Italian Lemon Yogurt Cake

 

The yogurt makes this cake so light and fluffy and every Italian housewife has a version of this in their repertoire. Top with powdered sugar or a glaze.

1 cup whole milk yogurt

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of lemon extract or Fiore di Sicilia extract or 2 teaspoons limoncello 

zest and juice of of 2 small/medium lemons 

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Prepare bundt pan, preheat oven to 350

Mix by hand the wet ingredients then add in dry and mix by hand. Don't over mix.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Mix powdered sugar with a splash of lemon extract and milk and pour on top allowing it to drizzle down the sides. 

Crema di caffè

 

This is a fun quick coffee dessert similar to a mousse in texture and richness and its made using an empty water bottle that you shake for a few minutes. 

Ingredients 

2 shots espresso

2 heaping teaspoons of  sugar dissolved in hot espresso or more to taste (I use sugar in the raw)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Make espresso, add sugar and stir to dissolve then allow to cool , you can place it in the freezer for a few minutes to  speed this up.

Pour in the espresso and cream into the bottle  and put the cap on.

Shake for 3-5 minutes until you hear a thumping sound. 

Squirt it out dividing between 3-4 small espresso cups. Serve with a small espresso spoon if you have one to make this rich treat last even longer! 

Sicilian Lemon Ricotta Cake

 

This classic Sicilian cake is so good with a moist center, lemony flavor and buttery texture! The recipe never changes and this is the classic recipe.

Tools: 9 inch springform or 10 inch Bundt pan buttered and floured well

Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter, softened 
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese (drained well)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups flour
• powdered sugar for dusting top of cake (optional)
•  

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan using butter and flour; set aside. 
• In a large mixing bowl or stand up mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until combined. Add in the ricotta cheese and blend until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes. 
• Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Add in the vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice and mix to combine. In the same bowl, stir in the baking soda and salt. Lastly, add in the flour and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides of bowl to full incorporate all of the ingredients. 
• Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes , or until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 
• Let cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing the collar and base of the pan. Cool on a wire rack and dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Pastiera (Neapolitan Easter Wheat Cheescake Pie)

This is a Neapolitan Easter Pie. It usually contains citron but I prefer to make it with lemon and orange zest. I used to make this for my daddy who was from Naples, Italy and he approved. Think of it as a  Mediterranean flavored Cheesecake! 

Ingredients/Tools

9 inch cake pan or cheesecake/springform pan

9 ounces Cooked Wheat Berries (cook 9 ounces raw wheat berries in water until soft 30-60 minutes covered)

1/4 cup half n half)

1 stip lemon peel

OR

One 14 ounce jar Grano Cotto  (Only use 3/4 of jar)

Pastry Dough

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

pinch salt

1/2 cup sugar

5 ounces butter

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

ice cold water (if too dry- adding 1 tablespoon at a time)

2 teaspoons lemon zest 

Filling

16 ounces ricotta whole milk (drained a few hours in paper towels in fridge)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

zest 1 large lemon

zest 1 large orange

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice or orange flower water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Dough: Mix dry ingredients then add chopped or grated butter until crumbly, add eggs and mix by hand until a dough forms adding ice water a little at a time until it sticks together when  mushed in hands. Place in plastic in fridge.

Filling: Beat ricotta and sugar, add cinnamon and zests and mix together. Add eggs and orange blossom or juice. Add in cooled off Wheat Berries Mixture and mix togther.

Crust & Pie: Butter the pan, Separate dough by setting 3/4 aside for crust and 1/4 aside to cut into strips for the lattice. Roll out Dough and place in pan bringing it up the sides and crimping  Pour in mixture. Add lattice dough strips on top. 

Bake: Bake 50-60 minutes at 375

Set in fridge covered over night.

Dust powdered sugar on top just before serving!

serving!

Chantilly Cream Cake

This cake is like having a little slice of heavenly bliss on your plate. I dream about this cake, it's that good.This is very similar to the Whole Foods Chantilly Cream Cake and was my inspiration. Enough said and on with the recipe!
 Cake (It's basically a yellow sponge cake)
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Layers
Apricot preserves
Seedless raspberry preserves
Frosting
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
16 ounces cream cheese softened

1 cup powdered sugar
Topping
fresh berries

Directions (Cake)
Grease well two 8 inch round cake pans. I line mine with parchment as well.

