleys, before sharing one of Italy's most loved home cakes, Torta di Mele, packed generously with apples and finished with a beautiful spiral of fruit.
Made by Hand: Lake Como’s Living Crafts
Lake Como has always been a place where beauty is made as well as admired. Behind the carved furniture, printed silk, polished wood, hand-shaped clay, and elegant objects associated with this part of Italy lies something less immediately visible: generations of knowledge.
The movements of a woodworker shaping a joint, an artist pressing pigment onto silk, or a ceramicist working damp clay may look effortless, but each depends on an understanding of material developed slowly over time. October, when the intensity of summer begins to ease, is a particularly good month to look more closely at these traditions and at the people keeping them alive.
Here are some of our favorite ways to discover Lake Como's living crafts this October.
Festival del Legno, Cantù
October begins with the final days of Cantù Città del Mobile, the fourteenth Festival del Legno, running through Sunday, October 4. Cantù has been synonymous with furniture making and fine woodworking for generations, and during the festival the town becomes an extended celebration of wood, craftsmanship, manufacturing, and contemporary design.
The 2026 theme, Pezzi Unici, places the focus on uniqueness, not only in the finished objects, but in the craftspeople, specialist knowledge, materials, and processes required to create them.
Even after the festival closes, Cantù remains worth exploring. Its identity is deeply connected to furniture and woodworking, and the town offers a fascinating counterpoint to the better-known villas and gardens of the lake.
Riva 1920 Wood Museum, Cantù
While in Cantù, the Riva 1920 Wood Museum offers a remarkable look at the tools and techniques behind the finished furniture.
Located on the first floor of the Riva Center, the museum contains more than 5,000 machines, tools, and artefacts. One of the collection's most extraordinary contemporary pieces is the twelve-meter Piano Antico table, made from ancient New Zealand Kauri wood dated at approximately 48,000 years old, with an iron base designed by architect Renzo Piano.
For anyone interested in kitchens, interiors, furniture, architecture, or simply beautifully made things, the museum is a reminder that every polished surface begins with raw material and a skilled pair of hands.
Print Your Own Lake Como Silk in Bellagio
Como's relationship with silk is one of the great stories of the region, but in Bellagio you can go beyond simply buying a finished scarf and experience part of the process yourself.
At Bellagio Ars Vivendi, close to the little port of Loppia, visitors can learn the traditional art of woodcut printing on Lake Como silk. Working with specialist artists, participants use traditional tools, natural pigments, and historic printing techniques to create their own silk piece to wear, frame, or take home. It is a particularly lovely way to connect Como's internationally recognized silk tradition with the actual craftsmanship behind the finished object.
Pottery with Elisa Ceramics, Como
For something more tactile, Elisa Ceramics offers small-group pottery workshops at her studio in Como. Rather than working on a wheel, participants learn hand-building techniques such as pinching and slab construction, shaping their own piece from stoneware clay before decorating it with colored engobes. Elisa then takes care of the professional drying, glazing, and two firing stages afterwards.
October workshops are scheduled through the month, including sessions on October 17 and October 31. The small class format makes the experience feel relaxed and personal.
Ingredient of the Month: Mele (apples)
October is apple season in the Alpine valleys beyond Lake Como. In the Valtellina, orchards spread across sunlit mountain slopes, where elevation and the marked difference between warm days and cooler nights help the fruit develop its crisp texture, perfume, color, and balance of sweetness and acidity.
Mela di Valtellina IGP includes Gala, Red Delicious, and Golden Delicious. Gala arrives first in late summer, while the Red and Golden varieties take us into autumn. Golden Delicious are harvested from mid-September to mid-October, making them particularly appropriate for this month's kitchen. Their golden-yellow skin sometimes develops a characteristic pink blush, while the flesh remains crisp, juicy, aromatic, and sweet.
In the Italian kitchen, apples move easily between sweet and savory dishes. They soften into cakes and fritters, bring freshness to rich risotti, pair beautifully with smoky speck, and become preserves to serve alongside mature cheese and roasted meats. Their acidity is just as important as their sweetness, providing the balance that makes them so versatile.
HERE ARE FOUR OF OUR FAVORITE ITALIAN WAYS TO APPLES THIS MONTH:
Frittelle di Mele: Apple rings dipped in a light batter, fried until golden, and dusted generously with sugar. Particularly associated with the Alpine north, they are best eaten almost immediately, while the batter is still crisp and the apple inside is warm and tender.
Risotto alle Mele e Speck: A northern Italian combination balancing the gentle sweetness and acidity of apples with smoky, salty speck. Butter and Parmigiano bring the rice together, while small pieces of apple retain enough freshness to stop the dish becoming overly rich.
Strudel di Mele: Thin pastry wrapped around apples, raisins, cinnamon, breadcrumbs, and often pine nuts or walnuts. Closely associated with Trentino-Alto Adige and Italy's Alpine borderlands, a good strudel should contain enough fruit to feel generous and just enough pastry to hold everything together.
