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Showing posts from March, 2012

Croissants with apricot jam filling (cornetti alla marmellata di albicocche)

These croissants briochés with apricot jam filling are perfect for the traditional Italian breakfast: Cornetto e Cappuccino ! WOOOW I feel back in Italy already! Freshly baked they are delicious and the good baking smell will go all over your house...so what are you waiting to bake your own cornetti? The basic dough is the same of the French braided brioche Ingredients: 1French brioche dough  see recipe here 1 cup of apricot jam 1 beaten egg for the glaze 1 tbs of milt for the glaze few tbs of pearl sugar for decoration Instructions: With a rolling pin start to roll out your brioche dough till you get a large circle. Try the get a perfect circle like the one above. Cut the circle in 16 triangles. Make a small cut at the base of the triangle. Fill with a teaspoon of jam. Roll the croissant starting from the large base. Roll all the croissants.  Place them on an oven tray with parchment paper and make them rest for one hour. In the me...

Mini bites with Salame Aquilano and focaccia (Bocconcini con salame aquilano e focaccia)

This delicious salami bites are so easy to make....the secret is the italian Salami: " Salame schiacciato aquilano" from the Abruzzi... an excellent product made in Torano (Italy) . Of course you can use any other traditional italian salami instead. Perfect for your parties and "Aperitivi" ;) Ingredients: 1 piece of simple focaccia 8 cherry tomatoes 1 cup of creamy cheese with herbs 1 spring onion few drops of extra virgin olive oil Cut the focaccia in half (lenghtside). Cut each half in small rectangles. Cover each rectangle with the layer of cream cheese. Cut the salami in slides. Place the salami on the cheese, finish with a cherry tomato and a ring of spring onion fix with a wooden stick. Place in a serving plate and pour few drops of olive oil on the top. Buon appetito!

Pizza with Porcini mushrooms (Pizza ai funghi porcini)

Probably one of my favourite Pizzas. Funghi Porcini are so tasteful...we do not need any other ingredient  to be added on this pizza...except mozzarella of course and if you like a taste of white trufle oil (olio al tartufo bianco). Una delizia! Enjoy! For the dough and the cooking method please see the basic pizza making instructions here For 1 round pizza Ingredients: 1 ball of pizza dough follow recipe here:  how to make a great pizza at home 2 medium fresh Porcini or a small package of frozen Porcini 1 medium mozzarella Few basilic leaves 2 tbs Extra virgin olive oil half garlic clove chopped 1 teaspoon of finely cut parsley White Truffle oil (optional) Instructions: Preheat your oven 230-250C°. Pour the olive oil in a frying pan, add the chopped garlic, cook on medium heat till golden, add the Porcini, cook for few minutes, add the finely cut parsley and salt to taste. Keep aside. Place the pizza dough ball on  floured worktop, roll it ...

Torta Mimosa (Mimosa cake)

In Italy  the 8th of March, La Festa della Donna (Women's Day) is celebrated with bouquets of yellow mimosas. Mimosa cakes are also baked and can be found every Italian bakery. The Mimosa cake I propose here is filled with Chantilly cream and fresh ananas covered  with sponge cake crumbs as by tradition. Decoration is up on you. I use powdered sugar, hard sugar roses and leaves ;) Even if this recipe can be difficult for beginners, I can tell you that it is not as difficult as it seems, the most difficult part is to make the sponge cake, which you could also buy already prepared in some bakeries or grocery shops! Serves 10-12 ingredients: 1 sponge cake see recipe here   - for the filling: 1 portion of Italian Pastry cream see recipe here 500ml of 35% fat cream (to whip) 1 fresh ananas or 1 can of canned chopped ananas in syroup  - for the: "Bagna" (the syroup)  2 cups of water (or 2 cups of ananas syroup) 1 cup of...

How to make a Sponge Cake (Come preparare il Pan di Spagna)

S ponge cake serves as the basis for many types of layered cake and  desserts. In Italy is mainly used for birthday cakes, Mimosa cake, pastry and many others desserts. NB: This is just one of the many existing methods to make a sponge cake. Serves 10-12 ingredients:   8 eggs, separated to whites and yolks 250g sugar   250g flour   1 tsp vanilla extract A little butter and flour for the cake pan 10-15gr baking powder for sponge cakes (optional)  Instructions: - Preheat your oven to 180°C, 350°F. - Place the egg yolks into the mixer and mix them on a high speed until creamy. After a minute, add about 2 tbsp of sugar. Continue to mix for a few minutes more until the mixture becomes thicker.  Add the vanilla extract. Keep mixing until the mixture double the size. Now turn off the machine and transfer the egg yolks to a separate bowl. - Whip the egg whites. Place the whites into the clean mixer bowl....