For me, living on the border between the provinces of Siena and Florence, driving south in Tuscany means going through one of the most breathtaking scenery on the planet, the Val d’Orcia and the Crete Senesi, declared by UNESCO, in 2004, World Heritage Site. The outlines of the hills are well known throughout the world, just as the small group of cypress trees at the top of a small hill that seem placed there on purpose to inspire photographers and dreamers.

Pienza, Bagno Vignoni, San Quirico d’Orcia… these are lands of cheese, hot springs and soft landscapes. Then Montalcino, known throughout the world for its wine and also for the excellent extra virgin olive oil, the view that stretches to a far horizon of rolling hills and an abbey just outside the town where the air still vibrates with mysticism and Gregorian chants.

When you drive southward  you have a far away reference point, the Mount Amiata, an ancient and no longer active volcano that dominates the surrounding valleys, the Val d’Orcia, the Bolsena lake, the Chianti and the plain of Maremma. In cloudless days you can see the Amiata mountain even from Siena and my house, covered with chestnut and beech forests. Though it has the fire in its remote past, now is the water that represents its main source of wealth: the Fiora waterworks supply with the local water the entire southern Tuscany and northern Lazio.

Until a few years ago the Mount Amiata was well-known for its winter tourism, being the most important ski resort in the southern Tuscany with its ski tows and its cozy mountain huts. Nowadays it is instead mostly appreciated for the fresh air, the green areas, the hot springs and a straightforward and hearty cuisine.

The goal of our southward trip was Piancastagnaio, famous for its incredible houses clinging to the side of a cliff and protected by the fortress Aldobrandeschi. Piancastagnaio is named after the splendid chestnut trees which surround the town and gift the villagers with one of the most important ingredients of their local cuisine, the chestnuts, celebrated every year in the famous Crastatone festival.

If you’ll ever visit Piancastagnaio, I do suggest you to climb to the Rocca Aldebrandesca, just to enjoy the pictoresque view of the town spreading beneath, with red roofs, the clock tower and the smoke from the chimneys, painting the scenario of an old time mountain village, genuine and true.

And now we enter in a Lord of the Rings genealogy: Piancastagnaio is the hometown of my friend Paolo, who is the husband of my best friend Laura, famous for the luscious Sacher Torte recipe, as well as for being the daughter of Rita, who revealed me the recipe for the delicious pine nut cake, and from now on also for being the daughter-in-law of the woman who gave me the recipe of the ricciolina, the decadent cake who pushed us South!

A first clarification is due, since I really do not want to raise the wrath of neighbour villagers, separated by colorful rivalries as always happens in Italy: the ricciolina tart belongs to the culinary tradition of Abbadia San Salvatore, not to Piancastagnaio. So do not hold it against me if the recipe comes from Laura’s mother-in-law from Piancastagnaio, I strongly believe that a thick slice of shortcrust pastry filled with creamy chocolate spread – now replaced with the world famous Nutella – would help even the most bitter enemies to come to an agreement.

The ricciolina tart hides between two crumbly shortcrust layers a thick Nutella filling and a generous handful of dried fruit, just to make it even more devilishly good. As the filling is made with Nutella, the first thing that comes to mind would be to use hazelnuts, but you can find sometimes also almonds or walnuts. I chose walnuts.

The walnuts are extremely appreciated in the Tuscan pastry making (just think at cavallucci) and their use goes back to the old times when myths and legends were part of the everyday life. Despite the love for this rich dried fruit, the relationship with the walnut trees has always been based on respect and fear. It was thought that the witches chose these trees as a shelter: every time the wayfarers found a walnut tree with a cracked trunk, they used to abandon that path not to wake up the witch who rested inside.

This is a mountain tart, a rustic and traditional shortcrust with a thick filling of Nutella and walnuts, covered by a gentle puff of meringue on which you can draw squiggles of chocolate, from which the cake takes its name.

When Paula from Bellalimento asked me to contribute with a Nutella sweet treat to the blog Bellanutella, I decided to take up the challenge and dig into the Tuscan culinary tradition to find a typical cake made with this delicious chocolate spread… this was definitely a cake worth the trip to the Mount Amiata, I bet you will adore it, too!

Head over to Bellanutella blog to discover the mouthwatering recipe to make the ricciolina!

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Tuscan Nutella and meringue tart

You should be interested also in:

1. Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake – Are you a cook or eat person?
2. Dark Chocolate Meringue Tart
3. The Tuscan pine nut cake – a recipe with a story

When I’ve found my groove and I’m not hung up on traffic and number of comments and whether I’m going to quit, it’s so gratifying. It brings me so much in terms of interaction and feedback and ideas and inspiration. It’s really worth every ounce of energy I pour into it. It has grown with me. It’s really the key to everything else that I do.”

Clotilde Dusoulier, Chocolate & Zucchini - from Will Write for Food, Dianne Jacob

… I wouldn’t be able to express my feelings in a better way or to find better words to celebrate my first 3 years of blogging today. Today, when I’m back home from London full of ideas and inspiration and I am ready to put everything into practice, today, when the snow has covered everything in white, softness and quietness, today, when the new life has finally begun.

And I want to thank you, because Clotilde’s words are true, true because I do appreciate your feedback, the love and the friendship, the interaction that grows constantly and makes me grow, an everlasting spur to do better not to disappoint you.

Therefore I decided to make this special treat for you, my Mum’s tiramisu, the basic version, still missing here on the blog… I could not wait any longer to publish it! As we are celebrating, I decided to make it a little bit more special with a step by step video: thanks to Valeria for being such a patient actress and to Laura for being a perfect assistant director!

P.S. Click on YouTube for a larger video!

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

A tiramisu to celebrate 3 years of blogging

You should be interested also in:

1. Tea Tiramisu
2. The Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Tiramisu
3. Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake – Are you a cook or eat person?

They came home gift-wrapped as only Santa’s elves would be able to do: two kilos of intense Caffarel dark chocolate. They came home along with a shower of chocolate stars, wrapped in a shiny yellow and red paper. As you can see from my pictures, I was put in charge of the 20th of December in the Advent Calendar, a game started on December the 1st with Kja’s chocolate pudding, a festive treat you would’n miss!

I had more than a month to think about my chocolate recipe to perform my part on the 20th of December, and I was perfectly aware of what I was going to make with my two kilos of chocolate, a smooth chocolate spread.

A chocolate spread, especially if made ​​with extra virgin olive oil, can be stored for some time and is a good idea for a gourmet Christmas gift. Make it precious with a beautiful handmade label drawn with old pencils in shades of brown, use a Christmas napkin to cover the lid of the jar and tie it with a velvet ribbon.

The simplicity of the recipe is redeemed with the high quality of the ingredients: choose a light and fruity extra virgin olive oil, a not too strong or pungent one as could be an olive oil from Apulia, fabulous with burrata and orecchiette but not in pastry. The cocoa powder I used is from a local chocolate shop and artisan confectionery, De Bondt of Pisa, so intense that it made ​​me forget the love for the Dutch cocoa. The hazelnut cream is organic, made ​​exclusively with blended hazelnuts, which means that, if you want, you can blend the same weight of shelled hazelnuts into a cream.

Despite my psychological and material preparation and the bags with the best ingredients arranged on the table, my chocolatier’s Apprentice thermometer abandoned me when least expected, so I went to a rule of thumb.

Christmas is really close now, so take a few hours for yourself, chop the chocolate in a warm kitchen, inebriate yourself with its dark smell while melting it in water bath, indulge yourself in mixing it slowly with the hazelnut cream. Pretend to be Vianne Rocher for a night, lost among puffs of cocoa and dark chocolate flakes, you deserve it!

P.S. Try this chocolate spread on warm bread, then you’ll tell me what you think!

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Hazelnut and olive oil chocolate spread

You should be interested also in:

1. Chocolate & Tahini Truffles
2. Olive oil cookies + some notes on the use of olive oil in confectionery
3. Chocolate, cream and mascarpone trifle

They are three. Three white hairs. Three white hairs that I see every morning in the bathroom mirror, highlighted by the harsh spotlight that makes them stand out, so white and straight, among the other soft brown curls, that instead are huddled peacefully on my head, as they are supposed to be, as curly hair, in the early hours of the morning.

Until a few months ago, every now and then I spotted one white hair that wanted to stand out from the others and that – poor deluded – was short-lived, because as soon as I noticed its unwelcome presence, it was eliminated with decision. You, the intruder, what do you think to do here?

Then, lightning, a thought: it is generally believed that every white hair is actually a sign that we managed to indulge a whim. So why on earth are we trying to hide this flowing of time marked more by happily satisfied whims than by wrinkles? this is really a pleasant way of looking at the passage of time, a way that celebrates the achievements and victories, the small moments of personal satisfaction, and transforms them into trophies.

