Desserts & Sweets Archives - Page 5 of 6

Rustic Peach Crostata and a Picnic in my Dad’s Orchard

June 22, 2015 By very EATalian Leave a Comment

I’m a HUGE fan of picnics—perhaps, I’m the most enthusiastic “picnic-ER” you’ll ever meet and I have tons of good memories from past family outings. When I was little, I used to love singing in the car with my parents. Then, as I grew older, the excitement was mainly for the games we’d play all together, or the places we explored and hiked. These days, it’s simply about enjoying each other’s company in the middle of nature. Food definitely plays a good part in making the whole event more pleasant.

Ever since I got back to Italy, I’ve been wanting to go on a picnic with the whole family SO badly. Unfortunately, not everybody’s schedule seems to line up (at least for this month)…so I tried to compensate. A few days ago, despite the chilly weather, I decided to gather whomever was around, grab a table and a few chairs and set out an impromptu picnic in my dad’s orchard, a few steps beyond our fence. It’s definitely not a wild or picturesque mountain scenery, nonetheless a nice and enjoyable place–conveniently located next door! I’m surprised it took us so many years to realize it’s more than just a place for foraging or taking walks.

My mom and I teamed up and prepared all the food in the morning. We made a farro salad with sautéed veggies, a nice and soft focaccia bread, a few crispy eggplant fritters, and a beautiful rustic peach crostata. Not bad for an improvised get-together! We also quickly boiled a few eggs (a must for any picnic) and we packed them up in our cute picnic basket (I love that thing!). I made coffee as well, as I really wanted to use this tacky-but-kinda-adorable coffee thermos I found in the basement. Then, I loaded a couple of folding chairs, a little table and a couple of blankets on a wheel barrel and I carried everything to the orchard. The rest of the group followed me with the food.

We had a fun and relaxing lunch and it was so nice to be together, under the shade of my dad’s trees. It’s a meaningful place for my family as those trees were planted by my dad and grandfather. They were little twigs and now they’re full sized trees! Amazing.

Everybody raved about my crostata. The crust was nicely colored and perfectly textured: it was buttery, delicate, and flaky. I used Saturn peaches as filling and was able balance their very sweet flavor with a good amount of lemon juice and the tartness of a few cherries. Visually speaking, the crostata is colorful and imperfectly beautiful…in a word: rustic!! This recipe is absolutely a keeper and I’ll definitely make it again soon, before peach season is over.

Rustic Peach Crostata

Prep time

1 hour 45 mins

Cook time

55 mins

Total time

2 hours 40 mins

Author: Adapted from Bon Appétit, July 2002

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

-CRUST
1⅔ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (42 g) polenta flour (coarse cornmeal)
3 Tbsp (42 g) sugar
¼ lemon peel, grated (use about ½ lemon)
¾ tsp (4 g) salt
14 Tbsp (200 g) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
⅓ cup (75 ml) ice water
-FILLING
¼ cup (57 g) sugar
1½ tsp (5 g) cornstarch
4 medium saturn peaches, each pitted and cut into slices
a handful of cherries, pitted
½ lemon, juiced
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
Raw sugar crystals
Peach preserves, heated

Instructions

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a processor and blend for 5 seconds. Add butter and blend just until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces. Add ice water. Blend until dough comes together in moist clumps (adding more water if dough is dry). Form a ball (adding more flour, if necessary) and flatten into disk. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Let dough soften slightly at room temperature and roll it on lightly floured sheet of parchment paper, turning it occasionally to prevent sticking. Transfer onto a round baking pan (the edges will probably stick out). Chill until dough firms slightly, about 15 minutes.
Mix fruit, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla in a bowl. Let stand until juices are released, stirring fruit occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Take dough out of the fridge. Spoon fruit and juices into center of dough leaving out the edges. Lift about 2 inches of dough border and fold it down over fruit. Brush folded border with egg glaze; sprinkle with raw sugar.
Bake until crust is golden brown and fruit filling is bubbling, about 55 minutes. Remove from oven and brush fruit with peach preserves. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

To ensure a flaky crust, be careful not to overwork the butter.

