Ciambella

Today I wanted to make something basic, to eat at breakfast with a nice cup of tea....
To tell the truth in my area we deep ciambella in a glass of wine... But the shape of this dessert is different...

Ingredients

250 gr. /9 oz all purpose floor

130 gr. /4.5 oz Sugar

2 eggs

50 gr. /2 oz melted butter

1,3 / 4 fl oz. Milk

½ a bag baking powder

Grated zest of half a lemon.

Separate the yolks from the whites.

Beat the whites until stiff. Refrigerate them.

Pre-heat the oven 180°C/ 360°F.

In a bigger bowl, beat the yolks with the
sugar until they become a clear cream, add the floor sifted with the baking powder, then add the sugar and the grated zest.

Then add the milk and the melted butter, and stir well.

As a last ingredient add the stiff whites and stir in mixing from down to top.

Pour the dough in a silicone ring mould, place the mould on a oven tray and let it cook for 35/40 minutes.

Take it out the oven, test with a stick if ready and let it cool down.

Take it out the mould,  dust with icing sugar and serve with tea or caffelatte.

cannoli siciliani

Yummy, yummy, yummy....
Chopped pistachios, semi-sweet chocolate pieces, and candied citrus peel or cherries are often still included, dotting the open ends of the pastries.
You can find the best in Sicily, where there come from, but with this recipe you will become a master....
You have to find the cylinders to fry them on, but I know that you are full of resources...

Ingredients for about 20 cannoli

250 gr flour
30 gr.icing sugar
50 gr. lard (or vegetable oil)
1 egg + 1 egg white
1 teaspoon dark cocoa powder
30 ml Dry Marsala wine
1 pinch of salt
1 about 1 liter / 2 pints vegetable oil (to fry)

750 grs. / 1.6 lbs.  ricotta (possibly made with ships' milk)
300 grs. / 0.66  sugar
75 grs. / a table spoons chopped dark chocolate

to decorate

candied citrus peel or candied cherries
or chopped dark chocolate
or chopped (unsalted) pistachio...
or chopped hazelnuts




1) For the ricotta cream, let the ricotta drain in a sieve. Discart the liquid.
Then work together the ricotta and the sugar. Refrigerate.



2) In the meanwhile prepare the shells: Mix together the flour, the cocoa powder and the icing sugar.
Add the sugar and the lard and start making the dough, then add the egg and little by little the Marsala wine.
Kneed it for at least 5 minutes, the dough must be quite solid and smooth.

Wrap the dough in cling film and let it "rest" for at least 1 hour in the fridge.


Pull the dough  very thin (1 mm.) with your pasta machine or the rolling pin.
With a ring about 9 cm 7 3.5 inch approx (anyway it depends from the dimensiones of your cylinder) cut it and you will get about 20-24 disks. 

Pull them slightly to change the shape in ovals, grease the cylinders with some moil and roll the rounds, sealing with a little bit of egg white.





In a frying pan, warm up a good quantity of vegetable oil, and when it boils, fry the shells with the cylinders.

It takes very little, let them golden on all sides, and drain on some paper.
When cold, slip off the shells from the cylinders and proceed until you have dough.
The shells will keep well in an air-tight container, and you can make them in advance.

Before filling the shells, add the chocolate to the ricotta.










Fill the shells with the creamy ricotta ONLY before serving them, if not, the shell tends to become soft, and it looses its crunchiness.





Decorate the two ends with chocolate chips, candied citrus peel.

3 chocolate mousse

Dedicated to all chocolate lovers, this smooth, rich dessert will be great for your holiday parties! It is quite fast to make, but you need a little bit of experience in mixing the ingredients.
Choose  glass containers to show the different coloured layers of chocolate!
This recipe is taken from an old cook book where a young Enrst Knam (now a very famous chocolate and cake designer), explained, without many details, some of his recipes.
I tried to stick to the original as much as I could, which I did for the ingredients, but I had to made few changes when putting all the ingredients together.
Always use good quality/fresh ingredients if you want to have a great result.

Ingredients for 4
(I made 6 small portions my Ikea candle holders...)

For the dark chocolate mousse
100 grs/ 3.52 oz dark chocolate 65% and over
20 grs/ yolk
100grs/ 3.52 oz  heavy cream (to be whipped)

For the milk chocolate mousse
100 grs/3.52 oz milk chocolate
20grs/0.7oz   yolk
100 grs/3.52 oz heavy cream (to be whipped)
1/2 a leaf  gelatin
1 table spoon milk


For the white chocolate mousse
100 grs/3.52 oz white chocolate
20grs/0.7 oz  yolk
100 grs/3.52 oz heavy cream (to be whipped)
1/2 a leaf  gelatin
1 table spoon milk

How to:

1) In 3 different bowls/pans (bain marie or microwave) melt the 3 different chocolates.

2) Put the gelatin  in a cup full of water and let it soak for 5 minutes until soft.

3) In the meanwhile beat the yolks (about 4 to reach the quantity) and divide them into 3 parts

4) In an other bowl whip the cream.

Now all your ingredients are ready!

Careful! Chocolate must be cold or slightly warm, if not when you add the whipped cream it will melt!

5) Put the beated yolk in the dark chocolate and beat with an electric beater. Add the whipped cream as well and go on beating.This is the trickiest part of the job, because the chocolate tend to stick and make little knobs. 

6) Pour the dark mousse in the bottom of  your bowls.   Try  not to spot the glass with the dark chocolate, or wipe it away  with some paper. Put them in the freezer. Wait until it has hardened a bit.