The first English afternoon tea at the Four Seasons. A flight to London. A relaxing massage with aromatherapy. A twelve-hour night’s sleep under a duvet soft like a cloud. Horse-riding in the woods looking in the distance at the towers of San Gimignano. A ’50s style garden party with red and white striped straws. A flight to London, again. The second English afternoon tea, this time at the Ritz. A day of idleness while everyone is at work. The red lipstick. The blue nail polish even though I was in the office. My colourful clothes combined with crazy fantasy. The truffle of Alba. A moelleux au chocolat. A flight to London, yes, again … one year of white hair, thank God!

When I made ​​this decadent chocolate pudding with a lavish molten heart I just thought: now I’m going to indulge a whim, let me bake just for myself a sumptuous moelleux au chocolat. I’m not talking about those frozen and surely industrial patty-cakes you can find in almost every restaurant, presented as house specialties, this is a real moelleux au chocolat, made by carefully following the recipe found in Jamie Magazine issue 22, completely dedicated to France. It’s made ​​with mostly organic products and the best chocolate I found, a bag of 70% cocoa dark DeBondt chocolate drops.

This was the first time I baked a real moelleux au chocolat, therefore the thrill of discovering the soft and dense dark chocolate molten heart with a spoon was true and pure. It was undeniable worth the white hair!

Although you can find here on Juls’ Kitchen many foreign recipes, linked to traditions of other countries, the French recipes are really not well represented, they can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Here they are all together, just in case you feel like French style after this decadent chocolate pudding!

• riz rouge de Camargue with fennel confit, a savoury memory of one of the best holidays on the road, Camargue and Provence, during  the summer of 2010,
• Vérònique’s crepes with salted butter and raspberries, to transform a so far pretty anonymous dish in a family dish, thanks to the story and words of a French friend,
• cherry clafoutis, a secret whispered on my door,
• omelette with herbs, from an Elizabeth David’s recipe, my absolute favourite food writer.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Moelleux au chocolat

You should be interested also in:

1. Chocolat verrines… to lick your fingers!
2. Les Mendiants – Vianne Rocher favourite ones!
3. Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies: a life-changing minute

I succeeded to post the recipe at the second attempt. I baked this biscotti for the first time early this summer for a special Tuscan dinner with friends, writing the ingredients on a small piece of paper and losing it as expected at the end of the evening. It’s always the same: you put the notes scribbled down with codes and abbreviations that only you can understand in that book because you are sure you will easily remember that it is there, except then forgetting about it after 5 minutes, giving the recipe for missing for the months to come.

The same happened with the small duvet buttons, put into the box on the shelf because it was clear that I would have searched for them there the next year… and of course I secured the duvet to the sheets with pegs for months! And it happened again with the new necklace I bought in Germany, put in the most obvious and easy place to remember and found at the end of the season during the wardrobe change, just by chance.

But here I admit it, Your Honor, I’m a persistent offender with recipe notes. I even bought a black Moleskine just for my recipes, but most of the times I forget to write there ingredients, temperature and steps on the glossy pages of my diary.

As in the best fairy tales, when you least expect it the slip of paper comes out, and the only thing you need to do is to decrypt with archaeologist attention my infamous abbreviations, so obvious when you note them down for the first time, so obscure when you find out the recipe months later.

After having sent a good bunch of darns to the past me, who insists on writing half in Italian and half in English, hopping from language to language and from units of measurement to units of measurement, I eventually managed to reconstruct the basic recipe of the cantuccini made with chestnut flour.

Since in this period I’m playing with alternative flour and sweeteners, influenced Heidi Swanson‘s useful and mind-opening books, I slightly changed the original cantuccini recipe, trying to make them mirror the amazing colours and flavours of autumn.

I chose the chestnut flour, so sweet, and a whole oat flour, enchanted by how Heidi describes it: in her opinion it gives a moist and creamy sweetness to cookies and cakes. Just to bring these biscotti a step further in the scale of indulgence, I stirred in a generous handful of 70% dark chocolate drops, strong and slightly bitter. Now pull out the vinsanto, the cantuccini are ready!

You can store the chestnut flour in a tightly closed plastic box or bag in the freezer: since it is obtained from dried chestnuts, it will keep the floury texture, without turning into a frozen brick.

For an improvised snack with the dear flavour of the ancient times just stir the sweet flour with water until you get a smooth and liquid batter, similar to the pancake mixture. Brush with extra-virgin olive a small non-stick pan, heat it on the stove and pour a spoonful of batter into the pan, spreading it evenly. Cook for a very few minutes on both sides and enjoy necci, chestnut pancakes typical of the Garfagnana area, simply good with just a dusting of icing sugar or a spoonful of fresh ricotta.

If you love chestnut flour just like I do – after all when you taste the best quality chestnut flour it will be like having a chestnut melting on your tongue, such a real taste -, do not miss castagnaccio, the most typical and rustic chestnut cake, made just with olive oil, rosemary, raisins and pine nuts.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Chestnut flour and chocolate drops biscotti

You should be interested also in:

1. DB Challenge: crostata with 2 fillings {chocolate & tahini and chestnut pastry cream}
2. Grandma Menna’s Kitchen: chestnut cake
3. Jamie Oliver’s Two-nuts Chocolate Cake

I have been admiring Kulsum’s blog for months, in love with her Indian recipes, with that Middle Eastern hint that makes her tasty dishes even more interesting and appealing. How have I been able to meet Kulsum, born and brought up an Indian Bohra household in Kuwait? Twitter is the answer, and the reason I’m here today with a guest post regarding the Italian breakfast!

As a grown-up, my daily breakfast is now a cup of jasmine green tea with two slices of toasted bread and a translucent spread of home made jam, but as a child I adored the ciambellone, our home made and rustic ring cake, a classic of many Italian family breakfasts.

This is not a fancy cake, you won’t see this golden brown ring cake in a patisserie window next to glossy macarons and deep chocolate masterpieces. Tough, I assure you that you can find it on a morning breakfast table in many Italian houses, lovingly sliced by the caring hands of mothers for their sleepy children, or generously spread with home made fruit jam by hungry students ready to face a new day.

Follow me at Kulsum’s Journey Kitchen to read the recipe!

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

The Italian breakfast, spelt flour and cocoa ring cake. Guest post for Kulsum of Journey Kitchen

You should be interested also in:

1. Buckwheat flour breakfast muffins
2. Persimmon cake with whole spelt flour
3. Florentine panino al lampredotto and a guest post

It’s tea-time, a few minutes of quiet in the mid-afternoon since I can remember, a break from my homework to be spent with mum, grandma and Claudia. Often an elbow was leaning on my books, the Greek translation or the marketing manual, while the other was struggling to have space on a colourful place-mat between a cup of tea and some biscuits. Those minutes have always been precious, to spend some time together and talk and comment on our day so far. But the tea-time has a meaningful sense even when I’m alone, just my cup of tea and me, following the drawings of the sun on the kitchen floor, to clear up my mind and recharge myself with new energy, dreaming about what would have happened if…

…what would have happened if she had pursued her dream and had turned the tea-time, the moment that she preferred in the day, into her life, to live a never ending tea-time, to stop the clock at that moment when the kettle whistles, your eyes go through the many teas on the shelf to find a suitable flavour for your mood and the cake looks inviting on the table.

Follow me in this story written for La Ciliegina and her contest E’ sempre l’ora del tè, along with a recipe for a sweet and fresh lemon cake and a cup of fruity tea.

IT’S MY CUP OF TEA

Giulia had thought about it for a long time, had weighed up the pros and cons. Job security on the one hand, on the other one risk and adventure: every time she poured the tea into her favourite cup, sometimes amber, sometimes dark and deep, sometimes a transparent and refreshing green, she depicted her dream with vivid colours. A tea room in the neighbouring town, the days spent baking cakes and biscuits to be served in the afternoon, a selection of tea to travel around the world sitting comfortably in an armchair.

Then one afternoon, clutching her cup of steaming tea, she got lost in the wisps of steam rising from the cup, she felt nursed by them, she felt good and safe, and she made ​​her decision. Many days, banks, checks and sleepless nights later, she hung proudly her wooden shop sign over the glass door of her tea room and went back inside into the smell of butter, sugar and vanilla, waiting for the bell above the door to ring as the first customer would step inside. That silver tinkling was not late to come and in the following days it was a symphony of bells.

It worked: she was offering simple things, good for your soul. A quiet, friendly, unpretentious place, where everyone could feel at home, with armchairs of all shapes and sizes, colourful chairs, small tables scattered on a wooden floor that creaked gently under each step. Her tea room was the ideal place for those who wanted to read a book in a peaceful scene, talk for hours with a friend, work on the beloved project or just find themselves, clutching a cup of steaming tea, just as had happened in that afternoon when she had made ​​the decision that changed her life.

