Walnuts Cake

"Just got back from a pleasure trip: I took my mother-in-law to the airport."

Herry Youngman

There is always a reason to say something unhappy about  your mother-in-law, but this is not that case.
I've asked her to send me her recipe for this fantastic cake and I think she is always happy when I appreciate her cakes.
I would say, I tested it for the first time and I decided to make it by my self. This is the most soft cake that you have ever tried! Believe me! It's quite impossible eat it without dirty all around... :)
I guess I will use the same recipe to test new cakes changing something here and there.

Have a look...

Walnuts cake

Ingredients

250 g butter, softened
250 g plain (all-purpose) flour
250 g caster (superfine) sugar
20 walnuts, finely chopped
16 g baking powder 
4 eggs
4 tablespoons rum (or milk if you have not rum)

Place the butter in a bowl and blend it until it become a cream, add the sugar and blend together for 5 min. Add eggs yolk one for time mixing until absorbed.
Add the rum and then the flour mixed and backing powder sifted and mixed together, slowly.
Preheat the oven at 170°C.
Beat until stiff the egg whites with a pinch of salt.
Then mix the two part and place the cake in a tin.
Cook for 30 min, let cool it down.

Taste it!

Torta di noci (la migliore mai provata)

(in Italian)
250 g burro morbido
250 g farina
250 g zucchero
20 noci tritate finemente
1 bustina di lievito
4 uova
4 cucchiai di rum
Lavorare il burro a pomata con metà dello zucchero. Nel frattempo montare gli albumi a neve con la rimanente parte dello zucchero.
Aggiungere al burro un uovo alla volta fino a completo assorbimento. Aggiungere il rum e poi gli albumi meringati delicatamente ed infine la farina setacciata con il lievito.
Da ultimo aggiungere le noci finemente tritate ed informare a forno preriscaldato a 170° C per 30 min.
Far raffreddare e spolverizzare con zucchero a velo.

Mint zucchini fritters

I'm assuming you made your fresh tomato sause with zucchini flowers, at this stage you should have a lot of little zucchini in your fridge waiting for a new recipe, so what do you think about some zucchini fritters?

As you know the zucchini with flowers are very little and have a fantastic flavor! For this reason I decided to not cook them so long because otherwise I will lose their good fresh taste that I underlined using the mint leaves, do you wanna try?

Zucchini fritters

10 little zucchini
salt
1 tablespoon Parmesan
3 tablespoon bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 tablespoon of scamorza chopped 
fresh mint leaves chopped

oil to fry (in italy, or better, in the South where I come from, we use only extravergin olive oil, anyother oil is junk, but usaull if you have to fry, using an oilseed you will have a fried food less "heavy", so I cannot suggest to you an oil, take the one that you prefer)


Cut the zucchini in little pieces. In a bowl add all the ingredients and mix.
Let cool down in the fridge (it should be relly cold when you put them down in the hot oil, in this way you will have crunchy fritters)
In a tin heat the oil, and when it's really hot put your zucchini mix using a tablespoon to give the shape.


Lets cold it down and enjoy it!

Pasta with zucchini flowers

What to do if you have: hand-made pasta from your grandmother, San Marzano tomatoes, sausages and zucchini flower?
During the summer in the south of Italy we are used to make the tomato sauce; this is a memory of my childhood when my parents woke up me in the early morning to help them to do the peeled tomato sauce, just because I had little hands usefull to push the tomatoes into the tin.
It's a lot of time we didn't do it, also because living in Milan there no reason to do it, here you can just buy it. It's something about traditions that are going to get lost.

Coming back to us, I received from my parents a lot of good ingredients from my "South", my grandmother makes a delicious pasta thus I decided to make up a new receipe with those fresh "Perini" tomatoes.

How-to:

Fresh Tomato sauce

Ingredients
Tomatoes

Basil


Put the tomatoes in a pot al let them boil until cooked. Let cool down, then peel and blend with basil. 

