Christmas Time! Italian Pandoro Cake

Ingredients

1 Pandoro

250ml fresh cream
50g icing sugar
1 vanilla bean
40g chocolate chips

 

To garnish:

icing sugar

powdered chocolate

coloured grains of sugar

Start to cut horizontally pandoro so it has a star-shape, slices will be 4/5 cm high.

Pour the cream into a bowl, then cut the vanilla bean along its length and remove from inside the small seeds blacks and add bean and seeds to the cream, close the bowl with a lid and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, strain the cream with a piece of linen or cotton, then pour into bowl whit high rims.

Whip the fresh cream until stiff peaks are just about to form gradually add the icing sugar, then add chocolate chips.

Use this cream to fill pandoro cake, garnish with chocolate and coloured grains of sugar.

Tuscan Cantuccini Biscuits with chocolate

 

Traditional Tuscan biscuits, Cantuccini are the most famous cookies in this region. You should try this recipe, fast and easy.

 

Ingredients

500 g. flour
250g. sugar
200g. butter
1 egg
3 yolk eggs
a sprinkle of salt
200g. chocolate in pieces

Mix all ingredients except for the almonds, knead until smooth and soft. In the meantime toast in the oven almonds and let it cool, then add in the dough, knead and put in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Prepare sticks like fingers and cook in preheated oven to 180° until golden.
Take out from the oven and let it cool, then slice in the classic shape of cantuccini and place again in the oven for 5 minutes, so they will be more crisp.
Cantuccini will be tender, ideal with vinsanto or with a simple sweet cream.

Spicy Apple Pie

Spicy Apple pie

180g flour
150g melted butter
3 eggs
150g sugar
1 tabsp baking powder
70g chopped toasted hazelnuts
2 apples
1 tbsp of nutmeg
1 tbsp of cinnamon



Preheat the oven to 180 °.
Mix the eggs with the sugar, add the flour, baking powder and melted butter, continue to mix .Add chopped hazelnuts and spices.
Pour into a mold and arrange above the sapples finely sliced. Bake for 40 minutes, served with powdered sugar .

le cuoche piperite: Cantuccini Toscani-Tuscan Cantuccini Almonds Biscu...

le cuoche piperite: Cantuccini Toscani-Tuscan Cantuccini Almonds Biscu...:     Cantuccini are the most famous biscotti in Tuscany,  we use to eat as after dinner cake, dipped into vinsanto dessert wine .  T...

Cantuccini Toscani - Tuscan Cantuccini Almonds Biscuits

 

 

Cantuccini are the most famous biscotti in Tuscany, we use to eat as after dinner cake, dipped into vinsanto dessert wine.  They are equally good with espresso. The classic recipe is with almonds but there are new flavours, perhaps the most popular of which is chocolate chips, anyway I prefer classic taste with almonds or with hazelnuts.

What is particular of this recipe: you will cook the biscuits twice, batter is made in one long slab, rolled and baked once, then cut into individual cookies and baked a second time for few minutes.I like to have a breakfast with canutccini!

 

Ingredients

250g. sugar
250g. flour "00"
2 eggs
50g. butter
100g. almonds with peel ( or hazelnuts)
lemon zest ( of 1 lemon)

Begin stirring eggs with sugar, add butter, almonds, flour and lemon zest. Work the dough in a ball with your hands,knead until smooth. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, then divide the batter in 2 parts and roll out it and make a long slab. Bake for 20/25 min in preheated oven to 200°, take out the cake and cut into single cookies and bake again for 1/2 minutes.
let it cool, ideal with Vinsanto or Aleatico Passito dessert wine.
 

 

 

Sweet Breakfast - Coconut Plum Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A perfect awakening for me is a delicious breakfast, I can't resist, a flavour plum cake and a cappuccino ...

 

 

 

Ingredients  

100g. butter

100g. icing sugar

2 egg yolks

1 egg

80g. flour 00

30g potato starch

100g grated coconut

Half sachet cake yeast

 

 

Preheat the oven at 180°. Whisk melted butter with sugar , gradually add eggs and mix thoroughly Add the flour mixed with potato starch, baking powder and finally the coconut.
Stir well to mix all ingredients and fill with the mixture one cake mould.
Bake for about 40 minutes, let it cool. Ideal for breakfast, anyway but you can serves the plum cake for dessert with a vanilla cream.

Ricotta Tart

 

 

Ricotta is the most common cheese used in Maremma Toscana, with this ingredient here we prepare a lot of recipes, Ricotta Tart is very usual and you can find it in all food shop.

 

 

 

Ingredients

250g shortcrust pastry (see basic recipe )
400g ricotta cheese cow
200g sugar
70g. dark chocolate in pieces
 lemon zest
1 egg
1 egg yolk

Prepare the pastry according to the basic recipe and let it rest in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix with electric whisk the ricotta with sugar until soft and creamy. Add the chocolate, lemon zest and eggs. Mix well everything. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, roll out the dough and cover a 24cm baking tin.  With the pastry left over, make few strips that you will use for decoration, to garnish top of the tart. Spread the cheese cream across the pastry and place the strips. Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool and serve cold or at room temperature.

Ciambellone alle Mele

 

Traditional Italian cake, perfect for breakfast with milk or coffee, but it's nice also at the end of the meal with a dessert wine. This recipe has been adapted to the traditions of Tuscany, because instead of butter you will find extra virgin olive oil, that is very common in many Tuscan cakes recipes.

 

 

Ingredients

 

3 big apples

1 lemon juice

300g. sugar

300g flour "00"

200g olive oil

3 eggs

125g. milk

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 sachet vanilla

1 sachet cake yeast

icing sugar

 

Preheat the oven at 180°, peel and slice ​​apples, cover with lemon juice.

Beat sugar with oil for a few minutes, add the eggs and continue to work until the mixture is puffy. Pour the sifted flour with baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla and milk.
Beat until the mixture is creamy. Grease with butter and flour the ring mold, spread few tbs of mixture and cover with apple slices drained from lemon juice, repeat with the second layer, then cover with a third layer of dough and cover with apples, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Cook for about 50 minutes, before removing from the oven do the toothpick test (if it is still wet cook until it is completely dry).
Serve warm with cream or ice cream, ideal with a dessert wine as Aleatico passito.

 

Pasta frolla recipe (italian shortcrust pastry)

 

This is one of basic Italian recipe that you can use to prepare few cakes, biscuits and jam tart. In Italy is one of the most used recipe.

Ingredients

 

250g butter

250g sugar

2 eggs

500g flour 00
 

In a large bowl beat the eggs with sugar using a fork or a whisk, add pieces of butter. Start to use your hands and knead continuously, the heat of  your hands will allow to melt the butter. Stir in flour and continue to work into dough until you will get a  compact pat. Cover with a plastic wrap and let it rest for 1 hour.