She was proud of her glass jars full of cookies: chocolate, lemon, dried fruit and oriental scents, or simple shortbreads for those who wanted to rediscover the taste of childhood in a bite. On the counter there were four or five cakes of the day, they changed in colour, fruit and frosting with the seasons. But there was one cake that was there everyday, being it sunny or rainy, the white chocolate and lemon cake, the one she had served to the first person who stepped into her tea room and, in the very same day, into her life.

Every day, before opening the shop in the afternoon and starting the dance of cakes, cookies and clinking china cups, she treated herself with a cup of tea and a slice of cake, often the lemon and white chocolate cake, to live again the excitement of those black eyes who smiled at her ordering that lemon cake and kept smiling at her every day since then. Chasing her dream and finding the courage to turn it into reality, she had received a gift far more precious than she had dared to hope.

This Giulia’s favourite recipe, a lemon and white chocolate pound cake. In winter, garnished with caramelised oranges or cinnamon pears, it is the perfect match of a cup of steaming tea. During the summer, topped with the most beautiful seasonal red fruit, goes perfectly with a glass of iced tea. It has a very strong citrus hint, softened by the presence of the white chocolate in the dough: the mascarpone and red fruit frosting is attractive and fashionable, but I do assure you the cake is worth a try even on its own, with a dusting of icing sugar.

POUND CAKE WITH LEMON & WHITE CHOCOLATE

The recipe is the well known pound cake and, therefore, weigh the eggs with their shells and use the same weight of flour, sugar and fat. In this case, the fat component is given by the butter and the white chocolate. I have also slightly reduced the amount of sugar not to have an excessively sweet cake. Choose organic lemons in order to use their peel light-heartedly.

Cake ingredients:

• 4 medium eggs, at room temperature (about 260 g)
• 200 g caster sugar
• 100 g white chocolate, melted
• 150 g butter, melted
• 3 organic lemons, grated peel and squeezed juice
• 250 g plain flour
• about 8 g of baking powder

Frosting ingredients:

• 250 g mascarpone cheese
• 100 ml cream, whipped
• grated peel of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• strawberries and cherries
• mint leaves

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, melt the white chocolate in a double boiler and the butter on a very low heat or in the microwave.
2. Beat the eggs and the sugar until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. Pour in the melted butter and white chocolate and whip the batter.
3. Add the flour, the baking powder, the sieved lemon juice and the lemon peel. Stir until everything is evenly mixed.
4. Pour into a rectangular cake tin, previously greased and floured. Bake for about 1 hour until golden and dry in the centre (use a toothpick to check). Let it cool down completely before unmould.
5. Make the frosting: whisk the mascarpone cheese with the whipped cream, 2 tablespoons of icing sugar and the finely grated zest of a lemon. Spread the mascarpone frosting over the cake, then decorate with plenty of strawberries and cherries and a few mint leaves. Serve immediately or store the cake in a cool place until ready to serve it.

The tea. I chose my favourite tea of the moment, bought in London at Greenwich market. It is Wilkins and Edwards’ Notting Hill, a black tea flavoured with mango, passion fruit, orange and marigold. I love it steaming hot and black, without adding any sugar, or cold with a slice of lemon. It is strong, energizing and fruity, a perfect match with a slice of this pound cake.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Lemon & White chocolate cake

You should be interested also in:

1. Lilac muffins: when white chocolate meets Hibiscus tea
2. Chocolate & banana muffins + rum! Forever Nigella #2 “Seduced by Chocolate”
3. Buckwheat cake with chocolate

Recipes are wily beings. Sometimes they capture you with an alluring photo, sometimes they flourish in front of your eyes an ingredient you are really nuts about and that you would use anywhere, even in your cappuccino. Other recipes are more reserved, and win you with just one right word, giving you the sensation that this is what you were unconsciously looking for. The first time I leafed through David Lebovitz’s Ready for Dessert looking for a chocolate recipe, I was caught by just one sentence: you must stir the mixture energetically for one full minute, not less, because that will be a life-changing minute.

From that moment on, that life-changing minute crept into me: I wanted to understand how these 60 seconds could be crucial in the balance of a recipe, I wanted to savour the brownies elaborated by Robert Steinberg, the man who changed the world of American chocolate. If even David Lebovitz agreed on defining them as the absolute best brownies, there should have been a reason.

This is a challenge you can’t give up, because in our life we all have had a first hand experience of how one minute can be crucial, because a minute can really change your life. Without considering the 60 seconds that make you jump out of breath on the train where you’ll finally meet your soul mate or lose the plane you were bound not to take, there are so many examples that come to my mind.

In one minute you can give life to a baby child who opens his eyes to the world, in one minute you decide to take that road, although steep, winding and slippery, that will take you right where you dream to go… even though you don’t get there, the trip will still be amazing anyhow! An extra minute can turn a pale chicken into one of the best roast chickens in history, or, conversely, your immaculate meringues into sticky and brownish pancakes. What about you? Which has been your life-changing minute?

If you’ll devote 1 full minute to stir energetically the batter, you will hold in your hand not a crumbly brownie but a deep dark chocolate brownie with a buttery texture that melts in your mouth, and you will enjoy it till the last bite, appreciating the dark chocolate drops and the juicy cranberries that add the perfect sour and fruity touch. If you do not believe me, give credit to David Lebovitz, a real expert, and devote 60 precious seconds to stir what will later become the best brownie ever.

ROBERT’S ABSOLUTE BEST BROWNIES

Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz, Ready for Dessert, as posted on Leite’s Culinaria (in italics my variations).

Ingredients (makes 9 – 12 brownies):

• 85 g unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for the pan
• 225 g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 150 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 35 g all-purpose flour
• (1 cup walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped) I used instead
• 120 g dark chocolate drops
• 100 g dried cranberries
• 5 cocoa beans, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Line the inside of a 9-inch square pan with 2 lengths of foil, positioning the sheets perpendicular to each other and allowing the excess to extend beyond the edges of the pan, or with a single large sheet of extra wide foil or parchment paper. Lightly butter the foil or parchment.
3. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the chocolate and stir until it is melted and smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla until combined. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Add the flour and stir energetically for 1 full minute—time yourself—until the batter loses its graininess, becomes smooth and glossy, and pulls away a bit from the sides of the saucepan. Stir in the chocolate drops and the dried cranberries.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with chopped cocoa beans and bake until the centre feels almost set, about 30 minutes. Do not overbake.
5. Let the brownie cool completely in the pan—this is the difficult part—before lifting the foil or parchment and the block of brownie out of the pan. Cut the brownie into squares. (The brownies will keep well for up to 4 days and can be frozen for 1 month.)

★ The cocoa beans are not very easy to find. I I bought them in London near Borrough Market. Of course, you do not need to go so far to find cocoa beans! They are not essential in the balance of the recipe, they are not even comparable to the 60 seconds that I just mentioned, but they are just perfect to add a crunchy, dark and buttery side to the brownies! If you can’t find them, try with some chopped toasted hazelnuts: you won’t be disappointed!

A quick note. Surely in this time of the year you are wandering how to use Easter chocolate, aren’t you? If you don’t have leftover chocolate, you have a really sweet tooth! To make these brownies, you can use leftover chocolate and mix it even though of different quality: this will make slightly different brownies, but no less tasty. You can play with dried fruit and nuts as well. The original recipe calls only for different kinds of nuts, I opted instead for cranberries and chocolate drops, but you can add raisins, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, any dried fruit you have, from strawberries to papaya and, why not, the coconut flakes.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies: a life-changing minute

You should be interested also in:

1. You need “spirito” in your life… wine doughnut cookies!
2. Chocolate & banana muffins + rum! Forever Nigella #2 “Seduced by Chocolate”
3. Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake – Are you a cook or eat person?

Girls’ night out. We are heading to the cinema and, as every time, we are sharing the car. This is my turn to drive to the nearby town to go to the movies, so is Laura to enter my car. As soon as she opens the door she is overwhelmed by a sweet and tropical smell, mixed with the fairy icing sugar lingering in the air. Right on the dashboard there’s a parcel wrapped in aluminium foil, reflecting the night lights. She looks at me, than at the parcel, then stares back at me: what’s that?

It was her part of my Yeasted Meringue Coffee cake.

Would you rather cook or eat? If you had to choose, in an hypothetical and apocalyptic end of the world as we know it today, just one thing to do, cook for someone or eat what someone else has cooked for you, what would you choose? The voluptuous and satisfying eating or the mind-blowing and rewarding cooking? Despite my sweet tooth, I assume I would choose cook for someone, because when I’m not able to throw myself into the kitchen even for a short period of time, I start to feel a physical urge pushing me toward the stove. Are you a cooking or an eating person? Quite hard to single out, I admit.

