posted by Giorgia on Mar 1
Mix all the ingredients, add grape and bake at 180C (350F) for 1-1.5 hrs. Very easy and quick to make, an optimal solution to finish sour grapes!
posted by Giorgia on Jan 4
Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in orange juice, orange peel, oil and egg. Mix until well blended. Stir in cranberries and nuts. Spread evenly in loaf pan.
Bake in the oven preheated at 180C (350F) for 1hr or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Recipe from: www.oceanspray.com
An idea:
Try this bread with goat cheese and parsley spread (bagnetto verde). It’s a delicious combination of different flavours!
posted by Giorgia on Dec 26
Since I tried this recipe for the first time, I alway look for a reason to use it! They really puff high and remain empty inside, ready to be filled with whatever comes to your mind! They are great to make sweet treats or inviting savory appetizers.
Bring the water with butter and salt to boil. Add flour at once and mix with a whisk keeping the stove on low heat until the dough detaches from the sides of the pot. Let it cool down. Add one egg at the time until well incorporated.
Using a spoon or a pastry bag distribute the dough on parchment paper in golf-ball size or cherry size mounds (for sweet pastry, like profiteroles, I prefer making small puffs; for savory appetizers I make them larger) leaving some space around each one. Bake in preheated oven at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes or until well-risen and golden brown (don’t be tempted to open the oven before 30 minutes have passed!). Let them cool down.
Slice the top with a sharp knife and fill them in with your favorite filling: i.e.:
for sweet pastry: chocolate cream, or custard, or whipped cream….; for savory appetizers: cheese fondue (like the ones in the picture), or ham mousse, or cream cheese and salmon….
posted by Giorgia on Nov 24
This is a great cake for parties, birthdays of even as end of dinner dessert, since it is soft and creamy, but light and refreshing because of the pineapple. I made it recently and it was a success, so that I got asked to post the receipt, and here it is!
I recently got a thermomixer as a Christmas present from my parents. I used that to make every layer of the cake, but everything can be easily made with standard pots and stove! Here is the recipe.
Sponge base:
Custard:
For the rest of the cake:
Prepare the sponge base of the cake: whisk the egg whites until firm. Beat the yolks with sugar, add water, flour, salt and backing powder. Gently incorporate the whites. Bake in a 26cm pan at 160C (325F)
Prepare the custard: in a pot beat the eggs with sugar. Add flour and milk. You can add some lemon crest or vanilla flavor. Cook on the stove at medium heat until it boils and becomes more dense. Transfer it in a bowl to cool down and cover it with plastic wrap adherent to the custard and the walls of the bowl (the air would create a film on the surface of the custard, but the plastic wrap prevents it to form). This custard is very light; if you prefer a firmer and tastier one, use the recipe that I wrote here.
Assemble the cake: Cut out the top of the sponge base (about 1 cm thick: it depends how high you want the cake to be!) and set it aside. Use the pineapple juice in the can to soak the sponge base. If you don’t like too sweet cakes, you could add also some lemon juice. Evenly distribute the pineapple cubes on the surface of the cake, then cover with the custard. Whip the cream (you can sweeten it by adding a couple of spoons of powder sugar). Cover the custard layer with the whipped cream. Grossly grind the top of the sponge base that was previously cut out and spread it over the cream layer giving the cake the look of the mimosa flower!
Keep it in the fridge or eat immediately!
posted by Giorgia on Oct 4
Mix everything together (except the chocolate) and make small cherry size balls. Bake on parchment paper at 150C (300F) for 15 minutes.
When still warm add some melted chocolate to glue two cookies together and let them cool down.
This recipe is easy and the biscuit mix is ready really quickly. It takes some time, though, to make all the little balls.
posted by Giorgia on Oct 4
Separate egg yolks from whites. Beat the yolks with sugar until light yellow. Add milk to help incorporating the flour. Whip the cream and, separately, whisk the egg whites. Add baking soda and mix well. Add coconut flakes and finally the whipped cream and the whisked whites. Pour in a 25cm pan, distribute some sliced almonds on the surface and bake at 350F (180C) for 1 hour.