Preheat oven 350.

 Cream the butter and sugar until creamy.
Add in egg yokes 1 at a time.
Mix flour, corn starch, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl.
With mixer on add milk and flour mixture alternately.
Pour in pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Cool on rack for 15 minutes.
Remove from pans and complete cooling.
Make frosting by whipping the cream until fluffy and soft peaks form, about 1 minute, and set aside.
Cream the cream cheese and sugar and almond extract until light and fluffy.
Fold the cream and cream cheese mixture together until blended.

Amaretto Cake

I came up with this simple amaretto bundt cake just so I could have another reason to consume that delicious Italian liqueur Amaretto, the liqueur of love !
Ingredients
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs room temp
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons amaretto
milk as needed
Plus 1/4 cup or so slivered almonds toasted for top
Directions
Preheat oven to 350, toast almonds set aside.

Prepare pan:. Use a pastry brush or spray or a mister and make sure every nook and corner has been well greased. Two areas you need to focus on are the bottom of the pan which has the curves or design and where the tube meets the bottom. This is where it stuck most often. Dust the pan with flour lightly.  You don’t want lumps of flour stuck to your pan. Tap out any excess flour.Make sure it is all completely covered retouching up if needed.

Mix butter and sugar until creamy.
Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
Mix flour and baking powder together and the milk and extract togther.
Add half flour mixture, then half milk mixture, repeat, mixing until incorporated about 1 minute.
Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until set.
Remove from pan form oven and place on counter for 10 minutes or place in the sink with about 2 inches boiling water, this will help the unmolding!
Flip onto platter and cool completely.
Mix the glaze ingredients until a drizzling consistency. Add milk if too thick or more sugar if too thin.
Drizzle the glaze all over and toss almonds all over as well.

Tarte Aux Pignons (pinenut & fruit tart)

 This is a delightful little tart (delightful just goes with tart doesn't it?) from the Provence region of France and can I just say that those French really know how to make a tart. The flavors are complex yet comforting I'd describe it as a cross between a fruit cake and pecan pie. I used a recipe from Mediterranean Cookbook but I did change it up enough to call it my own. I don't personally like candied fruit but I do love citrus so I replaced the fruit with orange, lemon, and lime zest. I also added in some chopped dates and a little more raisins and simplified the recipe a bit because I just don't like too fussy. And, oh yeah...just a bit of amaretto ....I had to get a little Italian in somewhere : )
Tools: tart or pie pan
 Ingredients
Shortcrust Pastry
4 tablespoons butter unsalted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg yolk
ice cold water
Filling 
9 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped dates
2 tablespoons rum
1 tablespoon amaretto (optional you can just use 3 tablespoons rum)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup ground almonds (I used my food processor)
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon, 1 lime, and 1 orange
4 ounces pine-nuts for topping

Directions
Dough: In mixer beat the butter till creamy, add in the rest of ingredients (except water)  and mix until crumbly.
Add in water a tiny bit at a time and mix until a dough forms.
Wrap in plastic and keep in fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Place the raisins in a cup with rum and amaretto and microwave for 1/2 a minute, allow to sit out for an hour while the tart crust chills.
Preheat oven to 400 when ready .
In mixer, cream butter along with sugar, zest, and almonds.
Add in eggs 1 at a time and mix.
Stir in raisins, dates, and all the rum/amaretto liquid.
Roll out dough and press into pan, you can add back to fridge for a few minutes to set up again if its warm.
Dump in filling, spread out, and add pin nuts all over top.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool in pan.
Either serve in the pie pan or turn it out of tart pan.

Fragole Pazzo (Crazy Strawberries!)