Baci di Dama – Lady’s Kisses

May 18, 2015 By very EATalian 3 Comments

*SIGH*

We’re in the middle of moving abroad and I’ll let you imagine all the craziness we’re dealing with. Our living situation for the next year won’t be exactly ideal — let’s say we’re going to go back to the long-distance relationship again. Alas, my husband and I have a lot of experience in this. The silver lining is that I get to go back to Italy for a while! I’ll get to see my family, my adorable nephew, my silly dog and cat, and eat lots of great and fresh Italian food…not necessarily cooked by me!

“Si, ciao mamma. Can you please greet me with a huge plate of prosciutto when I get home? I need to catch up for the time I was gone! I’ll have it with some cantaloupe. And a glass of prosecco. Grazie. Ciao.” The truth is, I don’t even need to ask for this. I know it will be there, waiting for me as soon as I step in the kitchen!

I’m looking forward to sharing more recipes and photos of all the places I love and miss so much.

So, while checking off some items from my long pre-departure to-do checklist and getting frustrated at my computer for not keeping up with the speed of my thoughts, I decided to take a break and find relief in the kitchen…baking cookies. It was the exact kind of meticulous work I needed to do to calm down my restless mind.

Baci di Dama are bite-size cookies that melt in your mouth. They look like two lips holding together a chocolate kiss, hence their cute name “Lady’s Kisses”. Their short crust is quite delicate and usually made of almonds or hazelnuts. The hazelnut version is from the city of Cuneo (where Nutella comes from), whereas the almond version is from the town of Tortona — both places are located in the Piedmont region, Northwest Italy.

The original recipe calls for the “tant-pour-tant” ingredient ratio, which means you need to use the same exact amount of each ingredient (butter, flour, sugar, hazelnut or almond). I used a recipe (from a lovely Italian food blog) that is slightly off that ratio but worked perfectly.

I have to be honest…Baci di Dama aren’t super easy to make…but stay with me! In order to achieve the delicate texture and cute dome shape they’re so famous for, you just have to follow a few basic rules:

– Ground the hazelnuts (or almonds) very finely
– Refrigerate the little dough balls for at least 30 minutes
– Bake at a low temperature (285°F/140°C or less, if you have a convection oven)
– Do not over-bake the cookies or they’ll lose their soft and delicate texture
– Do not touch them before they’ve completely cooled off!

That’s it. I added few more notes regarding the chocolate filling in the recipe below. I warn you–these little “kisses” are quite addictive! You’ll want to make them again.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Baci di Dama - Lady's Kisses

Prep time

1 hour 45 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

2 hours 5 mins

Author: Adapted from Pura Passione

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: 35 cookies

Ingredients

100 g (3.5 oz) hazelnuts, chopped
90 g (3.2 oz) sugar
110 g (3.8 oz) all-purpose flour
20 g (0.7 oz) corn starch
a small pinch of salt
100 g (3.5 oz) unsalted butter, softened
70 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Instructions