7) Now make the milk chocolate mousse, warm up the gelatin with a spoon of milk, let it melt and add it immediately with the yolk and the milk chocolate bowl. Whisk well with the electric beater.

8) Pour the milk mousse as a second layer in your  bowls.  Put them back in the freezer just for few minutes until the previous layer have hardened.

9) For the white chocolate mousse, warm up the gelatin with a spoon of milk, let it melt and add it immediately with the yolk and the white chocolate bowl. Whisk well with the electric beater.

10) Pour the white mousse as the last layer in your  bowls.

Put some cling film on top of your bowls and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, better if overnight.

Enjoy!!

TIP: Cover your bowls with cling film while in the fridge. And if you want to freeze them to do exceed 1 month time to keep the good taste.

Strawberries with zabaione

My aunt Flo taught me to make her special version of this Italian dessert and it is now a classic in my family in Spring, when strawberries are at their best.

Made with the freshest strawberries, whipped cream, zabaione and meringue this dessert is easy to prepare and a great treat for everybody. 
Zabaione is a sort of custard, simply made with fresh yolks, sugar and Marsala wine (or other sweet wine).

Every single ingredient makes a fantastic match with all the others, but all together they are just impossible to resist!

Ingredients for 4:

4 egg yolks

120 grs./4.23 ounces sugar plus 3 table spoon for the strawberries and 1 for the whipped cream
4 table spoons Marsala (or other sweet wine)
About 250 grs/ cream or whipped cream
gr 600 /1.5 pounds fresh strawberries, washed
6-8 meringues

How to:

1)      Wash the strawberries and cut them into pieces. Cover with 3 table spoons of sugar and set them aside.








2) Separate the yolks and pour them in a bowl with the remaining sugar. Whisk well until they become a soft and the mixture forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted. Add the Marsala or sweet wine and gently mix again.

 3) Set the bowl over a large saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water. The bowl should not touch the water or the sides of the pan, so I put a dye on the bottom.

Using a spoon or a whisk, beat the egg-yolk mixture until for 5 to 6 minutes approx. Don't cook the zabaione for too long, or it will curdle.

Remove from the heat and let it cool.

4)      Pour the cream in a bowl and add the sugar. Mix with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Put it in the fridge.





5) Put the strawberries in a mixer, except for few that you will use as a decoration and make a puree out of them.



6) When the zabaione is cold, prepare your cups or glasses, break the meringues with your hand in irregular pieces and let them fall on the bottom of your containers. 

7) Spoon over the strawberries puree,  than the whipped cream and then the zabaione, and start from the meringue again if you have more space...
End with the pieces of strawberries.

Serve immediately.

Tip:
If you want to make it 3-4 hours in advance, remember that you will have to assemble the ingredients just before eating for better flavour and texture.

Ricotta dessert with flowers

Last week an old friend of mine who lives in the USA moved to a new house.

She asked me to send her a selection of my Spring recipes to celebrate with the new neighbors, which I did.

One of the recipes is the one you find hereunder.

Sheila was very excited about moving in a better home and she sent me few photos of the new house.

I decided that she needed an extra hint of color in that new house, so I surfed the internet and I found BloomNation, an on line flower delivery platform very easy to use, even for me in Italy. It was a great deal: in very short time I had the flowers delivered the day of the party and my friend was so happy!

Ricotta is made with the protein of the milk left after making cheese.

If you use traditional cow ricotta (such as the one you see hereunder) the quantity of fats is very low (about 8%) and the dessert will be very light. The original recipe requires sheep ricotta, but if you cannot find it cow's will be all right. Also, if you cannot find the artisan fresh ricotta, you can buy it in the containers. It will be a little more watery, drain it well in a strainer for half an hour before using it.

As usual I made portions because I freeze it (keeps well for a couple of months or so), but you can use a large bowl if you like. Freezing makes keeps better the shape of the dessert.

Ingredients for 6 small cups

500 grs / a little more than 1  lb ricotta cheese (sheep or cow)

3 spoons of sugar

approx 80 grs/ 2.8 ounces nougat cut into  pieces (above all the almonds inside)

50 grs / 1 3/4 ounces candied peel of citrus (I prefer citron)

50 gr./1 and 3/4 black chocolate chunks

6-10 edible flowers

1) Put ricotta in  a bowl with the sugar and the nougat. Stir well with a fork and cover it with a lid or cling film. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or until sugar and nougat melt.




2) In the meantime wash and dry (gently) the flowers and line the little bowls you are going to use with abundant cling film. 

You will use the exceeding film to close the bowl once full. If you have silicone moulds, you do no need to line them.
Put the flowers on the bottom of your containers upside-down.



3) Add the candied peel and the chocolate to the ricotta cream. Stir well.


4) With a spoon fill up the mould you have prepared, pressing a bit to compact the cream.

5) Close them with the cling film and freeze them for few hours (up to max  3 months).




6) Approx. 20 minutes before serving, gently pull the cling film to allow the dessert go out from the moulds, put on your dishes and serve when soft. They will keep their shape, so the time does not really matters. They must have the time to soften, though, which depends from 2 factors (temperature of the kitchen and size of the dessert!)

TIP: 

To be suitable for eating, the flowers must be organic, grown far away from the road, and of course you have to wash them well to remove any soil and dust residue.

I this case I used pansies and violets (the only edible flowers I had available) but rose petals and nasturtium will be great as well.

Bite size are also very nice: these are made with silicone moulds for chocolate and are as big as a Violet! A fantastic snack when you feel like eating something sweet! Let it melt just a minute or two.