This is a very interesting fresh fruit dessert. The name, Pazzo, means "crazy" in Italian and this dessert is named so because of the "crazy" balsamic and sugar sauce you pour over the strawberries! My version has part vinegar part wine for a slightly milder taste. When I was a little girl in the 70's our family used to watch Happy Days together and there was a character on it named Potsie Weber which sounds exactly like another form of the word crazy "Pazzie" in Italian. My Neapoitan father used to say, "Why they name the poor boy Crazy, povera potsie?" To this day when I hear the word Pazzo I think of poor Potsie: )
Ingredients (serves 4)
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Povera Potsie : )

1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons red wine
Sea salt, just a pinch!
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered lengthwise
Optional for serving: 4 biscotti or amaretti
1/4 pound mascarpone cheese, beaten smooth with a fork or use whipped cream or even vanilla ice cream
Directions
In a bowl, whisk together sugar, wine, vinegar, and a  pinch of salt and pepper. Do this about 15 minutes before serving, add the strawberries and toss gently until they are well coated.
Serve as is or for an even fancier version...... 
Crush the biscotti and divide into 4 serving bowls
Top with the marinated strawberries, dividing them evenly.
 Put a dollop of mascarpone cheese on each serving and serve immediately!

Gelato Limone (Lemon Sorbet)

Limone Gelato is so refreshing on a hot day : )

 Gelato Limone is basically a lemon sorbet or Italian Ice as we Americans like to call it : ) I remember staying the Summer with my cousins in Jersey City, NJ, and every afternoon this little old Italian man  with a push cart full of Italian Ice came by every afternoon and even though we were teenagers the Italian Ice Man, as he came to be called, would always bring the kid out in us. We would grab some change and run down the three flights of stairs and out to the street like little children and even though Lemon and chocolate were my absolute favorites I would force my self to choose a different flavor each day trying to not miss a flavor and get my fill because as the Summer came to an end I knew my Italian Ice eating would come to end as I would be returning home to South Carolina : (

This recipe is based on my Dad's Lemon Granita a treat he used to make us in the Summer time when my Mom was gone for the day and he was babysitting us. I tweaked it for a gelato by using more sugar and cooking the water and sugar into a simple syrup and then I used an ice cream machine to freeze & harden, thanks Daddy : )
Ingredients
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (This took about 9 pretty small lemons for me)
Zest of 1-2 of the lemons (1 large or 2 small)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 pints water
Ice Cream Machine: see instructions some use rock salt and some do not.
Directions
Start your simple syrup about an hour ahead by mixing the sugar and water and bringing to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved. Cool before freezing.

Scrub your lemons you are zesting and then zest and add to simple syrup.
Juice your lemons and add to simple syrup.
Follow your ice cream machine instructions.
Mine has to be frozen in the freezer some more before it can eaten but some really awesome machines like my friend Corri has are ready right away....a future appliance purchase for me perhaps?

Gelato Season!

Peach Gelato

Nutella Gelato

Hey..... if strawberries and asparagus can have their season then I say why not Gelato? This beautiful display of Gelato flavors you see above was around practically every corner in Naples and I could never resist a scoop--I ate a scoop every day-- trying a different flavor out each time, every Gelato stand or Gelaterie has their own unique flavors to boast of. I live in upstate SC where good gelato is hard to come by but the peaches --let me tell you-- Upstate SC has some of the best peaches around, so I took SC's best and used them in a traditional Italian Gelato recipe. I use a regular old cheapy ice cream machine like you get at Walmart for under $20 and it really tastes like the real thing. Which really shouldn't surprise me, after all Italian food is all about the ingredients rather then technique or tools like French cooking and that is why I love it so much!
This recipe is my adaption from Culinaria Italy. I took their basic gelato recipe, which is really kind of vague like all authentic Italian cookbooks, and tweaked it as well as adding more information : )


Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups half and half
fruit in season : Such as 3 large peaches,1 cup berries, or  Nutella/see below etc..)

Directions
Puree fruit in blender until smooth.

Beat the eggs with sugar until light and fluffy. I do this in the same pan I will be cooking the mixture using a whisk.
Warm this slowly over low heat, stirring or whisking constantly. It will be ready to add the milk when it thickens up to pale yellow fluffy mixture like zabaglione and it starts to stick to the whisk.
Add 1 cup of the milk/cream and stir until warmed through.
Remove from heat and add the other cup of milk and pureed fruit or Nutella. Stir to combine.
Cool completely and then use your ice cream machine to finish!

SC Markets are filled with baskets of the sweetest juiciest peaches this time of year!

Nutella Gelato:
I used about 2/3 of a 13 ounce jar but you can as much or as little as you like.