Toast the hazelnuts in the oven at 360°F/180°C until lightly colored. Remove from the oven and rub them gently with a dish towel to remove their skin. Let them cool off completely.
Using a food processor, grind the toasted hazelnuts with the sugar until you obtain a sand-like consistency.
Pour your ground mixture into a bowl and add the flour, corn starch, and salt to it. Add the softened butter and work quickly with your fingertips to form the dough. Once the dough is smooth and uniform, refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
Line 2 small baking trays (they'll need to fit in the fridge!) with parchment paper. Roll the dough into ¾ inch (2 cm) logs and cut them into small pieces that weigh about 5 or 6 grams each (about the size of a nickel). Roll all pieces into small balls and placed them on the baking tray. Ensure they are spaced well as they will get a little bigger while baking.
Refrigerate again for 30 minutes (this will ensure the cookies will keep their dome shape).
Turn oven to 285°F/140°C. Bake one tray at the time for about 18-20 minutes. The cookie should be lightly colored on the bottom. Remove from the oven and place the baking tray on a cooling rack. DO NOT TOUCH cookies until they have cooled off otherwise they'll break. Once they've reached room temperature, taste-test one to ensure it's cooked through. If not, return to the oven for one or two more minutes.
Melt the chocolate on a double boiler. Once it's almost entirely melted, remove from the heat and let it rest for 5 min. Mix with a spatula to ensure it's all melted and let it cool off a bit until it becomes thicker and forms ribbons. Pair each cookie with another one of the same shape/size. With a teaspoon, drop a bit of chocolate on one half. The chocolate should be cool enough to not fall from one cookie, if you turn it 90 degrees (look at the photos above). Assemble Baci di Dama by placing the other half cookie on top. Twist the top part to make the chocolate spread evenly. Your Baci di Dama are ready!

Notes

The temperature and baking time varies according to the oven (convection or fan oven will require less time!). I suggest to test a small batch, first. The cookie should be lightly colored on the bottom. Do not bake longer than 20 minutes or the cookie will become too hard.

Strawberry Tiramisù

May 8, 2015 By very EATalian Leave a Comment

Today’s post is short and sweet. It’s especially sweet because I made this strawberry tiramisù to celebrate Mother’s Day.

I left Italy almost a year ago and not a day has gone by that my mom and I haven’t talked to each other. She’s the sweetest, wisest, strongest, and most positive person I’ve ever known…and I love her with all my heart.

Ti voglio bene, mamma.

Strawberry Tiramisu

Prep time

40 mins

Total time

40 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 2-3 people (three 8 oz-jars or 2 small bowls)

Ingredients

1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp sugar (+ 3 tsp divided)
4 oz mascarpone cheese
½ cup heavy cream
10-12 savoiardi cookies
¾ cup orange juice
3-4 strawberries, juiced
12 small strawberries, halved and stems removed
1 drizzle of balsamic glaze
¼ lemon, juiced

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix together the halved strawberries, the juice of ¼ lemon, 2 tsp of sugar, and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. Mix well until sugar is dissolved. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolk and 2 Tbsp of sugar with a handheld mixer or with a whisk, until you obtain a thick, smooth cream. Add in the mascarpone cheese and gently mix with a spoon until all lumps disappear.
Whip the heavy cream in a separate container to stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the egg/sugar mixture, carefully stirring with a spatula. [Tip: If the cream is too thin, cover it and refrigerate it until it becomes firmer]
In a separate small bowl or deep dish, pour the orange juice, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and the juice of 3 strawberries (you can juice them by pressing them against a strainer). Mix well, until sugar is dissolved.
Break the cookies in small pieces to form a layer that fits inside your jar or bowl. Before forming a layer, dip each piece of cookie in the juice mixture for about 3-4 seconds (smaller pieces will require less time!). The soaked cookie shouldn’t be too dry or too soggy. Form a layer by arranging each piece of cookie side by side, without leaving any gap in between.
Pour a layer of the cream mixture on top, alternating with another layer of cookies dipped in juice. The final layer of the tiramisù should be cream.
Arrange the balsamic-glazed strawberries on top. Cover the tiramisù with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 2-3 hours. Eat within two days.

Notes

If you prefer, you can replace the orange juice with milk.

You can easily double or triple this recipe and use a more traditional baking dish, instead of jars or bowls.

The traditional tiramisù contains raw eggs. Use only fresh and clean eggs with intact shells and avoid any contact between the yolk and the shell.