Pasta (Maccaronara) and Zucchini flowers

Ingredients

Fresh tomato sauce
2 sausages or 100 g minced meat
Onion
Salt
Bread crumbs
1 egg
Parmigiano Regggiano
Extravergin olive oil
Mint leaves
Chilli
10 zucchini flowers
200 g fresh maccaronara


Place in a bowl the sausages/minced meat stuffing and mix with salt, parmigiano,mint, egg and bread crumbs, like you would make a meatball.
Clean the flowers and stuff a bit with this mix, close the flower.
With the remaining meat mix, make little meat ball (you can add a bit more of bread crumbs).
In the meanwhile prepare a pan with extravergin o.o. an onion, chilli, when hot place the meatballs and the stuffed flowers.
Let cook for 15 min moving the pan every once in a while, than add 1/2 of red wine, let evaporate it.

Now add your tomato sauce, add a bit of salt and let cook.

Prepare your pasta et voilà!

Buon appetito!

                                      This recipe takes parte into the Ammodomio contest!
                                        Questa ricetta partecipa ad un anno Ammodomio!

Plum Crumble Cake

Bonjour,

after a quick trip to France, in Provence, the weather decided to bring us in autumn. Not so bad,  it's good to change so frequently even if I already start to miss the sun!
In anyway take look into the last summer fruit cake :)

From Donna Hay magazine - Feb 12

Plum Slice with Pecan Crumble (serves 8-10)

180 g butter, softned
1 cup (220 g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
2 1/2 cups (375 g) plain (all-puropose) flour, sifted
1 1/4 cup (300 g) sour cream
12 mixed plums, stones removed and quartered
2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar, extra

pecan crumble
1/4 cup (75 g) bron sugar
1 cup (125 g) pecans, roughly chopped
60 g butter, melted
1/2 cups (75 g) plain (all-puropose) flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I didn't use it)

To make the pecan crumble, place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them well to combine. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 160° (325 °F). Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.
Gradually add the eggs and beat until well combined. Add the flour, backing powder and sour cream and beat until just combined.
Spoon into a lightly greased 24x34 cm backing dish lined with non-stick backing paper. Place the pulms and extra sugar in a bowl and toss to coat. Top the cake with the plums and pecan crumble.
Bake for 1 hour or unitl cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in tin befor serving.

Have a try!

Genoese Pesto (Basil Pesto)

Are you wondering how to do a simple, fresh and quick Italian Pesto?!
OK, first of all you have to decide which pesto? There are many different Pestos in Italy and the most well-know are the Basil Pesto (named Genoese pesto) and the Sicilian (with ricotta cheese).
For this time I would show you how to make a typical Italian Genoese pesto useful to dress your pasta or any other dishes. I suggest you to try this pesto wherever simply using your creativity,  because it gives a different taste to your dishes.

Have  a look!

Ingredients

40 Fresh basil leaves

10 g Extravergin olive oil (you cannot unse any other oil)
10 g Parmesan 
10 g Pine nuts
1 tsp Salt

1 mortar (if you would make a relly italian pesto)

First of all, go to you garden and take the basil leaves, then go to your utility room and take and dust off your mortar.
You know, you cannot do a real italian pesto without the mortar. But, if you haven't yet decided to buy one I can understand and for this time you can use your mixer.
Place all the ingredients in your mortar or mixer for 5 min.
Once done, put it in your refrigerator of freeze it.

Do you have any ideas on how to use it?

Have a try!




(versión española)

Estás preguntandote como hacer un pesto italiano fresco, sencillo y rapido?!
Bien, ya has decidido que pesto quieres hacer? Ya sabes que hay diferentes pestos en italia y los mas conocidos son  lo de albaha (llamado pesto genovés) y lo siciliano (hecho con requesón).
Por esta vez quiero enseñarte como hacer un típico pesto genovés que puedes utilizár para tus platillos (pasta o otros).
Lo que te sugiero es de provar esto pesto con lo que quieras simplemente utilizando tus creatividad, porqué te vas a dar un sabor diferente a los platos.

Mirelo!

