My Italian Cuisine

Fruit tart is a very popoular cake in Italy. Always a big success on summer tables, it's colourful and gorgeous, who can say no to such a dessert? Fruit tart is also very easy to prepare. You need a little extra time if you want to prepare the crust yourself (I strongly suggest you to do so! Find my recipe here ) and the pastry cream (recipe here ), The rest is just cutting fruits and decoration ...  There are different ways to make a fruit tart, this is  the recipe for the Italian "Crostata di frutta". The real Italian fruit tart, "torta di frutta", (the one you can find in the Italian bakeries) is made with a base of crust, a layer of sponge cake, pastry cream, fruits and it's decorated with whipped cream on the sides, this makes the cake softer and more elaborated, I will explain that recipe in a future post. Serves 8/10 persons Ingredients : 1 dose of sweet tart crust dough (pasta frolla) see recipe here 1 dose of pastry cream...

The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine Wooow this was quite a surprise! I wanted to make a cake ... but not too big... why not mini cakes? Single portion cakes are easy to store in the freeze, eventually, no need to cut portions...and they are so cute! They are beatiful and delicious, perfectly cooked, soft inside and crispy outside, good balance between apples and pastry.... a perfect little morning or afternoon treat! No butter and milk in this recipe, but olive oil (or any other vegetable oil) and soy heavy cream...I am sure everybody will like this recipe! Please try it and let me know ; )  Makes 6-8 small cakes Ingredients : 150gr AP flour (organic for me) but may be more or less depending on the flour you use... 50gr potato starch (or corn starch) 2 eggs (organic for me) 3/4 sachet baking powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup vegetable oil (organic extra virgin olive oil for me) 1/2 cup soy ...

  The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine Jam tarts, Crostatine  in Italian, are small short crust pastry rounds filled with fruit jams, or pastry cream, Nutella etc... When I wan a child they were always there for my breakfast or the afternoon « Merenda » when back from school.    Contrary to the English tea time jam tarts, which normally do not have any pastry topping, the  " Crostatine " are topped with stripes of short crust pastry as you can see in the pictures. But you can use your imagination and jutst top them as you like, witha pastry hearth for St Valentine, a star for Xmas . I have already posted the home made short crust pastry recipe, you can find it in our «  How to Make ... » section , it is very easy to prepare specually if you have a food processor and is far better to ready-made you find in crocery shops. I normally use my homemade fruit ...

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine The "Bocconotto" is a small Italian short pastry tart filled with different ingredients, the recipe is different in every region, for example in Castel Frentano, Abruzzo, the traditional bocconotto is filled with chocolate and amandels, in Teramo (Abruzzo) with black grapes jam and amandels, in Martinafranca, Puglia, with  pastry cream and black cherries, in Lecce (Puglia) where is called "Pasticciotto" it is filled with pastry cream only. The bocconotto is very easy and delicious small pastry, if you want to know more about the original Bocconotto abruzzese, you can visit the "Bocconotto" web site: http://www.bocconotti.com/ and if you visit Abruzzo, do not miss one of the several "Bocconotteria" shops....the Bocconotto paradise!!  Today's bocconotto recipe is from Puglia, Martinafranca. It's filled with pastry cream and bl...

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine When we say Brioche we say France...I've tried all kind of brioches recipes and for me the best brioche is this one... and it comes from Germany, it's the Buchteln brioche, also called Butchy or Buchty. It's the most soft, moist, delicious brioche I have ever tasted and baked. It's also very light, no butter only heavy cream (crème fraîche épaisse, in french). The Buchteln brioche is very easy to prepare if you have a bread machine. Try it... you will fall in love with this recipe! It's perfect for breakfast or for your afternoon tea time, you can fill it with a small piece of dark chocolate or jam if you like, kids will love it!  Ingredients: 500gr bread flour 20gr fresh yeast or 10 dried 25cl of heavy cream (crème fraîche épaisse) 80gr sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs + milk (quatity of milk depends on your eggs weight) = total 200gr...

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine The Pastiera is the most famous Neapolitan Easter traditional pastry. Prepared since centuries, in the region of Campania almost every family own his special Pastiera recipe. It's a pie crust with a filling of boiled grains (grano cotto), milk, ricotta, candied fruits (cedro, zucca e arancia candita), orange blossoms water (acqua di fiori d'arancio). The  Pastiera is so famous to deserve its own website: www.pastiera.com, I have got Pastiera from the Italian bakeries since I was a child.... and now I've finally baked it myself, a few times, trying to get the good recipe.... finally I think I got it! This  is my own Pstiera recipe: the crust is the one I use for crust pies in general, the traditional recipe uses lard I prefer to use butter, you can use what you like. The canned cooked grains are a must, you will normally find it in the italian grocery stores, as w...