Mini Jam Tarts

March 31, 2015 By very EATalian Leave a Comment

These little tarts (crostatine in Italian) were one of my favorite afternoon snacks when I was a kid. Back then, my grandmother used to buy them from the grocery store and kept them in her pantry, right next to the paper napkins. When it was ora della merenda (“snack time”- around 4pm), I’d run next door and sneakingly grab one of them. I even remember further digging in the box to look for a little match box that contained a little surprise toy (Sorpresine del Mulino Bianco may sound familiar to whomever was a child in the 80s in Italy!). I spent so many afternoons playing with my brother and my cousins with a crostatina in one hand and one of those little toys in the other. Who needed videogames back then? Sure, we watched cartoons but we certainly spent a lot of time outside playing with simple things like those little toys…and we were happy kids!

When I recreated this childhood snack, I couldn’t help but smile while reminiscing about those times. These tarts are only made of short pastry dough and jam. Quite simple, isn’t it? Their small size and the beautiful lattice top make them look so adorable! I couldn’t stop taking photos of them and – ahem – you can tell I went a little overboard this time…

MINI JAM TARTS – CROSTATINE ALLA MARMELLATA
Servings: Makes five 4.75″ tarts (8-10 people) | Prep time: 15 min (dough) + 25 min (tarts assembling) | Rest time: 30 min | Bake time: 30 min

Recommended equipment: 4.75″ tart pans, rolling pin

INGREDIENTS
Short Pastry Dough
150 g (10 Tbsp + 2 tsp) unsalted butter
125 g (1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp) granulated sugar
1 large egg
250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
a dash of vanilla
a pinch of salt
vegetable oil for plastic wrap
a bit of sugar to sprinkle on top

Filling
13 oz jam (1 jar)

Egg wash
1 egg
1 Tbsp water or milk

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Cream butter with sugar using a stand mixer. Add salt, egg, and vanilla extract.
2. Sift flour and add it into the mixture. Once flour is incorporated, remove dough from mixing bowl and knead briefly until you obtain a smooth dough.
3. Wrap it in lightly oiled plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Once the dough has rested, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a bit less than 1/8 inch (3mm). Add flour if too sticky. Cut dough in circles to fit into each tart pan, trimming the dough to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Reserve excess dough for lattice top.
5. Heat oven to 350F.
6. Pour jam into dough-lined tart pans until half full.
7. Roll out remaining dough and cut into strips. Form a lattice top by following photo tutorial above. Trim even with the crust edge and pinch to seal.
8. Make egg wash by mixing 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk or water. Brush strips and crust edge with egg wash. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of egg-washed crust.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Buon appetito!

-Lisa

Gelato Affogato al Caffè

March 27, 2015 By very EATalian Leave a Comment

There are days when I’m lazybones in the kitchen and I just want to dump things in a bowl and eat out of it. If I can avoid using utensils or cutting boards that don’t fit in the dishwasher, that’s a bonus. Salads are a great example of brainless dishes but, when it comes to desserts, I don’t think you can get any easier than making an Affogato al Caffè. It’s such an easy dessert it doesn’t even require instructions.

Affogato literally means “drowned” and caffè means “coffee” (duh!). It’s basically a scoop of gelato on which you pour coffee (“drowned by coffee”–what a sweet death!). Is it delicious? OH. EM. GEE. I mean, we’re talking about putting together two of the most wonderful things we’re blessed to have in this world! Isn’t that enough? Well, you can make it even more to-die-for by adding a few chocolate chips or pouring a bit of chocolate liqueur in it. Honestly, sky’s the limit and you can personalize it by adding whatever toppings you prefer. However, please don’t be tempted by replacing gelto with ice cream or espresso with regular coffee. It may somehow work, but it’s not the same thing.

This dessert is a neat idea for a dinner with friends: it’s cool to assemble it in front of them or even let them pass around the coffee to pour in their own gelato cups. It’s a fun, elegant, and effortless dessert. You can’t ask for more.

And now, let’s drown in coffee!

AFFOGATO AL CAFFE’
Servings: 2 | Time: 5-10 minutes, tops!