Ingredientes

40 hojas de albaha fresco

10 g aceite extravirgen (no, no y no, no pueses utilizar otros aceite)
10 g Parmesano
10 g piñónes
1  cuccharilla sal

1 mortero (si quieres hacer un verdadero pesto italiano)

Primero, vete a tomar las hojas de albaha en tu gardín, después toma el mortero en tu cuarto de servicio y limpialo.
Ya sabes, no puedes hacer unverdadero epsto italiano si no tienes un morter, pero... si no lo tienes porqué aùn no has decidido de comprarlo te puedo comprender y por esta verz puedes utiliár una batidora.

Pongas todos los ingredientes en la batidora/mortero y dejalos por 5 minutos.
Un avez hecho puedes poner to pesto en el refrigerador o, si prefieres, puedes helarlo y utilizarlo un otra vez.


Tienes otras ides some como utilizarlo? Digamelo!

Pruebalo!



(versione italiana)

Sei pronto per preparare un pesto fresco, semplice e veloce?
Se la tua idea è di rimanere sul classico, preparando un pesto genovese, senza addentrarti nei meanadri dei "pesti" italiani, puoi utilizzare un modo veloce per prepare i tuoi piatti di pasta e non in men che non si dica.
Io ti suggerisco di provare il pesto con i piatti più disparati, allontanandoti dalle tradizionali trofie con pesto patate e fagiolini, lasciando dare sfogo alla tua fantasia.

Ingredienti

40 foglie di basilico genovese
10 g EVO
10 g Parmigiano
10 g pinoli
1  cucchiaino di sale

1 mortaio

Prima di tutto, bisogna raccogliere le foglie di basilico dalla nostra cara fresca, poi ci occorre prendere il mortaio dal ripostiglio e spolverarlo.
Se non hai il mortaio perchè non hai ancora avuto modo di comprarlo ti capisco, per questa volta puoi utilizzare il mixer ma non dirlo a nessuno chef che si rispetti. Non è una questione di forma ma piuttosto di sapore.
Ora non resta che pestare tutti gli ingredienti ed utilizzare il pesto fresco per tutti i tuoi piatti.

PS. La differenza tra un pesto fatto in casa e uno comprato è elevata, il pesto del supermercato, a mio dire, la maggiorparte delle volte, non vale i soldi spesi. Inoltre, puoi decidere di fare una dose in più di pesto (quando hai tante foglioline da utilizzare prima che appassiscano per i 40° esterni o pechè dovrai pur andare in vacanza e staccarti dai fornelli e dal lavoro) e surgelarlo, una volta scongelato è come appena fatto.

Provalo!

Yogurt brioches

             

Are you ready to prepare your breakfast healthy brioches by yourself?
I’ve found out the receipt from this Italian blog, Adriano is a “leavened pastries guru”, he knows everything about them and any his receipt is successful.

Ingredients

250gr plain (all-purpose) flour + 250 g American flour
100gr milk
150gr natural yoghurt
2 eggs + 1 yolk
100gr caster sugar
60gr melted butter
2 tsps honey
12gr brewer’s yeast
7gr salt
2 tsp rum
1 finely grated lemon rind + 1/2 orange one


Dissolve 1 tbsp of honey with the brewer’s yeast, 1/2 of lemon rind and the tepid milk, then add 90g of flour, stir and let rise for around 90’.
Blend the remaining part of the rind with the yoghurt.
Place the eggs, yolk, 50 g of sugar, half of the remaining flour mix in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until it become stiff (if you have got a Kenwood machine, KitchenAid, or similar, use the K beater, here you have an example). In three times add the yoghurt, remaing sugar and flour. Let became stiff again and then add slowly the rum and let beat for other few minutes. Change the beater, take the hook (like this one) and beat at speed 1.5. Stop twice the mixer and upside down the pastry, leave it beating until it become shining and elastic.Cover it and let rise at 26°C, until it will double (90 min).
Place in a pastry board cover with flour and fold the pastry in this way (follow the third, fourth and fifth pics).
After 15 minutes cut by half the pastry, make two circles 7 mm often, divide each one in 12 slices (like a cake), and roll up each slice on itself (from the triangle base to the top). Let raise your brioches for 1 hour left.
Brush them with one egg, place in the oven at 180°C for 15 min.

Let get them cold and enjoy them with Nutella, yoghurt, jam or custard (any other ideas?).

