Archive for the 'desserts' Category

Vegan chocolate and banana tea loaf

Published by Lucina, on 31 dicembre 2017 in cakes, desserts, English Recipes and healthy eating. 3 Comments Tags: , , .
banana and chocolate tea lof

banana and chocolate tea lof

One of my main guests over the Christmas hols was my eldest son, ex vegetarian recently turned vegan. ARGHHHH! I have got to say , much as I respect vegans, they aren’t the easiest people to cater for. Plus, although a vegetarian myself, I simply love eggs and dairy products ( I couldn’t live without my beloved parmigiano) and use them a lot in my everyday cooking. So I sheepishly asked him whether as a Christmas present he might entertain the idea of reverting back to vegetarianism  for a few days (just to make my life easier?), but the answer was NO (“nice try, mum!!”). That left me with one of 2 choices: cooking separate meals or going vegan for the duration of his stay. I plumped for the second option as I didn’t fancy cooking two different dishes at every meal. I am not that much of a masochist.  Vegan we temporarily became then and you’ll be pleased to hear I survived the eggs and dairy embargo relatively unscathed (not sure about my intestines, but that’s a different story and one you won’t want to hear). Continue reading ‘Vegan chocolate and banana tea loaf’

Banoffee pie

Published by Lucina, on 28 gennaio 2017 in desserts and English Recipes. 0 Comments
banoffee pie

banoffee pie

This is another classic dessert very much liked by my family, especially my oldest son who always asks me to make it when he visits. I don’t know why I haven’t blogged it yet. It is easy to assemble, it doesn’t require any cooking and can be made in advance. The only problem with it is that it is laden with calories. ARGH! Still, once in a while it won’t kill anyone.   Plus with all the running I am doing now (I’m in the middle of the excellent From couch to 5K programme to ease people into running. Brill!) I deserve some cake, now and again. 😉 I can’t remember who gave me the original recipe but this is the one I’ve been using for many years. Success guaranteed! Continue reading ‘Banoffee pie’

Lemon meringue pie: my atonement

Published by Lucina, on 13 novembre 2016 in desserts and English Recipes. 0 Comments
lemon meringue pie as it should be

lemon meringue pie as it should be

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Yes, my dear friends, I was really peeved at my disastrous attempt at making this classic dessert last time I blogged so I had another go. This time I decided to make 6 individual little tarts rather than a large one, which I was very pleased with. As you can see from the pics  this time the experiment was successful. No offending liquid oozed out nor were there any soggy bottoms in sight when I cut the tarts.  Success! Tomik the cat was clearly happy, unlike the last time. :-) Obviously I made sure the custardy mixture was dense before I poured it in the pastry cases. I also  made a couple of other changes: I thought the Mary Berry’s recipe for the shortcrust pastry was a bit too rich (and far too soft) so I changed the proportions: I used half butter to flour, put only an egg yolk rather than the whole egg, a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar and enough cold water to bind it. It was much better and didn’t shrink as much when I baked it blind.

Lemon meringue pie: a misdemeanour

Published by Lucina, on 30 ottobre 2016 in cakes, desserts and English Recipes. 0 Comments
lemon meringue pie: a misdemeanour

lemon meringue pie: a misdemeanour

I had been meaning to make a lemon meringue pie for a long LONG while. It is, after all, a classic dessert here in the UK and one I really like. Inspired by one of the episodes in the Great British Bake off , I decided to have a go. Oh dear, oh dear! DISASTER! My creation would have come bottom of the pack in the Bake off competition by a mile and would have raised a few incredulous eyebrows. How Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry would have laughed!  To look at it ( see picture at the bottom) it wasn’t all that bad but once you cut into it  liquid started oozing out. ARGH! What an almighty mess! I know where I went wrong. I failed to cook the lemony custard that went inside beforehand thinking that it would solidify while cooking in the oven. WRONG! Ironically I used a Mary Berry’s recipe but clearly didn’t follow the instructions properly. Oh well! Back to the drawing board. On the plus side: it actually didn’t taste that bad and the meringue at the top was spot on, despite my reservations. At least it didn’t end up in the bin! Another thing I will do next time round: I will trim the pastry at the top AFTER I have baked it blind. I did notice that that’s what the Bake off contestants were doing but failed to learn by their examples. As a result it shrunk too much. I really didn’t do myself proud with this one. SORRY! :-( But, as the blog demands, I have to share the failures, not just the successes! Continue reading ‘Lemon meringue pie: a misdemeanour’

La “torta appiccicosa” ai lamponi: ovvero un fondant alla svedese (Kladdkaka)

Published by Candida, on 20 agosto 2016 in Cucina regionale, desserts, Dolci, Ricette in Italiano and teatime. 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

IMG-20160820-WA0002Ecco qua a cosa serve mandare i figli a studiare all’estero. Una tortina svedese di Laura: la Kladdkaka. Continue reading ‘La “torta appiccicosa” ai lamponi: ovvero un fondant alla svedese (Kladdkaka)’

Pere cotte nel tè al cardamomo e salsa di cioccolato

Published by Candida, on 17 aprile 2016 in Chiacchiere/Chatting, desserts, Dolci and Ricette in Italiano. 1 Comment Tags: , .

20160417_111623_Richtone(HDR)Un dolcetto veloce per far fuori le pere che languono nel frigorifero. Le tradizionali pere al cioccolato che ho cotto nel tè col cardamomo,  invece che nell’acqua e zucchero, per cambiare un po’. Continue reading ‘Pere cotte nel tè al cardamomo e salsa di cioccolato’

Bunet

Published by Lucina, on 5 aprile 2016 in desserts, Dolci and English Recipes. 1 Comment
bunet

bunet

What a peculiar name, isn’t it? Well…in actual fact the name is not even Italian but comes from the Piedmont region of Italy. This is a well known, traditional dessert that they make over there. My parents  are both from Turin, the regional capital of Piemonte, so I thought it would be a good idea to blog it and rediscover my roots, so to speak. Candida has already blogged it, but in Italian, under the name of budinasso. My ingredients are slightly different, albeit the no faff preparation comes from her. There are many different recipes out there. I kind of had a look and did a medley. But, silly me,  I haven’t yet explained what a bunet is. Essentially it’s a big creme caramel enriched with amaretto biscuits, cocoa powder and a bit of liqueur. It’s utterly delicious and dead simple to make. Also not too rich, which I like. I’ve already made it twice since Easter (one was made FOR Easter). The truth is that when I made it the first time round  I had a minor misdemeanour as I totally burnt the caramel (you basically have to watch it like a hawk. One second is golden and ready, the next burnt and fit for the bin!). I had to start over. Anyway, once I mastered the caramel making the rest was a synch. The good thing about it is that you can make it well in advance, as it has to rest in the fridge for a good few hours before being served. In fact you can easily make it the day before you need it. Continue reading ‘Bunet’