INGREDIENTS
2 shots (4-6 oz total) of coffee (brewed with moka or espresso machine)
2 big scoops (or 4 small scoops) of gelato (vanilla, coffee or chocolate all work great)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place one or two scoops of gelato in each cup.
2. Pour a small amount of coffee (1 espresso shot) over gelato and add any other toppings, if using. Serve immediately (it melts quickly)!

Yep. I told ya. It’s that easy. However, here are a few notes and suggestions:
-Fancy additions ideas: coffee or chocolate liqueur, rum, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, whipped cream.
-I prefer using transparent cups as they better show the contrasting colors of the two ingredients.
-The traditional way to serve this dessert is by pouring hot coffee, which makes the gelato melt quickly (think of a float). This is why you should serve it and eat it immediately. However, if you like to keep the consistency of the gelato a bit longer, you can use cold coffee.

*Special thanks to my hubby for providing a steady pour for these photos!

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Chocolate Frangipane Pear Tart

March 4, 2015 By very EATalian Leave a Comment

Last week I saw a pretty and colorful bag of pears at Trader Joe’s. The bag read “Rainbow Pears”. It was basically a mix of different kinds of small pears, including Red D’Anjou, Green D’Anjou, and Bosc. So pretty! I’m a total sucker for nice packaging and clever marketing, and, of course, I love pears. Needless to say, I drove off the Trader Joe’s parking lot with those pears in my grocery bag and the culinary part of my brain already in motion.

Pear and Chocolate. Of course! Such a glorious pairing. I’m not sure if it belongs to any particular cuisine (French, peut-être?), but it sure is a common combination in Italian desserts. The most common dessert that features these two delicious ingredients is Torta di Pere e Cioccolato, a chocolate cake with pieces of pears inside. It’s a really satisfying cake, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I wanted something that provided a variety of textures and would let me play a little more in the kitchen. I love tarts exactly for this reason and they are very, very popular in my family. So, after a bit of research and a lot of notes, I finally opted for a tart, filled with frangipane and topped with pear halves.

Frangipane is a common French filling for tarts, but as the names suggests, it’s originally from Italy. It’s a rich cream made of butter, sugar, eggs, and ground almonds. For my tart, I specifically used a chocolate frangipane recipe from one of the finest Italian pastry chefs, Luca Montersino. Both my mother and I have a “culinary crush” on him and together we often watched his cooking show on Italian TV. Not only he is great at what he does, he is also a gifted teacher and always provides the scientific explanations behind any of his creations.

So here’s my tart! I love how the pears, kept in their natural shape, provide a nice, rustic look that balances out the rest. This is a perfect dessert for chocolate lovers like me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

CHOCOLATE FRANGIPANE PEAR TART
Servings: 8 | Prep/Resting time: 1 hour and 20 min| Cook time: 40 min

NOTE: Conversions are approximate. I highly recommend the use of a digital scale and measure all ingredients in grams. It’s just easier and more precise!

INGREDIENTS
Chocolate Short Pastry Dough
150 g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
125 g (1/2 cup and 2 Tbsp) sugar
a pinch of salt
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
few drops of vanilla extract
250 g (2 cups) all purpose flour
15 g (2 Tbsp + 1 tsp) unsweetened cocoa powder
(optional) 1.5 g (1/2 tsp) baking powder

Chocolate Frangipane Filling (slightly adapted from Chef Luca Montersino’s recipe)
95 g (3.35 oz) blanched almonds
90 g (3.17 oz) brown sugar
95 g (3.35 oz) butter
105 g (3.7 oz) eggs
28 g (3 tbsp) rice flour
7 g (2 tsp) corn starch
10 g (1 Tbsp + 1 tsp) unsweetened cocoa powder
25 g (0.9 oz) amaretti cookies

2 pears
confectioners sugar

INSTRUCTIONS
[Chocolate Short Pastry dough/Crust]
1. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar and then add in a pinch of salt, the egg, the egg yolk, and a few drops of vanilla.
2. On a clean surface, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and add to the butter mixture. Knead briefly until you obtain a uniform, smooth dough. If too sticky, add a bit more flour.
3. Form a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

[Chocolate Frangipane Filling]
1. Grind almonds and sugar together to a fine powder.
2. Mix almond/sugar powder with butter, using a stand mixer. Slowly pour in the eggs. Add in the rice flour, the corn starch, and the cocoa powder. Finally, add finely crushed amaretti cookies. Refrigerate mixture in a bowl until short pastry dough is ready.