For the moment, since there’s no need to pick from cook and eat, every time I can, I cook or bake a double portion. A helping is to be eaten by my family and me, a helping is for my friend. How to kill two birds with one stone!

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Here the recipe: Jamie found this recipe on a piece of yellowed paper in her dad’s collection of clipped out and hand-written recipes from the 1970’s, no source, no date, and she tried the recipe and it was brilliant!

FILLED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE

Makes 2 round coffee cakes, each approximately 10 inches in diameter - The recipe can easily be halved to make one round coffee cake

Ingredients
For the yeast coffee cake dough:

• 4 cups (600 g) flour
• ¼ cup (55 g) sugar
• ¾ teaspoon (5 g) salt
• 1 package (7 g) active dried yeast
• ¾ cup (180 ml) whole milk
• ¼ cup (60 ml) water
• ½ cup (135 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 large eggs at room temperature

For the meringue:

• 3 large egg whites at room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup (110 g) sugar

For the filling, my version:

• 2 Tablespoons (30 g) granulated sugar
• 8 Tablespoons desiccated coconut
• 1 cup (170 g) coarsely chopped dark chocolate

Egg wash: 1 beaten egg

Cocoa powder (optional) and confectioner’s sugar (powdered/icing sugar) for dusting cakes.

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.
2. In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted.
3. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.
4. Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.
5. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.

Prepare your filling

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and the desiccated coconut.
2. Add the chopped chocolate.

Make the meringue

1. Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue.
2. In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque.
3. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assemble the Coffee Cakes

1. Line 2 baking/cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue.
3. Now, roll up the dough jelly roll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.
4. Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring.
5. Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings.
6. Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
8. Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.
9. Remove from the oven and slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheets onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cakes from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cakes off onto cooling racks. Allow to cool.
10. Just before serving, dust the tops of the coffee cakes with confectioner’s sugar as well as cocoa powder if using chocolate in the filling. These are best eaten fresh, the same day or the next day.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake – Are you a cook or eat person?

You should be interested also in:

1. Lemon & White chocolate cake
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Luckily, I’ve never had to deal much with hospitals, nor for me nor for my dear ones. However, when Claudia was still a puppy, she was nearly 5, she spent 15 days in the children’s hospital in Siena for a totally not-to-worry-about tonsil infection. There was absolutely nothing to worry about, but a fortnight in the hospital – especially for a tiny hyperactive puppy as she was – was nevertheless a critic moment to deal with.

I still remember her open mouth heartily laughs when the hospital volunteers used to spend some time with Claudia, to entertain her. a few moments, two chats and a smile were enough to switch the bored look in her face into a shining and sparkling smile!

This was my first thought when I read of this very important blog event created by Caris from Cooking Planner, aiming to save the Roman Fondazione Santa Lucia for children. A recipe child-friendly was all she was asking for. How could you say no?

I therefore decided to make truffles, one of the first recipe Claudia and I made together, because it is simple, child-friendly and, alter all, everyone loves chocolate!

I have already told you that I adore the chocolate & tahini match, when I first made this filled tart. I also foretold that there would have certainly been another recipe, and there we are! This kind of truffles was spinning in my head for a long time, until I decided to make it real: tiny, intense and slightly bitter on the outside, with an inner, creamy and silky heart.

It is a very easy recipe, where the fun part is to get your hands – and mouth – dirty with chocolate! It is therefore suitable for children, who will start shaping the truffles with neat aprons and chubby faces, and finish their dirty work with chocolate mustaches and a large smile!

Ingredients for about 60 – 65 truffles:

• 300 g dark chocolate 60%
• 200 ml cream
• 30 g butter
• 2 tbs tahini
• unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder

Chop the dark chocolate and put it in a small thick bottomed saucepan over low heat. Pour the cream little by little whisking to melt chocolate. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter and the tahini. Pour in a bowl and let rest in the fridge for at least two hours.

After two hours, it’s time for kids to go on stage! Remove the truffle mixture from the fridge and dust generously a large dish with cocoa powder. Kids, roll up your sleeves, wear an apron and be ready to dirt your hands! With a teaspoon make small balls of chocolate mixture, large more or less as a hazelnut. Dust your hands with cocoa powder and roll the truffles in your hands, put them on the dish and roll them again into the cocoa powder.

Let them set in the fridge for two hours, then… the truffles are ready to be eaten or gift-wrapped for your best friends!

Tasting test. The tahini gives to the truffles a deep and intense flavour, nutty and slightly toasted. It enriches the creamy and silky texture, exalting the chocolate flavour… so, believe me, they are worth a try!

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Chocolate & Tahini Truffles

You should be interested also in:

1. DB Challenge: crostata with 2 fillings {chocolate & tahini and chestnut pastry cream}
2. Chocolate & banana muffins + rum! Forever Nigella #2 “Seduced by Chocolate”
3. Chestnut flour and chocolate drops biscotti

Does it happen to you? As you walk down the street, do you cast an eye to the shop window and catch a reflection, a glimpse with undefined contours? What do you see? or rather, who would you like to see in that reflection? Sometime I hope with all my heart to see a slender girl, with an innate elegance just as Audrey Hepburn, with finely combed hair, a peculiar but not too eccentric style, a bright smile and a golden aura around her. Needless to say, when I look up and focus on that reflection, there is no trace of Audrey and her little black dress.

If I got off on the wrong foot, surely I’ll see a girl with Mafalda‘s hair, far from being a style icon, circled eyes and grey-sh to puddle green complexion, clumsy as a rhinoceros in a china shop, a girl who never knows how to bring her bag, as it tends to slide down from whatever position it is, giving me that precarious and awkward aspect I cannot shake myself free of.

But there are also good days – the most of them, fortunately – and in that moments I see not the most elegant, refined and confident woman in the world, but a country girl I like, someone with flaws that make her human, someone with a calm self-irony, a tool to get over circled eyes and a living bag always falling from her shoulder! So I smile at her with affection, I rearrange my bag on my shoulder, precariously, and I step to the next shop window.

I’m pretty sure that Nigella sees exactly herself into that shopping window. You can clearly see that she loves herself in each and every inch of her soft femininity, she respects her being a woman and covers her body in smile and light. This is why I like her so much, not only for her books and tv programs. Actually her cooking style is not exactly like mine, but I feel a great respect and affection for her, because when you see her on tv you can’t help but exclaim What a beautiful woman!, looking with more affection at your belly, not as flat as the sea when there’s no wind!

This brings to my mind a passage from Eat, pray, love by Elizabeth Gilbert. The following one is one of my favourite moments in the book, a page I’ve read many times, a fundamental truth to learn by heart if you want to live in harmony with yourself. The reflection that you see in the mirror it’s not just you, but it’s a friend of yours, someone who will always be there for you, someone to take care of. This is what Liz eventually learnt in the book, this is what Nigella does every day, this is what I’m learning to do!

Tonight, this strange interior gesture of friendship—the lending of a hand from me to myself when nobody else is around to offer solace—reminds me of something that happened to me once in New York City. I walked into an office building one afternoon in a hurry, dashed into the waiting elevator. As I rushed in, I caught an unexpected glance of myself in a security mirror’s reflection. In that moment, my brain did an odd thing—it fired off this split-second message: “Hey! You know her! That’s a friend of yours!” And I actually ran forward toward my own reflection with a smile, ready to welcome that girl whose name I had lost but whose face was so familiar. In a flash instant of course, I realized my mistake and laughed in embarrassment at my almost doglike confusion over how a mirror works. But for some reason that incident comes to mind again tonight during my sadness in Rome, and I find myself writing this comforting reminder at the bottom of the page.

Today is the perfect day to publish the recipe I chose for Sarah’s Forever Nigella #2 Seduced by chocolate blog event at Maison Cupcake. You can find all the information about the blog event on her blog. By the way, I just love Sarah, we discovered in London during FBC10 a shared passion for paper napkins!

The recipe: since I am sticking exactly to the original recipe as illustrated in Kitchen, Recipes form the heart of the Home, just follow the link to Nigella’s website, where you can find the recipe. My only change was a splash (a generous splash, let’s say 60 ml) of dark rum, inspired by Nigella’s joyful and sensual cooking style!

