Cucina e altro
Ho voluto vedere se si può usare la farina di farro per fare le torte, non solo un pochino, ma proprio tutta di farro. E così ho usato una ricetta che mi ispirava e l’ho coniugata al farro. Grazie quindi a Rossella di Vaniglia che ha postato questa torta della sua mamma. Ecco qua la mia versione farrOginosa. Funziona.
PS. Oggi a casa nostra è il giorno dei compleanni: marito/figlio/sorella in un colpo solo. Questo, infatti, è un post programmato. Io sono in cucina per le torte!
chocolate and pear pudding
As Candi blogged a pear and chocolate conserve a few weeks back I’ve decided to follow suit with a chocolate and pear pudding. As she has already mentioned, and rightly so, the combination of pears and chocolate is simply divine. I’ve made this pudding several times already and it’s absolutely delicious. Success every time. And very simple to make too! It should be served warm with a hot chocolate sauce (see recipe at the bottom). What could be nicer on a hot winter night? I’ve used the mighty Nigella Lowson’s recipe, by the way. Candi was on a mission to try all her chocolate cakes back at the beginning of the year. Did you succeed, by the way?
blueberry cheesecake
I love cheesecakes and I have tried many different ones, using a variety of soft cheeses like mascarpone or Philadelphia. This one is particularly easy to make but it looks really professional so you could easily impress your friends if you produce one of these. It tastes even nicer the day after (you have to store it in the fridge in that case) so it’s ideal if you have people for dinner and you want to cook ahead. You can make it with other berries like raspberries or blackberries. But I love blueberries so that’s what I chose and I am now sharing with you. Strangely enough I have never seen a cheesecake on sale in Italy (I might be wrong. Do tell me if I am Candi when you get back from Russia) but they are very popular here in the UK and, may I add, in Austria and Germany where we had some delicious ones while we were there on holiday. The recipe is, once again, from Rachel Allen’s book called Bake. Continue reading ‘Baked cheesecake with blueberries’
lemon and poppyseed cake
The idea to make this particular cake came while I was in Scotland just after Easter. We rented a remote cottage for a week in the middle of nowhere and had a fabulous time walking, thanks to the glorious weather (yes, occasionally the sun shines here too!). To replenish the lost calories every day, after each walk, we treated ourselves to a slice of cake in some lovely tea room or other in the area. One of the cakes I had while I was there was one made with lemon and poppyseeds. I had never had one before but it was absolutely gorgeous. What I particularly liked about it was the tanginess of the lemon combined with the interesting, crunchy texture from the poppy seeds. When I came back I went hunting for a recipe to try and found one by Jill Dupleix which sounded good. My guinea pigs were the bunch of Italian ladies who have the misfortune (or is it a fortune? The jury is still out on that one) to live here in the UK in my same area. I invited them for lunch and presented them with this cake explaining I needed to try it out before it went on the blog (between you and me I think they are getting sick of me and my blog! :-)). Well….they loved it , and so did my husband who had what was left, so here it is. It is lovely and moist inside but it has a delicious crunchy lemon and sugar topping . Mind you: be careful to check your teeth in the mirror for any errand seeds after you have eaten it or they might think you are in need of dental treatment! Continue reading ‘Lemon and poppyseed cake’
Come nella moda quest’anno va il viola (almeno credo, o forse era l’anno scorso?), così mi pare di capire che ora le nocciole siano un ingrediente decisamente trendy. Rigorosamente piemontesi. Noccioli di tutto il mondo unitevi e dite che le nocciole sono buone anche a Morbegno! Comunque, noi non buttiamo via niente e anche i suggerimenti modaioli servono a mettere in moto il cervello. Per esempio, l’altro giorno mi trovavo ad Asti e ho mangiato un buonissimo risotto alle nocciole (grazie Gabri!), dove proprio si sentiva il loro sapore tostatino che stava benissimo. E poi è da un po’ che ho pensato che le nocciole vanno a nozze con i broccoli, solo che non mi capita spessissimo di averle sottomano, mentre i broccoli, d’inverno soprattutto, imperano.
Bando alle ciance. Questa, com’è evidente, è una torta, molto veloce da fare, soprattutto se come me si può partire dalla comoda, ma difficile da trovare, farina di nocciole. Se non l’avete, basta prendere eguale peso di nocciole sgusciate, tostarle (è importante, pochi minuti in una padella antiaderente, girando e controllando senza distrarsi, e poi frullare nel mixer che io non ho più). Continue reading ‘La nocciolata’
lemon and ricotta cake
And after the uber healthy recipe from Candi, here’s one with somewhat “naughtier” credentials. Not for people who are slimming, I am afraid. Mind you, you can’t be good ALL of the time, can you? You have to transgress on occasions. Or how boring would life be? Plus, let’s not forget, a balanced diet is a cake in both hands, as I’ve read somewhere! Ha ha. Anyway, I made this lovely cake a few days ago for yet another book group (the Italian ladies one, this time. You will have guessed by now that I LOVE reading as well as cooking) and it went down a treat! It is made with ricotta and lemons (the zest. Use untreated, unwaxed ones). It is really moist and utterly delicious. I found the recipe years ago in the BBC Good Food magazine. I have baked it many times and it has never failed me. And it’s so simple to make! If there are any girls out there wanting to impress without much of an effort try this one…. Continue reading ‘Lemon and ricotta cake’
Ecco! Spostiamoci un pochino al Nord dove c’è la mia BAMBINA. Tra un po’ è carnevale e questa torta è tradizione farla per quella festa o per i compleanni. Io l’ho preparata per i compleanni che sommergono la mia famiglia in febbraio. Quando Laura l’ha vista su Skype, ha fatto sgrunt, dalle sue parti sono alte il doppio. Ho allora corretto la pasta (che è sostanzialmente una base un po’ variata del pan di spagna). Se non siete così fortunati da avere una figlia in Svezia che vi manda il foglio di pasta di mandorle per ricoprire il tutto, dovrete farvelo da voi. In fondo metto le istruzioni. Come forse si intravede dalla foto sotto ho avuto un valido aiuto. Chi l’avrebbe mai detto? 
Commenti recenti