Mostarda di Mele: Apples preserved with sugar and the distinctive heat of mustard create one of northern Italy's most intriguing accompaniments. Sweet at first and then unexpectedly sharp, mostarda is wonderful in small amounts alongside mature cheese, boiled meats, or roast pork.
RECIPE OF THE MONTH: torta di mele (apple cake)
Few cakes feel as immediately Italian as Torta di Mele. It is not an elaborate celebration cake or something reserved only for special occasions. It is the kind of cake found in family kitchens, ready for breakfast, afternoon coffee, or a simple dessert after dinner. Every household seems to have its own version, but the essential character remains the same: plenty of apples, a soft, tender crumb, and very little unnecessary decoration.
This month's recipe comes from Italian chef Francesco Mattana of Our Cooking Journey, who describes Torta di Mele as a staple of the Italian household and one of his favorite childhood sweets. What particularly attracted us to his version is just how generously it uses the fruit. Four apples are diced and folded through the batter, while another two are arranged over the surface in overlapping slices to create the beautiful spiral that makes the finished cake look far more elaborate than it actually is.
For October, Golden Delicious are particularly appropriate. Their sweetness and aroma deepen beautifully in the oven, while the lemon zest and juice keep the cake fresh and stop the abundance of apple from becoming heavy. This is exactly the kind of cake we want as autumn begins to settle over the lake: uncomplicated, generous, fragrant, and made to be shared.
Ingredients:
6 Golden Delicious apples, or other eating apples
Juice and finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
3 medium eggs
150 g (5½ oz) caster or superfine sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
100 ml (scant ½ cup) semi-skimmed or 2% milk
pinch of salt
100 g (3½ oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
300 g (10½ oz) plain or all-purpose flour
16 g (½ oz) baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing or confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Instructions:
Prepare the oven and pan: Preheat the oven to 180°C /400°F, and line a deep 25 cm (10-inch) round cake pan with baking parchment.
Prepare the apples: Peel four of the apples and cut them into small cubes, approximately 5 mm. Peel the remaining two apples and slice them into very thin half-moons, approximately 2 mm thick. Keep the cubes and slices in separate bowls, dividing the lemon juice between them and tossing gently prevent browning.
Make the batter: Whisk the eggs and caster sugar together until thoroughly combined. Add the milk and cooled melted butter and whisk again until smooth.
Add the dry ingredients: Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into the egg mixture. Add the lemon zest and vanilla, then mix just until the batter is smooth. Avoid overmixing once the flour has been added.
Fold in the apples: Add the diced apples and fold them carefully through the batter until evenly distributed. There will be a generous proportion of fruit, which is exactly what gives this cake its characteristic softness.
Fill the cake pan: Spoon mixture into the prepared cake pan and gently level the surface.
Create the apple spiral: Starting around the outside edge, arrange the thin apple slices in slightly overlapping concentric circles. Continue working inward until you reach the center, pressing each piece only lightly into the batter. The entire surface should be covered with fruit.
Finish the top: Sprinkle a small amount of additional caster sugar over the arranged apples if you would like a lightly caramelized crust.
Bake: Place the cake on the middle shelf and bake for approximately 45-50 minutes, until the surface is golden and a skewer inserted into the cake batter comes out clean. Because there is so much fruit, be careful not to mistake a moist piece of apple for undercooked batter.
Cool: Leave the cake in its pan for at least 15 minutes before carefully removing it. Allow it to cool until just warm or completely to room temperature.
Serve: Dust generously but lightly with icing sugar just before serving. This cake really needs nothing else, although a spoonful of softly whipped cream or mascarpone alongside is lovely if you are serving it as dessert.
Why we Love it: Torta di Mele is everything we love about Italian home baking. It is generous without being extravagant, beautiful without requiring elaborate decoration, and genuinely full of fruit rather than simply flavored with it. We especially love the way the apples perform two different roles: the cubes soften into the crumb and keep the cake wonderfully moist, while the thin slices on top become tender and lightly caramelized, creating that wonderful spiral finish. It works just as naturally beside morning coffee as it does after dinner, and somehow there always seems to be room for another slice.
Wine Pairing: Pair Torta di Mele with a Moscato d'Asti DOCG, served well chilled. Made from Moscato Bianco in Piemonte, it is naturally sweet, aromatic, and relatively low in alcohol, with floral notes and aromas that can recall peach, apricot, citrus blossom, and sage. Those fragrant qualities work beautifully with the apple, lemon, vanilla, and buttery crumb without overwhelming such a delicate cake.
As October slowly begins to turn the colors of the lake and surrounding mountains, we hope you find time to appreciate the pleasure of things made carefully and by hand, whether it is carved wood, printed silk, shaped clay, or a cake filled generously with autumn apples. May your month bring warm afternoons, cooler evenings, beautiful objects, and the quiet satisfaction of creating something yourself.
See you on the lake,
The Lake Como Kitchen Experience Team