A few tips: store these muffins in a tin box and they will be soft and fragrant for more than a week. Place a few dried orange peels into the box, too. Orange and rum is a powerful mix: you will be amazed by the wonderful aroma that will overwhelm you every time you’ll open the box! Ideally, these are morning muffins, studied for breakfast, but I went a bit heavy with the rum, you know, I’m a generous person… so, they are now perfect after-work snacks to be enjoyed with a cup of black tea. They wipe off the last clouds from your heart and your eyes and welcome you at home with verve.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Chocolate & banana muffins + rum! Forever Nigella #2 “Seduced by Chocolate”

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1. Banana muffins
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It was August 2006. We went there for the European Swimming Championships, to follow the steps of the Empress Sissi, to visit the spas, the Imperial palace and the zoo. We returned from Budapest totally in love, drunk with so many gold medals and fascinated by the Hungarian cuisine.

There are many moments carved in my heart from that holiday: beautiful gardens, elegant spas with affordable prices, friendly people, a well-organized subway with the longest and steepest escalator I’ve ever seen, the most hot fresh paprika salad (Laura still cries thinking back at that salad!), colorful markets overflowing with products, where we are also able to explain us with signs and buy three whistles to cheer at the competitions, breathtaking night views of the Danube.

Beside this, we lived the most exciting sport experience ever (obviously as spectators): gold medals won scream after scream, encouragement after encouragement, painted faces and posters designed with markers on the hostel floor. The stands were shaking beneath our jumps when we were singing out national anthem with tears in our eyes. We were suffering from supporter’s fever, and we did our best not to recover from it!

Perhaps for this reasons, or perhaps because of the special character of the city, Budapest conquered our hearts: Budapest is a city with a unique soul and an unmissable atmosphere, made up, in the same time, by many distinctly different neighbourhoods, on one hand narrow lanes, shadowed alleys and hidden courtyards, on the other hand monumental squares, magnificent palaces and ruins of a past characterized by a pattern of lights and shades.

Our guide was full of tabs and colourful slips of paper. A page was stressed more than the others and, at a closer look, you can still find a few crumbs. From the Budapest DeAgostini guide: on the north side of the Vorosmarty square there is the renowned pastry Gerbeaud, founded in the 1858 by Henrik Kugler, later acquired by the Swiss confectioner Emil Gerbeaud, to whom we owe the current interior decor. During the summer it is very pleasant to spent some time on the front terrace, sipping coffee and following the frenetic movement of the coloured square.

How could we miss such an opportunity to relax and recharge ourself before heading to the championship competition to support our heroes? There, at Gerbeaud, we met for the first time the Dobos Torte, the flagship of the Hungarian confectionery, a dessert invented by the confectioner József C. Dobos in 1884. He presented the Dobos Torte at the Budapest general exhibition in 1885. To add fame and prestige to an already excellent cake, we must remember that the first ones to taste the Dobos were the Emperor Franz Joseph and the Princess Sissi. The dessert soon became famous throughout Europe, partly because the pastry chef travelled far and wide to present his creation. The recipe was kept secret for ages until Dobos retired and gave the recipe to the Chamber of pastry in Budapest.

How to live again those emotions? A slice of Dobos Torte is all you need! Once again I must say thanks to Twitter, because through it I met Zita, a talented Hungarian foodblogger. From the Christmas holidays till today we have exchanged tweets and advices, both extremely curious about each other’s gastronomic culture, and not only. So today is a slightly special day because we are making a cross cultural recipe exchange, posting in the same time two recipes we picked to exchange, a way to learn something, having fun and crossing national borders.

She baked one of the most typical recipes of my country, Ricciarelli di Siena (almond cookies), while, on the other side, I could finally get my hands over the Dobos Torte, a demanding but extremely satisfying challenge. I made two attempts before reaching the desired result, which I’m publishing today, with the final amount of ingredients and procedure I followed to get to that idea of perfection that was impressed in my mind as one of the best desserts ever tried.

Five thin layers of sponge cake, spread with a chocolate buttercream, ending with a caramel coated layer of sponge cake, which protects and keeps the cake fresh for a long time. Elegant, refined, good of a full, round and delicious good, with the slightly bitter and crunchy caramel to complete a perfect harmony. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Dobos Torte!

Ingredients for the dough

Making the dough. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Separate yolks and egg whites. Whip the yolks and the sugar together with the lemon juice and the scraped vanilla pod seeds using an electric mixer until they are light, white and creamy. Add the flour and the lemon zest and mix until thoroughly incorporated.

In another bowl whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites into the mixture. The final mixture should be light, white and very soft.

You need to bake now 6 circle sponge cakes: you can use a 25 cm diameter mould, previously greased and dusted with flour, dividing the batter into 6 parts and baking one cake after the other, or you can spread one sixth of the dough on a rectangular tin lined with parchment paper and then cut out a circle with a large mould.

Whatever method you choose, pour the batter onto the baking sheet and bake the 6 circles for 5-7 minutes until golden brown. As soon as it is ready, remove the cake from the oven, unmould or remove the parchment paper and place on a wire rack to cool. Set them aside, separated by parchment paper, and let them cool.

Making the chocolate buttercream filling. In a bowl whip together the butter, the icing sugar, the cocoa, the vanilla seeds and the rum. Mix everything together until combined.

Making the caramel coating. Pick the best and most regular sponge cake. In a pan on medium heat caramelize the sugar with the lemon juice, stirring constantly. When it is very liquid and orange, pour it on the top of the sponge cake. With a buttered spatula spread and smooth the caramel on the cake. You need to work quickly not to let the caramel harden. Perforate and cut the caramel coat into 12 slices (I used a buttered large knife, they have a very useful form that divides the cake into slices!).

Finish the cake. Spread the chocolate buttercream on the sponge cakes, place them on top of each other. Spread the cream also on the side of the cake. Sprinkle the side of the cake with some crumbled leftover sponge cake or ground dried fruit. Place the caramel wedges on the top of the cake, placing each one of them on a piped dollop of chocolate buttercream to give them their classical slant. Before serving keep it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Dobos Torte, the 127-year-old Hungarian dessert

You should be interested also in:

1. Laura’s Sacher Torte
2. DB Challenge: Biscuit Joconde Imprime and an Entremets dessert
3. Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake – Are you a cook or eat person?

I was searching for a chocolate recipe belonging to my family tradition to post for Christmas. I’ve had to think a bit about it because we do not have a chocolate cake that represents Christmas in our imagination. Let’s say that, since I get the dessert realm from mom, it is a continuous experiment, though, actually, they are cakes made of chocolate.

However, if you flip through my recipe notebook there’s a cake, the first one I wrote to renew it, one of those recipes you write with a good pen, putting commas and the dots on the is… it is the ultimate chocolate cake, it is the Sacher Torte.

I was at University, it was the first year. Italian composition class, top floor of the former headquarters of the Faculty of Letters, I still remember. I was waiting for the lesson to begin, leaning against the banister, when a girl came to me. She inspired me an instant and instinctive sympathy. To cut a long story short, she has become my best friend, and she has been my best friend for more than 10 years now. We shared conversations and passions, from cinema to chocolate (how to forget that we saw Chocolat together for the first time?). And it was Laura who gave me the recipe for the Sacher Torte. On my notebook it is marked as Laura’s Sacher Torte. Previously, it was Susanna, another extraordinary girl in cooking, who passed her the recipe, which in turn she had received from her mother. My mental journey through women traditions – Isabelle Allende’s style – stops here. But, since this is an almost epic hand down, which has an antique flavor of women talks and sweet advices, let me tell you the recipe. I hand on the baton, so that you too will have the chance to try our own personal version of Sacher Torte.

I want to play it safe, this is not the classical version of the Sacher Torte, there is no cocoa butter or complex preparations, this is our version, one of those cakes that are made with yogurt cups to weigh all the ingredients. So it’s easy, very quick to make (not more than five minutes will pass from I feel like Sacher Torte and put in the oven) and above all it calls for easy to find ingredients. Even tiny beginner chefs with an apron long as a dress and a wooden spoon wielded like a sword of a Knight of the Round Table can do that. This is our recipe and we are pleased to share it with you!

Ingredients to make the cake:

• 1 jar whole plain yogurt (125 ml) that you will use as a scale
• 1 jar seeds oil
• 1 jar unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 jars caster sugar
• 3 jars plain flour
• 3 eggs
• 15 g baking powder

The process is simple: mix together all the ingredients with a whisk. The dough is very soft so there is no need to make great effort. A tip: sift flour and cocoa powder, it will make easier to mix all the ingredients. Grease a 24-25 cm round cake mould, pour in the mixture and bake in preheated oven to 180°C for 40 minutes.

Once the cake is ready (always check it with a toothpick), remove from the oven, turn out the cake and let it cool down on a wire rack. In the meantime, the filling and the frosting.

Ingredients to make the filling:

• 1 jar peach or apricot jam (not too sweet)
• 4-5 tablespoons of Maraschino this time I used brandy

Put liqueur and jam on a small pan over low heat and warm up. Split the cake in a half and spread with jam down to the edges, that could be a little harder, so that the jam can soften the cake.