Zeppole! (From Pizza Dough)

Every time my Dad made deep fried calzone he would take a bit of the pizza dough aside and after dinner he would quickly fry up a batch of zeppole using the same oil. I can still remember him filling a brown paper bag with zeppole and some sugar and then giving it a good shake~shake~shake. There is nothing like zeppole just out of the frying oil and coated in sugar.....I believe it is quite possibly one of the world's most perfect foods : )Ingredients
pizza dough homemade (My Recipe is HERE)  or store bought
oil for frying
sugar and if you like cinnamon for topping 
Directions
Set up a plate with some paper towels and a paper bag or bowl with some sugar and cinnamon you like.
Heat up enough oil to deep fry to about 350-375 (I used my Dutch oven)
Now break off pieces about the size of a walnut and roll them into a ball if you like or you can just dump them in the hot oil.
I fry about 6 at a time.
Fry on both sides until golden brown and fluffy this takes about  5-8 minutes but don't remove too soon or else they will be doughy inside.
Now place them on the paper towels for a minute. Then place in the sugar mixture (either in a bag or in a bowl) while still hot and coat by shaking the bag or rolling around in the bowl.
These are best served right away but can be kept in an air tight container for up to one day, If I am not serving these right away I immediately place them in an air tight container.
If you want to serve these alla Spagnolo serve with with a pot of warm chocolate sauce : )

My Daddy aka The Godfather of Zeppole : )

BoccoNotti (Small Bites)

Bocconotti ~ small bites~ are a Southern Italian Pastry traditionally eaten for breakfast on Easter morning. The crust is so crispy and tender and you can use any jam filling your family likes. I made a batch with several jams to figure out which one to use for our Easter breakfast and  raspberry was the winner!

Ingredients
My Italian Pastry Dough (Pasta Frolla)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons butter plus 6 tablespoons shortening
A hearty pinch of cinnamon or half a lemon's zest: your choice
3 egg yolks
2 ounces white wine
water if needed
A pinch of salt
Filling: Jam of your choice or how about Nutella!?! I made a few different ones using fig butter, apricot preserves, and raspberry preserves. You can also use ricotta that has been drained, with some sugar and citrus zest to taste.
Directions
First make the dough ahead by whisking the dry ingredients. Than adding the fat in small cold chunks breaking up into small pieces with 2 forks, your fingers, the paddle for Kitchen Aid,or a pastry tool. Then add wet and stir just until it starts to stick and form a ball. Add water by drops if not sticking together. If using  stand mixer turn off and grab mixture to see if it sticks.Wrap in plastic and chill for half an hour.
Now separate the dough into balls the size of golf balls, I made about 30.
Line a pan with parchment paper.
Note: This dough is very tender so the less handling the better and if it is tearing just freeze for a few minutes..
 Press each ball out into a 2-3 inch circle and add about 2-3 teaspoons of jam into the bottom half of the circle, don't over fill. Fold over and seal by pinching down. Now crimp the edges with a fork and place on the pan.
Place the pan in the freezer for a few minutes to set up a little before baking.
Bake at 360 for 25-30 minutes.
Dust with powdered sugar once they are cooled.
These are typically eaten at room temperature. They need to cool off so that the jam will not ooze out when bitten into. These can be made a day ahead and left sealed at room temperature.

Lady's Kisses (Baci Di Dame)

 These little kisses ~baci~ are an almond and chocolate sandwich cookie from Piemonte, Italy and will most definitely be a new addition to my Italian Cookie Tray! This recipe is from Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts a cookbook Chris got me for our anniversary for my Kindle, I love love love having cookbooks on my Kindle because I can pull up the recipe right there in my kitchen as I cook.

Buy this cookbook HERE!

After I made these cookies I thought how much they reminded me of Pepperidge Farm's Milano Cookies, so much so in fact that they could be where Pepperidge Farm got their inspiration : ) And let's just say that I have a bit of a soft spot for Milano cookies. They were my Dad's way of bonding with me after he had feared he had spent too much time out with his girlfriend. He would always bring home a box of Pepperidge Farm's Milano Cookies and we could share them together as we watched some late night HBO together. And even though my family was rather dysfunctional I am thankful for and choose to focus on the sweet times we had : )

 “I've never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. I don't understand people who hide from their past. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now.” Sophia Loren

Could Baci Di Dame be the inspiration for these?