With these amounts I made the cake in the picture and 6 muffins. If you use the whole batter the cake will raise more. You can cut it in half and spread some Nutella (=melted chocolate) in between. You could also skip the almonds and cover the top of the baked cake with Nutella and more coconut flakes or powder sugar.
Milk and cream make the cake very soft so it is perfect as coffee cake. Enjoy!
posted by Giorgia on May 31
This recipe is a traditional sauce used in the region where I come from (Piemonte). It is delicious on bread, with cheese, as I present it here, with meat, with boiled eggs… It is very simple, a bit heavy if you add lots of garlic.
Blend parley and garlic very finely by hand with a sharp knife. Add salt and a lot of olive oil. Soak some soft bread crumb with red vinegar and mesh it together with the parsley. Mix everything very well. Do not eat it immediately. Keep it refrigerated for some hours to let all flavors mix well together.
posted by Giorgia on May 31
In March my second niece was born and, as for her sister, I wanted to knit something for her too. After two years of small knitting projects I decided to shoot for something more challenging. This is my gift for her (the pink one, of course!). Anogther boy is coming to life in these days, so I repeated myself by knitting the blue one for Simona’s son: Congratulations, Simo!
BACK
Cast on 53 sts on 4 mm (U.S. 6)
These 4 rows form MOSS PATTERN:
Row 1-4 20x + Row 1-3 (tot 83 rows -> ~ 24 cm (9.5 in) long
Shoulder shaping:
RIGHT FRONT (for girls, LEFT for boys)
Cast on 25 sts
MOSS PATTERN as for back, but unly 72 rows in total (11 less than back) = Row 1-4 18x
Neck shaping:
Shoulder shaping:
LEFT FRONT (for girls, RIGHT for boys)
Cast on 31 sts
MOSS PATTERN as for back, but unly 71 rows in total (12 less than back) = Row 1-4 17x + Row 1-3
Neck shaping:
Shoulder shaping:
SLEEVE
Cast on 31 sts on 4 double pointed needles (#6)
MOSS PATTERN:
HOOD
Cast on 95 sts on regular needles
BUTTONLOOPS
Cast on 20 sts with white yarn and cast off knitwise.
BUTTONS
Cast on 5 sts on double pointed needle and knit 5 rows as for a I-cord
Cast off on the 6th row
FINISHING
Sew shoulder seams. Sew in Sleeves, and Back and the two Fronts together. Fold Hood in half and sew cast off esges from markers. Sew Hood in position around neck edge. Sew in Bottonloops and Bottons.
posted by Giorgia on Jan 25
Pastry dough:
Custard:
Prepare the Pastry dough by mixing all the ingredients either with tips of fingers or with a pastry blender until well blended and smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge for at least 30 min.
In the meantime, prepare the Custard as described here.
Use 2/3 of the dough for the crust: roll the pastry to a 1cm thick sheet and cover the bottom and the side of a 25cm pan. Fill it with the Custard. Roll the rest of the dough and use it to cover the cake and close the edges. I usually roll the dough on a piece of waxed paper at least as big as the cake I want to cover, then I flip it on the cake and remove the wax paper. In this way the top will look perfect! Brush the top with a beaten egg.
Bake in the oven at 350F for 1 hr or until the crust turns golden.
It is delicious both cold and warm!
Origin: Puglia, Italy
posted by Giorgia on Jan 25
Beat the eggs together with 4 tbsp sugar and add the ground amaretti biscuits and cocoa powder. Add warm milk little at the time. Put the rest of sugar in a pan with some water on the stove and make caramel: when the sugar turns golden brown transfer it into a a small pot (oven proof) previously kept warm in the oven. Add on top the pudding mix and place the small pot inside a bigger one containing some water (double-boiling, bain-marie). Cook it in the oven at 150C (300F) for 1-1,5 hrs until a wooden stick inserted in the pudding comes out dry. The pudding looks still fluid when warm, but if let to cool down it will become solid. Mix the ingredient very well, otherwise you’ll get the layered result shown in the picture!
Origin: Piemonte, Italy