Ingredients to make the frosting:

• 200 g dark chocolate 70%
• 200 ml whipping cream

Melt in a bain marie 200 g of dark chocolate. Once melted, add 200 ml of whipping cream. Mix together and pour over the cake, previously placed on a wire rack to drain excess coverage.

Tasting Test. A Sacher Torte. Yes, just like the real Sacher Torte, but not too sweet. A reflective cake, deep, intense, perfect for a winter afternoon break served with a cup of Sacher tea. I found this infusion in my favourite tea shop, it seems to be the tea that is served in the Sacher Hotel in Vienna with this dessert. It’s a blend of Earl Grey tea enriched with jasmine flowers, which blends beautifully with the Sacher Torte.

Another Christmas idea, then: why not to give a small Sacher Torte as a present (you can store it in the fridge for a few days) wrapped in glossy paper with a nice blue ribbon, with a bag of a precious tea of your choice? It’s a bit like inviting yourself for a cup of tea, don’t you think?

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Laura’s Sacher Torte

You should be interested also in:

1. Dobos Torte, the 127-year-old Hungarian dessert
2. The Tuscan pine nut cake – a recipe with a story
3. DB Challenge: crostata with 2 fillings {chocolate & tahini and chestnut pastry cream}

Short pastry and crostata were the first sweet recipes I tried when I was just a child. During my long summer breaks, I used to spend my whole time with Chiara, a classmate from the elementary school who soon had become one of my best friends and my summer joyride mate. We used to ride our bicycles from morning to evening, exploring nearby countryside. We had to do our summer homework tough, but we shared the duty, sitting on a table under honey scented linden trees in her garden, drinking iced tea and nibbling at cookies and fresh fruit.

Our passion were picnics! We started with simple ham and cheese sandwiches and fruit salad to reach the highest levels of refinement and creativity the year we decided to organize an English party in the middle of the field! We even asked our sisters and friends to come with fancy dress costumes! Every year, there was a constant: short pastry cookies and crostata.

Therefore, I was very happy when I saw that this month Daring bakers’ theme was crostata, a well-known Italian recipe, and most of all a family favourite! The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of Briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

I was happy also because it was a brand new version of short pastry, totally different from my usual pastafrolla (as we call it in Italy). For example, here you can find my family recipe for short pastry, while this is my version with olive oil instead of butter. Last but not least, this is another version, the one I learned from last year cooking class!

I made short pastry following Simona’s recipe, and I loved it till the last crumble. With the pastafrolla I obtained, I made two crostate, using a 10 x 30 cm tin. I used leftover dough to make delicious cookies filled with raspberry jam.

Making Pastafrolla

Ingredients:

• vanilla powdered sugar, 90 g
• unbleached all-purpose flour, 235 g
• a pinch of salt
• cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, 115 g
• 1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.

Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use). Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.

Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

This delicious crème de marrons de l’Ardèche – a French chestnut spread – had waited patiently in my cupboard for too long, since FoodBlogger Connect 2010, when Pam was so nice to bring a gourmet gift from France for us! It was time – and season, most of all – to use it in a delicious and delicate tart.

Crostata filled chestnut pastry cream

Ingredients:

• short pastry, 1/2 batch
  
• milk, 250 ml
• egg, 1
• sugar, 2 tablespoons
• plain flour, 1 tablespoon
• chestnut spread, 1 heaping tablespoon
• ground nutmeg, 1 pinch

Making chestnut pastry cream. Heat milk on medium heat until the steaming point. Whip egg with sugar and flour. Fold in chestnut spread. Pour hot milk over the egg mixture and bring back to the heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. As soon as the pastry cream is thick and veils the spoon, remove from the heat, cover with cling film and let cool down.

Assembling the tart. Heat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a 10×30 cm baking tin and dust with flour. Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and roll it out. To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.

If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.

Cover the bottom of the crostata crust evenly with the chestnut pastry cream and sprinkle with a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg. Put the tart in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the tart is of a nice golden hue. When done, remove the tart from the oven and let cool. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, then release the tart base from the fluted tart ring. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.

Chocolate and tahini. I still remember the first time I saw this two ingredients used together into the same sweet preparation. It was La Tartine Gourmande’s molten chocolate cake, a love at first sight. I used to consider tahini just a savoury ingredient until that day, when I suddenly realized it could be used with gourmet results in sweet recipes as well, paired with chocolate. Since that day, I’ve dreamed about a chocolate and tahini tart, supported by Meeta’s examples, who used this mix twice, in macarons and clafoutis. Well, believe me, give it a try! I’m a chocoholic, I admit it, but tahini gives a totally new and unexpected depth and character to chocolate, making it one of the best chocolate cake ever eaten. Maldon salt is the icing on the cake: it creates a crisp and luscious contrast, that enhances the velvety sensation given by chocolate and tahini.

Crostata with chocolate and tahini filling

Ingredients:

• short pastry, 1/2 batch
• whole milk, 250 ml
• dark chocolate, 120 g
• egg, 1
• sugar, 2 tablespoons
• cornstarch, 1 tablespoon
• tahini, 1 tablespoon
• Maldon salt or fleur de sel

Making chocolate and tahini filling. Heat milk on medium heat with chopped dark chocolate. Stir frequently, until completely melted. Whip egg with sugar and cornstarch. Fold in tahini. Pour hot milk and melted chocolate over the egg and tahini mixture and bring back over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. As soon as the chocolate and tahini cream is thick and veils the spoon – about 5 minutes -, remove from the heat, cover with cling film and let cool down.

Assembling the tart. Heat the oven to 180ºC. Proceed as in the other recipe and bake for about 30 minutes. When done, remove the tart from the oven, sprinkle with Maldon salt or fleur de sel and let cool. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

DB Challenge: crostata with 2 fillings {chocolate & tahini and chestnut pastry cream}

You should be interested also in:

1. Chocolate & Tahini Truffles
2. Chestnut flour and chocolate drops biscotti
3. Chocolate, cream and mascarpone trifle

Winter is approaching, with its dark and cold nights, with the wind blowing through the bare trees branches. Even Christmas is coming with long strides, along with the desire for rich and sumptuous food, food full of stories, tales, spices, and faraway travels, food loaded with fantasy, adventure and excitement. For me, Dutch cocoa is all about this. It has its own romantic fairy tale elements, as the cocoa aroma takes me back in a blink of an eye to Vianne’s kitchen, to foretell your life into hot chocolate whirls. But Dutch cocoa has something more inside: the sense of adventure and exotic, the luscious food of the seventeenth century European courts, the fragrant treasure in the hold of the Dutch navigators.

These cupcakes were born with the shameless intention to celebrate Dutch cocoa, to intoxicate with the deep aroma from the very first bite, to win – with a hidden charm – even the most reluctant heart. Hence the wanderer cupcakes, with Dutch cocoa and Swiss meringue. The recipe takes inspiration for the chocolate cupcakes made by Sigrid – Regalini Golosi book – and the Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients to make cupcakes:

• sugar, 300 g
• butter, 100 g
• eggs, 2
• plain flour, 150 g
• unsweetened Dutch cocoa, 100 g
• baking powder, 5 g
• milk, 250 ml

Preheat oven to 180°C. Mix flour, cocoa and baking powder in a bowl. In another bowl, beat softened butter and sugar until soft and light. Add one egg at a time, and stir until it is incorporated. Stir into half of the flour and cocoa mixture and pour the milk. Fold in the rest of the dry mixture. Spoon the mixture into 16 cupcakes, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes, then let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Ingredients to make the Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting:

• egg whites, 2
• sugar, 100 g
• butter, 175 g
• unsweetened Dutch cocoa, 5 heaping tablespoons

Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a big metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until the albumens get white and glossy and you can’t feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

Wipe the condensation off the bottom of the bowl and transfer mixture into the mixer and whip until it turns firm, cold and about doubled in size. Finally, add the butter a piece at a time and whip until throughly incorporated and firm. Do not panic! It will require time, but eventually it works!  Fold in sieved cocoa powder.

Spoon the Swiss meringue buttercream frosting into a pastry bag and decorate cupcakes as desired. Let rest in refrigerator for at least an hour. Before serving, dust with Dutch cocoa.