Sweet Maria's Baci Di Dame
Ingredients (30 sandwich cookies)
Cookie:
1/2 pound butter softened (2 sticks)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
11/2 cups all purpose flour
pinch of salt
Filling:
1/2 cup almonds (ground fine) or 3/4 cups almond meal
1 tablespoon almond paste *(I do not use this see my homemade version below)
 1 cup chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 and place a parchment onto 2 large cookies sheets.
 In an electric mixer cream butter and sugar light and fluffy.
Add egg and almond extract and mix well.
On low speed gradually add flour and salt. Mix just until blended.
Place in fridge until firm. Then place in a pastry bag without a tip, coupler only. Or snip a 1/4-inch line diagonally across the bottom corner of a Ziploc bag.

Pipe onto a cookie sheet with the pastry bag *( 2/3 inch circles).
Bake 8-10 minutes (mine take more like 12-15 minutes) until edges just begin to brown. If you baking both pans at once rotate have way through.
In a food processor or blender place the around almond and paste or homemade (see below) and blend until finely ground together, set aside.
Melt the chocolate, I use a microwave for 1 minute, stir and then 10 second intervals until melted and smooth. Or I place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl and place on top of the burner that releases the oven heat while the oven preheats and the cookies are baking, this melts them perfectly!
Spread the chocolate onto  2 cookies, dip one cookie into the almonds and sandwich together I found that I could do 3-4 cookies at a time (6-8 individual) without the chocolate hardening.
*This recipe says it makes 30 sandwich cookies.The first time I only made half that but then I made smaller circles of dough and did 2/3 inch rather than 1 inch circles like the recipe had suggested.

* Homemade Almond Paste From Almond Meal (Marzipan)
2 1/4 cups almond meal

11/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
pinch salt
Ground together in a food processor
Divide into 1/4 cup portions and refrigerate for 1 month or freeze for 3.
This recipe is my adaption of Taste Of Home's recipe using almond meal instead of whole almonds.

Babas au Rhum

I used Julia Child's recipe from The French Chef in my new baba mold and look how cute they are, like little children all dressed up and ready to go...my little bebe baba! I followed Julia's recipe exactly except for the fact that I used my Kitchen Aid instead of mixing and kneading by hand.

Recipe From: The French Chef by Julia Child

Ingredient (dough)
11/2 cups all purpose flour measured by the scoop and scrape method
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
3 tablespoons water lukewarm
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter (half a stick) melted and cooled to tepid
Directions (dough) 
Mix the yeast, sugar, and water, stir and dissolve.

Place the rest of dry ingredients in the mixer, make a well and add the yeast mixture in the center.
With the dough hook on your mixer set to # 2 start to mix, adding the eggs and butter as you do.
It will be sticky but after 1 minute if it doesn't start to form an at least sloppy ball, add more flour, 1 tablesoon at a time. I needed about 1/2 cup more flour for mine, but it was a rainy day.
After a  ball forms knead for 7 minutes.
Remove the dough and flour lightly kneading a few times by hand then place in a bowl and cover with a moist warm cloth.
 It needs to rise for 2 hours in a warm place.
Butter your 12 baba molds, or 24 cupcake tins.
Plac a ball of dough and press it into the bottom, no need to smooth out it will when rising and baking. The ball needs to fill the cup 1/3 full.
Now rise uncovered near preheating oven until they are 1/4 inch over the tops.
Preheat oven to 375.
These must be bakes as soon as they are risen. Bake for 15 minutes, they are done when you remove one and it is golden all around. These need to be still warm when soaking. Before placing in rum pierce with a large fork all along the base of the baba's.
Rum Syrup Ingredients
2 cups water, 1 set aside to add at end
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup rum
Rum Syrup Directions
Bring the sugar and 1 cup of the water to a boil stirring until it dissolves, cover and keep warm over lowest heat.
Just before dipping your baba you will add the 1 cup of faucet water and the rum, you need a warm but not hot mixture.
Now place the babas in a large bowl with the warm syrup mixture and  using a baster baste the babas until they start to sink, they must be standing up or else they won't all fit. Set aside to continue to soak for 30 minutes exactly.