PS. To keep them fresh you can froze them or keep them in a plastic bag for 3 days.

Have a try!

Also on YeastSpotting

Hazelnuts (and pistachio) ice-cream

(versione italiana)

45°C e non mi riferisco ala temperatura del forno.
Oggi fa veramente caldo ed è per questo che ho deciso di preparare la base per il gelato alla nocciola.
Ormani è già la terza volta che lo provo ed è sicuramente quella meglio riuscita.
Mi sento quasi come la regina del gelato, ma solo perchè ho finalmente trovato le giuste proporzioni necessarie ad ottenere un gelato perfettamente cremoso, basta seguire tutti i passi scrupolosamente et voilà...gelato come da gelateria...oserei dire...ancor meglio se fatto in casa!
Curiosi???
Eccovi la ricetta!

Ingredienti

200 ml di panna
130 ml di latte
100 g di nocciole o 80g di pistacchi
1 tuorlo
81 g di zucchero semolato
9 g di destrosio
1/2 cucchiaino di amido di mais

Inserire le nocciole già tostate e pelate ( per tostarle basta porle 12 min nel forno a 190°) nel mixer/cutter e lasciarle andre per 10 min fino a quando non si trasformano in crema.
Nel frattempo, riscaldare la panna, il latte, e il tuorlo, già amalgamati, in un pentolino. Togliere dal fuoco poco prima che cominci  a bollire (per evitare che l'uovo coaguli), aggiungere i solidi rimanenti (zucchero, destrosio, amido e crema di nocciole) lasciar raffreddare velocemente, ad esempio con un bagnomaria ghiacciato.Riporre in frigorifero da almeno 4 ore fino a 24 ore.
Una volta che la crema sarà mantecata, riporla nella gelatiera per il tempo necessario (approx. un'ora).
Una volta pronto vorrete mangiarlo tutto ma no, non fatelo! Infatti l'ultimo passo cruciale richiede proprio di resistere all'appetito riponendo il gelato in freezer qualche ora. Quest'ultimo passo vi eviterà di mangiare un gelato che si sciolga dopo 2 minuti (considerando i 45° esterni...).
Ora che avete risistito abbastanza potete godervi il vostro cremoso gelato alle nocciole!
Bon appetit!

PS. Riuscire a fare un gelato cremoso richiede di seguire scrupolosamente questi passi: amalgamare gli ingredienti in ordine (da quelli più liquidi a quelli più solidi), riscaldare la base, raffreddarla velocemente, riporla a maturare in frigorifero per almeno 4 ore, procedere con la 'gelatura', lasciar riposare in freezer per quache ora.

Ora, non vi resta che provarlo!

(English version)

45°C and I am not referring to the oven.
Yes, today is really hot that's why I have already prepared the cream to ice for the walnut ice cream.
It's already the third time I try to do it and, I would say, the best one.
I am feeling like the ice-cream queen just because I found out the right percentage to have a perfect creamy, home-made, italian gelato. Are you curios?
Let's start with the recipe!

 Ingredients

200 ml (liquid) cream
130 ml milk
100 g walnuts or 80 g pistachios
1 yolk
81 g sugar
9 g dextrose
1/2 tbs cornstarch (cornflour)


Put walnuts already peeled and rosted (put them in the oven 190°C for 12 min) in the mixer/cutter and leave them for 10 min since it turns into a liquid walnut cream.
Place the milk, the cream and the yolk in a saucepan over medium-low heat and stir, add the sugar, the dextrose ans the starch.
Remove from the heat before it starts to boil and cool quickly (for example using an iced water bath). Add the walnuts cream and whisk the cream.
Pour into a tin and cool it from for minimum 4 hours or overnight. 
Place the cooled cream into your ice-cream maker. When is done, place it in your freezer.
Are you ready to eat it up? Enjoy!

PS. The secret to have a creamy ice-cream is to follow the process: stir the ingredients in order (from the more liquid to the more solid ones), heat, quickly cool, leave cooling in your refrigerator for at least 4 hours, prepare your ice-cream with the ice-cream maker, freeze it.
All those steps are needed to have a really creamly ice-cream, italian style!


Have a try!