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine I'm just back from Italy where Carnival is everywhere, in the streets,  in the bakeries and food stores. Carnival in Italy means colours and fun.... but also a very large choice of desserts, every region has his owns:  Le Chiacchiere also called Bugie or Frappe, Le Zeppole di san Giuseppe, Le Castagnole (see recipe here ), Le Graffe napoletane(see recipe here ). Today I want to share with you a fantastic Carnival fritters recipe I found in the Italian food magazine Sale&Pepe . Very different from the Italian traditional fritters, this one has a soft heart of abricot and ginger, a taste of lime.....It's really a special one but so nice and easy to prepare. A Carnival dessert recipe  to try out if you have a little time, your children and friends will love it! Enjoy and have a very funny Carnival! Makes 15 - 20 fritters Ingredients: 200gr dried ap...

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine How to describe the taste of these fried Italian Canival donuts?...Le frittelle di Carnevale also called "Graffe" in Naple.... They remind me my chilhood, the taste, the sugar sticking on your fingers and around your lips when you eat them.... I was looking for the perfect recipe ... after several trials I must say that this one is very close to perfection...my ciambelle fritte tasted just like the ones I used to buy in the Italian bakkery!!! The dought of these fried donuts can also be used to make the Italian "Bomboloni alla crema" also called "Bombe fritte"....but we will talk about this another time ;) Makes about 15 Carnival fried donuts Ingredients: 500 gr strong flour (I used the one for Italian pizza) 1 and half cup of lukewarm full fat milk 50gr of fresh yeast 1 medium boiled, peeled and smashed potato The grated peel of 1 large orga...

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine Cantucci or cantuccini are italian biscuits originally from Prato, near Florence. Loved by Italy’s famed cookbook writer Pellegrino Artusi and by a visiting Hermann Hesse, cantuccini are usually enjoyed as after dinner, dipped into a glass of Vinsanto, but why not also for breakfast or tea time? Making cantucci is not difficult but it takes some time as they are cooked twice. Here is my recipie to make very crunchy but not hard-to-eat cantucci. Enjoy it!! Ingredients: 500gr flour 100gr butter 4 eggs 1 egg yolk 250gr unpeeled amandels 4gr baking powder 250gr granulated sugar A pinch of salt 1 egg yolk and 1 tbs of milk for the glaze Instructions: 1) Prepare the amandels: Pre heat your oven on 180C° (350F°) when ready, place the amandel in a large oven tray and roast for 4-5 minutes. When roasted, place the amandel apart to cool. 2) Prepare the cantucci mixture:...

 Here is an an exception to the Italian cuisine..... as the Key lime pie is one of my favourite dessert ever! What to say about the key lime pie? For those who don't know it yet...  Key lime pie is an American dessert made of key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk in a pie crust. Is the official pie of the state of Florida, named after the little Key lime very common in Florida, more tart and aromatic than the common "Persian limes". Of course in Europe is impossible to find key limes... I always use common limes but the result is not bad.... for the topping we have two options: wipped cream or meringue...I prefer the first option. Ingredients: - For the crust: 1 1/4 cups graham cracker (US) or digestive biscuits (EU) crumbs  2 tablespoons sugar 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted - For the filling:  1  can sweetened condensed milk (Nestlé) 4 large egg yolks 3/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 4-5 limes) The grated peel of 1 li...

Finally here is my Italian version of the famous american cheese cake! Ricotta and mascarpone replace the original Philadephia cheese....the rest is almost the same. The crust is made with the traditional American Graham crackers got from my dear friend Bernice just back from the US ;) Thank you Bernie, the cake was so good!! The soft fruits are from my garden....in this season the back of the garden is coloured of these delicious little fruits every evening I can get one full cup at least. Enjoy this recipe...you will love it! Serving 10-12 Ingredients: 200gr "Graham" Crackers or "Digestive" biscuits or "Petit burre cereals" 120gr  melted butter 250gr italian ricottacheese 250 gr Italian mascarpone cheese 4 medium eggs 180gr white granulated sugar For the soft fruit jam 3 full cups of mixed soft fruits 4 Tbs white granulated sugar Instructions: Preheat your oven on 175C°.  Place the graham carckers (or other biscuits) into a mixer a...