Remove and place on a rack to drip off excess syrup for 1/2 hour.
Now splash a drop or two of or rum on top of each baba.
Apricot Glaze Ingredients
1/2 cup apricot jam pressed through a sieve to remove skins.
1 tablespoon sugar
 Apricot Glaze Directions
Boil the apricot jam and sugar until done: scoop up a bit of hot glaze with a teaspoon and let it fall back into the pan; when the last drop falls very slowly, and almost form threads, the glaze is done. This also needs to be warm but not hot.What I did was make it ahead and the reheated on the stove before using.

Now brush the glaze on to each baba.

Toppings

Glace' Cherries (or Maraschino) cut in half, slivered almonds, and cupcake papers

Now place 4 almond slivers and 1/2 a cherry on to each one and lie down into a cupcake paper. Voila!

Notes: The only problem I had was that I only ordered the 8 "cups" mold and this recipe makes 12 so I reserved part of the dough wrapped in plastic in the fridge (so the dough would not have an extra rise) while the first batch was rising in the molds and baking.

Baba

Baba's on  display in Milan, Italy.
Photo courtesy of Picasa.

Okay so first of all these are not my baba's seen above, they are some from a shop in Milan , Italy and they are just like the ones I fell in love with in Italy's Pasticceria. I remember walking into my first Pasticceria--Pastry Shop-- and thinking I'd died and gone to heaven, the sights and smells were absolutely extraordinary. And if any of you have been following my blog for a while you have probably noticed my fondness for Baba's. It all started with the movie: Babbette's Feast . Immediately after watching this superb movie I baked up  a large Baba in a basic bundt pan very much like Babette's and soaked it in rum....delicious!
Then I traveled to Italy and ate these small Baba's soaked in your choice of not only Rum but many other liqueur options such as Limoncello and Amaretto as well and I kind of fell in love all over again. So after I came home I tried to make some in a cupcake pan and soaked them in Limoncello, my now new favorite, but they still didn't have that beautiful puffy top : ( You may ask, so why not just buy some molds, well they run for about $3 per cup! But then I found this silicon mold set sold on Amazon and as soon as I had an extra $15 ordered them, I got them in the mail yesterday..... I have nothing on the calender....it is a dark rainy day........looks like a Baba kind of day to me.

Frappe Carnevale Fritters

 In Italy Carnevale, also known as carnival or mardi gras, is celebrated 40 days before Easter, a final party before Ash Wednesday and  Lent. All across Italy there are many masked balls with lots of delicious foods to help celebrate and "fill up"before the restrictions of Lent. One of the most common things to eat is the festive  Frappe which is a deep fried pastry with a heavy dusting of powdered sugar...yummmmm! This is my recipe for a very traditional Frappe which is based on my cannoli shell recipe..... Have a great Carnevale!
Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of salt
 2 Tablespoons shortening cold
 1 tablespoon butter cold
1/2 cup white wine
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk beaten
ice cold water as needed
1 quart oil for frying (I use canola)
Directions
To the flour, salt, and sugar add the butter/shortening and process or mash until the size of peas.
Add the whole egg and egg yolk in a well in the center.
Now add the wine and 1 tablespoon water, Mix until a stiff dough or knead by hand until a stiff dough. Add more water if needed as you may need up to 4 tablespoons.
Once a ball forms knead by hand for a good 8 minutes by hand or do all this in a food processor or kitchen aid.
Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Heat the oil up to 375.
Lightly flour the counter and roll out the dough as thin as you can without breaking like you do for making pasta.
Using a pasta cutter or small pizza cutter cut it into strips 1 1/2 inch wide and about 6 inches long. Take each strip and make a single knot in the center. Or you can cut them smaller 1" by 3" and leave them straight, I think they are not as pretty this way but are more crispy.

Fry a few at a time until golden ,these fry quickly, then drain on paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar right away.
 I think these are best after they are cooled, they seem to be crispier this way, so go ahead and make them ahead of time.

