My Italian Cuisine

After a long absence here I am again with a bread recipe that's super easy and very tasty, the best for your summer garden party or BBQ. Focaccine are usually filled with Parma ham and cheese or tomatoes and mozzarella or... whatever you like! You can also add herbs to give additional flavour, I like to sprinlkle fresh rosemary (from my herbs garden) on the top! But now...let's start! Makes 8-10 focaccine Ingredients: 250 gr. white bread flour (organic) 200 gr 100% whole wheat flour (organic) 200gr water 5 gr dry yeast 10 gr salt 4 Tbsp of Extra virgin olive oil a little fresh or dried rosemary and corse salt  Instructions: 1. Mix the 2 flours, add the dry yeast and the salt. 2. Add the olive oil and the water, start to mix with your hands. Make a ball out of the dough. 3. Flour your worktop and knead the dough for about 15 minutes, till it gets soft and even (you also use a kitchen robot to knead, in this case mix 10 min. speed one or 2 using the hook). 4...

The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine Another Easter recipe! In Italy we use to eat these brioches on Easter morning for the traditional Easter breakfast: "la colazione di Pasqua". They are easy to prepare you can even make them with your kids, they will have fun shaping the bunnies and coloring the eggs. In my case I have just used a natural colorant, the onion peels, to get the red/brown, but you can use a variety of other natural coloring methods and suggestions, visit this web page for more info on natural egg coloring. The dough is the classic French brioche dough that you can find in my older French braided brioche post here . The shaping is very simple, just place a boiled egg in the middle of a rolled piece of dough and shape the bunny, like a simple braid... Makes 6 small brioches Ingredients: For the brioche dough see ingredients and method here You need 1 dose of dough or more if you want to p...

- First of all, what is this bubbling blob? ... "Sourdough starter is a stable symbiotic culture of wild yeasts and bacteria. The yeasts break down starches into sugars, which the bacteria eat. The bacteria, on the other hand, create an acidic environment that kills off competitors to the yeasts. The yeasts were almost certainly already living on the grains when they were out in the field. As for the bacteria, that’s a trickier question, but the consensus seems to be that they come from us – studies have failed to isolate Lactobacillus Sanfranciscensis anywhere except in long-lived sourdough starters and on human teeth. The individual mix of yeasts and bacteria varies from starter to starter, and region to region. It’s part of their charm; every starter is unique, and produces bread that tastes somewhat different from those produced with other starters" Sourdough starters work more slowly than commercial yeasts, which are much more concentrated. A sourdou...

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine It's time for a sweet weekend breakfast ... baked donuts and pastry made the Italian way with a potato dough with olive oil. In general you can replace butter with olive oil in almost every baked product (not possible with puff pastry and shortbread where butter/margarine are mandatory) the rule is simple: replace the given amount  of butter with 2/3 amont of olive oil (or any other vegetable oil) example: if your given amount of butter is 150gr you can replace it with 100gr of oil. Well...now it's time to start baking.... Makes about 20 small donuts or 10 large    1 egg 1 boiled mashed medium potato 230ml lukewarm milk 80gr sugar 500gr AP flour 11gr (one sachet) of dry yeast or 25 of fresh yeast 65gr olive oil 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract  1 pinch of salt Apricot jam for the brioche filling Chocolate topping:  200gr ...

 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 Hello and Happy Easter to everybody! New year new version of my Easter bread: Easter rolls with coloured eggs! The sun  is shining and  it's time to dress our tables with garden colours.  Just to give a funny touch to my Easter table this time I shaped two different breads: a flower and a kind of bunny..... the dough is always the same (see recipe here ), then just shaped it differently ;) Makes about 12 bread rolls Ingredients: 500 gr Flour (55 type or another strong bread flour mix) 160ml water 40ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 Wipped Eggs 1 teaspoon dried yeast 1 Tbs Sugar 1 Tbs Salt 1 Wipped Egg (for glazing) 2 Tbs Sesame Seeds (for decoration) 2 Tbs Poppy seeds or other(for decoration) Method : Place the ingredients in the bread machine (dough program) or in a food processor, or Kitchenaid, mix, let it rise for 2 hours. After 2 hours, ...

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine Happy Easter to everybody! To celebrate I want to propose a fantastic soft bread recipe, the Italian Ester Bread with coloured eggs: Il pane di Pasqua or Pizza di Pasqua. I use to make it for the Italian "Pranzo di Pasqua" the traditional Ester family lunch on the Ester Sunday. You can use coloured eggs or normal boiled eggs. The dough is the same I use for the Poppy Seeds and Sesame Bread you need one dose for one Easter bread. Enjoy preparing this funny bread and share it with your family and friends! Easter bread with coloured eggs ;) .... and with normal eggs ;) Ingredients for 1 bread: 1 dose of dough for Poppy Seeds and Sesame Bread 6 coloured boiled eggs (or boiled normal eggs) 1 beaten egg for the glaze 1 tbs milk 2 tbs sesam seeds Instructions: Prepare your dough as for the Poppy Seeds and Sesame Bread. Once ready, preheat the oven on ...

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...

I love brioches of all kind...I know... they are not always easy to make. This is one of the most soft, tasty and easy to make I have ever tried. I use a bread machine to mix and knead the dough but you can also mix and knead by hands...of course it will take you some more energies and time ;)  Ingredients: 250 bread type flour 250 Manitoba flour 11 gr dry yeast (or 25 fresh) 2 eggs 150ml Milk 120gr white sugar 1 pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) 80gr Butter For glaze: 1 egg yolk 1 tbs milk 2 tbs pearl sugar  (for decoration) Mix The flour, the sugar, the salt and the 2 eggs in the bread machine, start the "dough" programm. Mix the milk with the dry yeast, warm up just a litlle, add the butter, melt all. Do not heat too much! Mixture must be just warmish! Ad the milk mixture slowly to the flour mixture while the machine is turning....Close the bread machine and make it go until the dough programm is over. At the end of the progra...

This is a very easy and quick way to bake your own bread, for breakfast, special occasions or if you just want to impress your guests. I use a bread machine just to mix and  knead the dough, which is the easier and faster way to do it. If you do not have one, you can do it by hands. It will take you some more energies and time but the result will be the same. Makes about 14 small breads Ingredients: 500 gr Flour (55 type or another strong bread flour mix) 160ml water 40ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 Wipped Eggs 1 teaspoon dried yeast 1 Tbs Sugar 1 Tbs Salt 1 Wipped Egg (for glazing) 2 Tbs Sesame Seeds (for decoration) 2 Tbs Poppy seeds (for decoration) Add all the ingredients in the bread machine in the following order: Water, salt, flour, sugar, yeast, oil, 2 eggs (wipped). Start the Dough programm and let it go till the end (about 1 and half hour). If you don't have a bread machine, add all the ingredients in the same given order in a mixing bowl and mix it wi...