Tasting test. The Dutch cocoa is the main and proud character of these cupcakes. It is enhanced by the creaminess of butter and by the soft tiny cakes. At the very end, all that remains is an intense and rich feeling, slightly bitter, of which you can never get tired nor bored. Serve them as a lavish afternoon treat with a black jasmine tea.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Dutch cocoa cupcakes

You should be interested also in:

1. Gluten free cupcakes with strawberry buttercream
2. Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake – Are you a cook or eat person?
3. Cocoa No Knead Bread

When I started university, my biggest passion was cinema. I was a faithful subscriber of Best Movie and Ciak, I could quote the complete filmography of more or less known actors, I knew months in advance what we would have seen in theatres the next season, I devoured Cinematerapia and used to spent whole nights in a dark cinema hall with my best friend, digging my fingers into popcorn buckets and commenting continuously each and every cue and quote.

Then one day we found ourselves in Livorno, attending as spectators to a national swimming competition. Chlorine, the air full of noise, humidity, water splashes and tension, honest competition and enthusiasm… swimming entered by force in my life, first as support and enthusiasm for our champions, then as practised sport. On my shelves, Best Movie and Ciak magazines were gradually replaced by Gazzetta dello Sport, posters, autographed photographs and Italian flags. With my best friend, Laura, yes, still with her, we founded a fan club that took us around, making me live some of the most intense emotions of my life, and that gave us some wonderful friendships, which are still alive.

Then life goes on, the job took over the University: it meant new commitments, new rhythms, new people met and new passions. Here you come into my life, and Juls’ Kitchen comes along, together with a passion for food, new friends, new experiences, new satisfactions. Another small revolution, out the Gazzetta dello Sport, and now on the shelves there are cookbooks covered in greased fingerprint and puffs of flour. For more than an year, the blog and the food universe have been a dominant presence, shared, again, with the usual Laura! Endless chitchat about how wonderful Jamie is as a chef, tips on important dinner to organize, quest for the last exotic ingredient.

Then tonight, coming back from the swimming pool after more than a year of absence, I felt the smell of chlorine on my skin mixed with mosturizing almond oil, which brought me back. And it was a triple pike dive, which made me re-evaluate the entire route taken to get here, and kindled the desire to bring everything back, weaving the threads of life and making with them a patchwork dress to wear from now on!

I know, this time I dwelt too much… maybe I lost you at the chlorine smell at the beginning. I beg you pardon, but I wrote all of this in one breath, as a way to remember the many stages of my life, to say that I am proud of all of them, of the way they would pop up every now and then, in a movie quote (my favorite? I carried a watermelon!) or in a po po ro po po poooopo song sang to the French people in a Budapest park, on a rush of joy for the victory of our hero. By the way, a grateful thank you to that person who had the patience to grow up with me, changing and building a friendship that goes beyond the backs and forths of time!

…and now the recipe, you really deserve it now! It belongs – with a few changes especially in the frosting -  from Books for Cooks 8, it was a Coconut layer cake with coconut frosting, later became a twenty coconut cupcakes!

Ingredients:

• flour, 275 g
• baking powder, 3/4 tsp
• bicarbonate (baking) soda, 1/2 tsp
• salt, 1/2 tsp
• butter, 140 g softened
• plain yoghurt, 140 g (I added yoghurt to substitute half of the butter of the recipe)
• sugar, 300 g
• organic eggs, 4
• milk, 125 ml
• dessiccated (shredded dry) coconut, 90 g

Frosting ingredients:

• cream cheese, 250 g softened
• icing sugar, 4 tbs
• lemon juice, 2 tbs
• dessiccated (shredded dry) coconut, 180 g
• coconut flakes, to sprinkle
  

Heat the oven to 180°C. Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl beat together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add the yoghurt and then one egg at a time, stirring constantly and sprinkling a tablespoon of flour after adding the first egg. Keep on adding milk and flour, small quantities at a time, until just combined. Gently fold in the coconut until evenly combined with no trace of flour.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with paper cups, fill to the top with coconut mixture, then bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Make the frosting. Beat all the ingredients together, folding in the coconut at the very end.

Smother the tops with the frosting and sprinkle with coconut flakes. Let it rest in the fridge at least an hour before serving.

Tasting test. Coconut clouds, soft and creamy, a beautiful gift for a friend’s birthday party. I adore their snow-white aspect, and I love to frost them in a somewhat rustic and imperfect way, to show their golden tops. A cheesecake frosting gives them an international touch, but they are an excellent afternoon break for children as well, almost light and delicious!

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Coconut cupcakes with coconut frosting

You should be interested also in:

1. Dutch cocoa cupcakes
2. Green peas and asparagus soup, with a coconut hint
3. Gluten free cupcakes with strawberry buttercream

The greatest compliment you can make, is that we are alike. She is lean, slender, blond, with two beautiful blue eyes and a shy smile wisely reserved to trustworthy people. I … I’m a little different from her, but it is undeniable, we have the same genes and we are proud of it! She is an active supporter of the pile fabric club during the the winter, I cheer chenille. She hates cinnamon, I’d use it everywhere.

She is open to new ideas, and for this reason she is my number one taster: from agar agar puddings, bouncing off the wall, to bread loafs that seem to be the corner stone of a cathedral, she tastes everything and then – wisely objective – promotes or rejects. You can find successful candidates here. As regards flunked ones… well, those have another end, less glorious!

I used to listen to Celine Dion and Whitney Huston, and she introduced me Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bob Dylan. She is still my music trends forerunner, not to mention that I discovered The Boss thanks to one of her albums!

She is a perfect vestal: when she’s in charge of fireplace and stove, they never burn out, even if with one hand she brews a pot of steaming tea and with the other one she makes recycled paper (one of her many skills!). When I’m alone at home, I realize that the fire has gone out when I my toes are blue and I’m surrounded by smoke, as in a ’30s old noir film.

Twenty years ago now, I was in my grandparents’ bed, and we were fantasizing about that little newly born baby; now she is harvesting grapes as a grown up woman, dividing her life between work and University, with courage to leave and desire to do. Happy Birthday little sister!

We approved this mousse together, spoonful by spoonful, judging the ingredient quantity wolfing it down, er, tasting every now and then!

Ingredients:

• Italian meringue, 200 g
• whipped cream, 200 g
• whole milk yoghurt, 150 g
• unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder, 5 tablespoons
• chili powder, to taste
  
• candied ginger, to serve
  

Italian meringue recipe here, in my Baked Alaka post.

Whip cream and gently mix it to the Italian meringue and yoghurt. Sift the cocoa and add it to the yoghurt and cream mixture along with the chili powder, stirring constantly with extreme delicacy and savoir faire from the bottom up. The amount of chili depends on personal taste, we used a tiny bit of a teaspoon, and it was not a particularly hot chili.

Spoon chocolate mousse into bowls and refrigerate for at least two hours. Serve with a teaspoon of plain yogurt and a piece of candied ginger.

Tasting test. Just seeing the picture, you wouldn’t believe that it is an almost light dessert, would you?! Eventually, among the ingredients, you can find sugar from the Italian meringue and whipped cream, but there is no egg yolk, no butter and no chocolate, only the inoffensive, wonderful, fantastic Dutch cocoa. This mousse gives its best after being colled down in the fridge, and it must necessarily be served in single cups, otherwise it could be finished by one single person at once! It is soft, indulgent, decadent and rich, sharp with chilli but mitigated by the white yoghurt.

If the chili scares you, it can be substituted by Maldon salt chrystals, for a dessert as refined and delicate as the one with chili… I wouldn’t know which one to choose!

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Spicy hot chocolate mousse

You should be interested also in:

1. Dark Chocolate Meringue Tart
2. June Daring Bakers: Chocolate Pavlovas
3. Chocolate & banana muffins + rum! Forever Nigella #2 “Seduced by Chocolate”

Today is my birthday. I’m getting older, I’m 29 today, but I’m not scared at all. I love birthdays, the 27th of July is one of my favourite days throughout the year, along with Christmas and the first Monday of holidays! I love those 5 minutes when you stretch yourself under the blankets, savouring each and every single moment, the upcoming hours filled with birthday wishes, smiles, fun notes and people giving you love and affection. It’s not a matter of birthday gifts, I swear, it’s a matter of possibilities. It’s your birthday, c’mon, you can do what you want, something beautiful will come your way (as Robbie Williams keeps singing, God bless him!).

So today it’s my personal glorious day: it’s a day to celebrate, 29 years of a beautiful and interesting life spent walking on a sunny country road together with a great family, loving friends and burning passions. Nobody will be able to spoil my day, my smile will be wider than ever today!

There couldn’t be a better recipe than this to celebrate my birthday with my foodie friends, this month’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge happens on the perfect day! The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home. I followed the recipe step by step as regards Swiss roll and hot fudge. When I came to ice cream, I decided to give a twist of colour and citrus feeling, using matcha and lime instead of vanilla and chocolate.