Sfogliatelle Lisce

I finally made Sfogliatelle by hand! It was one of my ~Foods To Make Bucket List~ items  for a very long time. In Naples, Italy there are two types of sfogliatelle: One that looks like a shell and is called ricce (curly) and another that's round and smooth called lisce (smooth). I chose the easier Sfogliatelle Lisce for my first time and followed an Italian recipe and like most Italian recipes it was very vague and if you are new to sfogliatella making-- like me-- a bit confusing. I took several pictures along the way so if you decide to try sforgliatella for the first time I offer you  my adapted and hopefully easier to follow recipe..... Buon Appetito !
Ingredients
Dough
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
5 tablespoons butter very cold and grated or shredded
pinch of salt
very cold water: enough to form dough about 2-4 tablespoons
Filling
1 cup water
1/2 cup ricotta
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup semolina
1 pinch cinnamon
3 oz. candied orange peel, diced (I instead used the zest grated from 1 whole orange)
Plus: 5 tablespoons melted butter or pork lard for brushing, egg wash for sealing, and powdered sugar for dusting

Directions
Dough: I did mine in the Kitchen Aid with the paddle, add the flour and salt and mix on #2. Then add the butter and mix until blended. Then drizzle in the water until it starts to form, check by stopping and pressing together to see if it is able to be formed into a ball by hand. Now take it out and from into a ball and knead a few times, add some flour if too sticky. Wrap in plastic and rest on counter for an hour or over night in fridge.

Filling: Bring the water to a boil, add a pinch of salt and pour in the semolina, stirring with a whisk so as not to form lumps. Lower heat to medium low and cook, stirring now with a wooden spoon constantly (you can take rests) for 5-8 minutes. It will start to scrape up from the bottom of the pan when it is done, if you go past this it will stick and become too hard.  When you do this you will think you are doing something wrong because it is so darn sticky and you will think your arm will fall off! I took rests here and there and the dough was fine. After all that effort in the end all you will be left with is a little mass of sticky glob but do not fear : ) When done remove from heat scrape out with a spatula and set on plate to cool.

Little Mass of Sticky Glob waiting for it's transformation

Mix the above cooled semolina with the ricotta;  the 6 tbs. sugar, a pinch of cinnamon and the candied peel or zest.
Forming the Sfogliatella Lisce
Roll out the pastry with a rolling pin to obtain a 25x18-in. rectangle.1/16-in. thick. Cut the pastry vertically into 4 strips and brush each with the melted butter and then  place one on top of the other and then roll up the stack of dough.Wrap in plastic and set in fridge for 10 minutes.

Slice the roll into 10 equal pieces with a very sharp, floured knife.

Place the pieces on the pastry board and roll them gently with the rolling pin, first vertically, in an upward direction, and then in a downwards direction, to give them an oval shape. Place a tablespoon of custard in the middle, add egg wash to edges, flip over, and seal. Place on buttered cookie sheet.

Brush the sfogliatelle with melted butter or pork lard and place on buttered sheet.  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425°F for 20 min. Remove from the oven. Brush with melted butter again, lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for another 20 min. Let cool, sprinkle the sfogliatella with confectioner's sugar and serve.

Recipe courtesy of The Italian Trade Commission with adaptions and photos by Ann Minard

Sfogliatella Riccia

~Sfogliatella Riccia~

My Dad ~in the middle~ with some friends and a sfogilatella filled belly in Italy.

Sfogliatella Riccia (means: many leaves/layers) & (pronouced: sfowliatella reecha) is a famous pastry from Naples, Italy and is my Dad's  favorite Italian sweet which he fills up on when visiting family in Italy. It is a most delicious pastry with a ricotta filling and a very crispy flaky dough. I really want to learn how make these and surprise him with one when he comes to visit, partly because I'm such a great daughter but mostly because he said it couldn't be done, "It's just not somting you make at home, save it fo the experrrts...uh?" And so of course this only encouraged me to become  a sfogliatella experrrt!
Here is the recipe I plan on using: Sfogliatella Riccia Recipe I will keep you posted......wish me luck!