[Final assembly]
1. Turn oven to 375F.
2. Remove dough from fridge and roll it out in a disk by putting it in between 2 pieces of non-stick parchment paper until the dough is a little thinner than 1/4 inch (4 mm). Remove paper from the dough. Place dough inside a tart pan with removable bottom. Trim dough in excess from the tart pan borders.
3. Spread the frangipane inside the tart to cover the whole surface.
4. Cut the pears in half and remove seeds. Peel each pear and push pear halves cut-side down into the mixture.
5. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the frangipane has risen.
6. Remove tart from the oven and let it cool. Dust with confectioners sugar and serve.

Enjoy and buon appetito!

-Lisa

Castagnole

February 17, 2015 By very EATalian 2 Comments

Today is the last day of Carnevale–Martedì Grasso. It’s the last day to indulge in food and sweets before the start of Lent, a season of fasting and abstinence.

The most well-known Carnevale celebration in Italy is the one in Venice: locals and visitors alike are drawn to the people wandering and posing around the city, dressed in eighteenth century attire and beautiful masks. I love this spectacle and it’s truly beautiful, but it’s unique to Venice. In other parts of Italy, you’ll see floats and parades where people (especially kids) are dressed up in any kind of costume. It’s basically like Halloween in the US.

I’m a total sucker for dressing up. Any friend of mine will confirm I’m the most excited person they know around this time of the year (and they’re usually perplexed about my uncontrollable enthusiasm). I loved dressing up when I was a kid and I still do as an adult. The most memorable costume I’ve ever made? A cupcake, put together with random materials I found around the house, including a wine demijohn basket. Although there’s a part of me that would love to share a photo of “cupcake Lisa”, I’ll just leave that one private! I’ll share this one, instead:

I was 3 years old. Alas, my love for Carnevale wasn’t particularly showing that day.

Back home, a few weeks before Fat Tuesday, my mom and my aunts get together to make our favorite Carnevale fritters: frittelle, crostoli, and castagnole. As usual, it’s a lot of fun–from the assembly-line action, animated discussion and laughter, and the inevitable critiquing and tough love from helpful spectators.

Of these fritters, I particularly love castagnole. They get their name from their shape, which is similar to a chestnut (castagna, in Italian). They are small, sweet bites of fried dough, with a hint of rum or grappa–and they are sneakingly addictive. Here is the recipe for you, courtesy of my mom.

CASTAGNOLE
Serves: 4 people | Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 egg
30 g (2 Tbsp) sugar (+more for dusting)
zest of 1/2 orange
25 g (2 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
6 g (2 tsp) baking powder
a pinch of salt
a dash of grappa or rum
110 g (1 scant cup) all pupose flour
peanut oil

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine eggs and sugar in a bowl and mix until creamy. Add melted butter, salt, grappa (or rum), and orange zest. Mix all ingredients with a fork or a whisk. Add some flour & baking powder. Then gradually add the rest of the flour.
2. Lightly knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth. The dough should be slightly sticky, yet workable. Roll the dough in 3/4 inch-thick logs, cut them in small pieces, and roll each piece in little balls.
3. Heat peanut oil in a saucepan. Fry your castagnole is small batches, turning them with a spoon to ensure even results. The temperature of the oil shouldn’t be too hot or too low. It’s a good idea to cut one open to check it’s cooked through.
4. Once they have reached a light golden brown color, remove them with a slotted spoon, and place them in a bowl lined with paper towel to absorb the oil in excess. Roll them with sugar when they are still hot.