The Swiss rolls

Ingredients:

• 6 medium sized eggs
• 225 gr caster sugar + extra for rolling
• 45 gr of all purpose (plain) flour + 40 gr of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
• 30 ml of boiling water
• a little oil for brushing the pans

For the filling:

• 500 ml of whipping cream
• 1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract) (I used scraped seeds of vanilla pod)
  
• 70gms of caster sugar

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven at 200 deg C approximately. Brush the baking pans (11 inches by 9 inches) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.
3. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
4. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
5. Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.
6. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.
7. Repeat the same for the next cake as well.
8. Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream.
9. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat till very thick.
10. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes.
11. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine).
12. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

The matcha ice cream

Ingredients:

• 500 ml of whipping cream
• 100 gr of granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon of Matcha tea
  

Method

1. Grind together the sugar and matcha tea in a food processor.
2. In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and whisk lightly.
3. Place the pan over heat and keep stirring till it begins to bubble around the edges.
4. Remove from heat and cool completely before transferring to a freezer friendly container till firm around the edges. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction, after the mixture has cooled completely.
5. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

The Hot fudge sauce

Ingredients:

• 230 gr of caster sugar
• 24 gr of natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 15 gr of cornflour/cornstarch
• 355 ml of water
• 14 gr of butter
• 5 ml of vanilla extract

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornflour and water.
2. Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, till it begins to thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep aside to cool.

The lime ice cream

Ingredients:

• 500 ml whipping cream
• 100 gr caster sugar
• juice of 1 lime
  

Method:

1. In a saucepan, add sugar and lime juice and let them melt completelty. Add cream.
2. Place the pan again over heat and keep stirring till it begins to bubble around the edges.
3. Remove from heat and cool completely before transferring to a freezer friendly container till firm around the edges. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction, after the mixture has cooled completely.
4. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

Assembly

1. Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices ( approximately 2 cms each).
2. Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap.
3. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).
4. Soften the lime ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm (at least 1 hour).
5. Add the fudge sauce over the lime ice cream, cover and freeze till firm (at least an hour).
6. Soften the matcha ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set.
7. Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.
8. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

Verdict: lovely and scenographic composition, gorgeous and fresh dessert. If you use high quality ingredients, you won’t be disappointed. My family really loved the dessert, deciding to put it on the top of my 10 best desserts ever list along with chocolate and orange cupcakes and corn and limoncello cake. It’s a perfect dessert to finish a classy and posh dinner, a coup de théâtre which will contribute to define you as a super chef!

And now, since this post is not long enough, it’s time to dedicate a song to… ME! I love this one, I think it’s perfect for a birthday wish, so keep in mind that today I’ll be humming it in my mind all day long!

Well surprise, surprise, surprise
Yeah surprise, surprise, surprise
Well surprise, surprise, come on open your eyes
And let your love shine down

Well surprise, surprise, surprise
Yeah surprise, surprise, surprise
Well surprise, surprise, come on open your eyes
And let your love shine down

Well today is your birthday
We’ve traveled so far we two
So let’s blow out the candles on your cake
And we’ll raise a glass or two
And when the sun comes out tomorrow
It’ll be the start of a brand new day
And all that you have wished for I know will come your way

Well surprise, surprise, surprise
Yeah surprise, surprise, surprise
Well surprise, surprise, come on open your eyes
And let your love shine down

In the hollow of the evening, as you lay your head to rest
May the evening stars scatter a shining crown upon your breast
In the darkness of the morning, as the sky struggles to light
May the rising sun caress and bless your soul throughout your life

Well surprise, surprise, surprise
Yeah surprise, surprise, surprise
Well surprise, surprise, come on open your eyes
And let your love shine down

Well surprise, surprise, surprise
Yeah surprise, surprise, surprise
Well surprise, surprise, come on open your eyes
And let your love shine down (let your love shine down)
Let your love shine down (let your love shine down)
Let your love shine down

Surprise, surprise, come on open your eyes
And let your love shine down

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

DB Challenge & Bday wishes: Swiss swirl ice cream cake

You should be interested also in:

1. DB Challenge: crostata with 2 fillings {chocolate & tahini and chestnut pastry cream}
2. Chocolate, cream and mascarpone trifle
3. The Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Tiramisu

Here I am! No, I haven’t been kidnapped by green aliens and no, I haven’t won the lottery and escaped  to the Hawaii… simply there was no Internet connection for a long and relaxing weekend at home. At the beginning I was quite annoyed by this inconvenience, but later on I decided to enjoy my old style weekend cooking, taking pictures and playing with my chubby and lovely niece. The result is a belated Daring Bakers post, I admit, and a very short one indeed, but a larger smile on my face! So, enjoy this chocolate pavlova as I did and take a portion of my relaxed mood, quite unusual on a Monday morning, I’m happy to share it with you!

Last thing, before leaving you with the pavlova recipe, let me proudly introduce my guest post at Ilva from Lucullian Delights about food props, I really enjoyed doing it, and therefore I must thank Ilva again! As she has anticipated in her post, we’re trying to organize something for late September, so stay tuned!

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

Recipe 1: Chocolate Meringue (for the chocolate Pavlova):

3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp (110 grams) white granulated sugar
¼ cup (30 grams) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.
2. Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)
3. Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)
4. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Alternatively, you could just free form your shapes and level them a bit with the back of a spoon. (Class made rounds, hearts, diamonds and an attempt at a clover was made!)
5. Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Recipe 2: Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):

1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
9 ounces (255 grams) 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (or orange juice)

Directions:

1. Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.
2. Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)
3. Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse. Again, you could just free form mousse on top of the pavlova.

Recipe 3: Mascarpone Cream (for drizzling):

1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
2 tbsp (30 mls) Sambucca (optional)
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

Directions:

1. Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Recipe 4: Crème Anglaise (a component of the Mascarpone Cream above):

1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar

Directions:

1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.
2. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.
3. Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.
4. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Assembly:
Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas and drizzle with the mascarpone cream over the top. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and fresh fruit if desired.

I decided not to use Mascarpone Cream for drizzling (I used it in another white pavlova, yummy as well!). This was the only change I did, and my chocolate pavlova was stunning, I really enjoyed it and I’m proud to say that I went through my fear for meringues! So let’s celebrate a new era!

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

June Daring Bakers: Chocolate Pavlovas

You should be interested also in:

1. The Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Tiramisu
2. August Daring Bakers Challenge: Baked Alaska for a best (pen) friend
3. Chocolate, cream and mascarpone trifle

Monday morning. Have you had a good weekend? Mine was fabulous! Saturday morning I had the first cooking class for children: a success beyond all expectations. There were 30 kids screaming and happy, covered with strawberries and yogurt, with their noses floured and their mouths dirty with ricotta. In the midst of all this crazy group of people, there was me, maybe more radiant and happy than all of them together, with a smile of satisfaction on my face.

So let’s start the week with a boost of energy, a quick recipe that celebrates and enhances my new love, agar agar. All of this started on the 12th of April, when I read Sigrid’s post about agar agar. Flash and revelation! Once you start playing with this powder – that is a very natural seaweed extract, vegetal and rich in minerals – you won’t be able to stop, and you’ll try to solidify anything existing naturally in a liquid form.

The first thing that is important to remember is that agar agar should be dissolved into a boiling liquid, from 2 to 4 grams is enough to solidify 500 ml of liquid: decrease the amount of powder and you’ll have  a soft and creamy mixture, less solid. And if something does not work? Melt again everything and just increase the amount of agar agar or liquid to find the right proportion. All you have to do is try! For now, enjoy this quick recipe, taken from Cavoletto di Bruxelles, fool-proof and very light. This recipe will soon be followed by another recipe, creamy and strawberry flavoured, based on agar agar as well.

Ingredients:

• espresso coffee, 250 ml
• cane sugar, 4 teaspoons
• dark chocolate, 30 gr
• cardamom, 4 pods, crushed
  
• agar agar powder, 2 teaspoons
  

Make coffee and stir in chopped dark chocolate, stirring constantly until dissolved. Put crushed cardamom pods in infusion into coffee and chocolate mixture, then let it cool completely. Add brown sugar and agar agar powder, mix with a whip and heat again. As soon as it begins to tremble, let it boil slowly from 20 to 30 seconds, then carefully pour into tiny molds for chocolate pralines. Time 2 hours, our coffee and chocolate cubes are ready to be eaten.

They are very intense and strong, you feel the dark chocolate and cardamom on the lingering coffee background. They are especially good and very light! Come on, it is almost like eating a coffee chocolate, but that leaves no sense of guilt! The only thing left is the intensity of coffee and the pleasant aroma of cardamom.

Post di: Juls' Kitchen

Experiment with agar agar… coffee and chocolate cubes

You should be interested also in:

1. Experiment with agar agar: strawberry pudding
2. Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake – Are you a cook or eat person?
3. Coffee Muffins