Nonna Cornaccio's Butter Spritz Cookies

My sweet Nonna Cornaccio was as sweet and gentle as these buttery sweet cookies and she always had a tin of them in her kitchen for when her grandchildren came to visit. My Nonna-- who was actually my bisnonna --great grandmother-- was from Naples, Italy and came to NJ in the early 1900's and even though she lived here for many years she held onto her thick Italian accent until the day she died, I can still hear her telling me, "Anna, you pray to Sainta Antony if you lose a somting he will get it fo you, no?",  as she handed me a mini glow in the dark statue of Saint Anthony, the saint of lost causes my own name sake : )  My Nonna was always wearing a home-sewn apron -- I inherited 2 of them-- and she was about as wide as she was tall at just over 4 feet tall. But what I remember most about her was her sweet soft hugs and yummy cookies she always had on hand for us!

~My sweet Nonna Cornaccio with her son, my great Uncle Angelo~

I will admit spritz cookies can be a bit of a pain at first but once you get them going you can whip out several dozen in a matter of minutes. This video was very helpful so if you are new to spritz cookies or have not made them in a while which was my case I would highly recommend watching this first: Butter Spritz Cookie Tutorial. Also note that this dough must be used at room temp so plan on using it right away or make ahead and then bring back to room temp.
 Ingredients
6 cups all purpose flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
6 eggs
6 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
1 pound butter (4 sticks) room temp
maraschino cherries red and or green (2 tubs)
Tools: cookie press w/ rosette disk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350
You can do this recipe in a Kitchen Aid carefully and it will just fit or use a hand mixer and a large bowl.
Cream butter & sugar well.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
Slowly add flour and baking powder mixing on med/low until well incorporated.
Fill the press and form cookies on a clean sheet pan, add a cherry in the middle of each cookie and bake for 8-12 minutes or just until the bottoms are starting to lightly brown but the rest of the cookie is still white.
Notes: This dough must be used at room temp, do not refrigerate. Use an un-greased sheet pan with no foil or parchment for ease with forming the cookies. Wipe the press off in between every few cookies for easy forming of cookies. Just accept that the first 1-2 cookies pressed through will not be so perfect but after that they will be alright.

Cranberry & Walnut Crostata

This is adapted from The Pie& Pastry Bible/Rose Levy, an excellent book if you are wanting to grow in your pie & pastry skills. A crostata is basically an Italian pie and if you are new to pie making try making a crostata first since a crostata is much easier to form than a traditional American pie. The only adaption I made was to add some grated Orange Zest to the Cranberry & Walnut mixture which is something you find in many Italian pastries. I am so glad I did because it made this crostata reminiscent of an Italian fruit cake!

Ingredients

Cranberry Walnut Filling
1 1/2 C walnuts, toasted (about 6 oz)
1 C heavy cream
1/4 C sugar
1 C dried cranberries
1/4 t cinnamon
zest of 1 large or 2 small oranges
Walnut Pastry
1/2 C walnuts, toasted (about 2 oz)
1 C flour
1 T + 1 t sugar, divided
1/4 t salt
2 oz. (4 T) cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
3 T ice water

Egg wash
1 egg
1/2 t water
slight pinch of salt

 Directions

For the filling, coarsely chop 1 1/2 cups of walnuts.
Bring cream & sugar just to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Lower heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture becomes slightly thickened. Remove pan from heat and add dried cranberries, walnuts, orange zest, and cinnamon and combine thoroughly.
 Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. It can be chilled up to 24 hours.
For the pastry, subtract 2 tablespoons of walnuts from the 1/2 cup. Chop the 2 tablespoons into small pieces, combine with 1 tablespoon of sugar and set aside as a garnish to sprinkle on top of the formed pastry before baking.
Place the flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar, salt and remaining walnuts in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely ground into the flour mixture. Add the cold butter pieces and pulse until the texture is like coarse meal with a few larger pieces of butter. Whisk together egg yolk & ice water. Add to dough mixture and pulse until dough begins to come together in clumps and there are no dry flour patches.
Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic, bring it all together and form into a disc. Wrap tightly and chill for 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll.
When ready to assemble the crostata, unwrap & place the dough onto a piece of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour and place another piece of parchment on top.
 Roll into a 14" circle, Remove top parchment and place the dough and the bottom parchment paper onto a baking sheet or pizza pan.
Spread  the chilled filling on the dough and fold the dough over the filling. You want a good 4 inches open in the middle.
Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes or until your oven is ready.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
For the egg wash, combine the egg, water and salt. Brush the top of the pastry lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts and sugar.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Cool for at least 15 minutes on a wire rack