La Dolce Vita...The Sweets of Florence

 

Buongiorno!! The past few weeks in Italy have been absolutely incredible. From exploring the museums and piazzas to marketing for fresh fish and bread, it has been amazingl. And of course, I am learning so much. Today I’m excited to share with you all of the sweets that I’ve been making here at cooking school in Florence. Buon Appetito! 

Cantuccini (Almond Biscotti)

 

Biscotti means twice baked, referring to the way that the cantuccini is prepared. It is a very sticky dough that is shape into a loaf, baked and then cut into strips. They are very crunchy and the almonds add a wonderful flavor, they are served here in Italy with a cup of Vin Santo for dipping.

 

Soft Cantuccini Dessert

 

 

I would dare say this a new take on cookies n crème. Why? Well, I’ll tell you! These dessert is made up of a Bavarian Cream that has some cantuccini in the cream. It is filled with a Vin Santo gelatin and is topped with a foam made with cream, cantuccini and Vin Santo. It is then decorated with pieces of caramelized cantuccini. This one of my favorite sweets that we’ve made.

Soy Lecithin Cookies

 

 

I know, I know, soy lecithin? But, we want to know how to cook with all of the different products out there right? So if you want to enjoy a sweet treat but are watching the old cholesterol, this is the cookie for you! It is soft and has a slightly nutty taste, we served them with fig jam.

Sebadas

 

Oh, where to begin. These were so good, I could have eaten the whole tray. But I kept my dignity intact and just had three. These are a traditional dish from Sardinia. It is pasta dough that is shaped like a ravioli and filled with a pecorino, lemon filling and then fried. Yes, fried. We then topped with an assortment of honeys.

Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Ciao!! I use to be a big believer in the more the chocolate, the better the intensity. I never thought recipes just made with cocoa could do the trick, I didn’t think they would give me that rich chocolate taste that I was craving. But clearly, I was wrong.

The other night I thought back to cookie I use to LOVE! It’s from a famous pastry shops that use to be on the Upper East Side, where much of my childhood was spent. Most weekends I would treat myself to a cookie; it’s just the way it was. I wanted to try to recreate that cookie, which I knew only use cocoa powder. I also wanted to add my own Italian spin, hence the hazelnuts and espresso.

Some of you may recall my Eggland’s Best “Your Best Recipe Contest” winning Baci Espresso Cookies; this recipe is similar, except that this is flourless and made only with egg whites. This cookie is incredible, it’s very rich, slightly chewy, but in a good way, almost like a meringue and surprisingly intense. The outside sets and cracks beautifully and the inside is a little gooey, the nuts add a great great. Try this cookie. You won’t be disappointed.

Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Makes 9 medium size cookies

1 cup of blanched and roasted hazelnuts

1 ½ cups of confectioners’ sugar

¼ cup dark cocoa powder plus 1 tbsp.

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. espresso powder

2 egg whites

½ tsp. hazelnut extract

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Coarse sea salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and treat with cooking spray.

Mix in a large bowl your hazelnuts, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, salt and espresso powder. Add your eggs whites, hazelnut and vanilla extract. Using an electric mix, mix until combined and wet for around 2 minutes. I like to use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter out and make them all uniform. Top the cookies with a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Bake for 15-17 minutes, you want the tops of the cookies to crack. Serve immediately and enjoy!! Buon Appetito!! 

Ricotta Olive Oil Pound Cake

Ciao a tutti! I am so excited to share one of my favorite recipes with you…my Ricotta Olive Oil Pound Cake!! I don’t like to brag, but this pound cake is absolutely incredible! It’s light, moist and delicious. Some of you might be thinking “olive oil?!?!” but the olive oil just adds a lovely subtle fruitiness (if you use good olive oil) and along with the ricotta gives the cake a wonderful texture.  I made mine in little individual cake pans, but you can use a standard pound cake pan. I also made a simple glaze to put on the top and served the cake with some roasted hazelnuts on the side, just because I look for any excuse to munch on a few hazelnuts. Enjoy!

Ricotta Olive Oil Pound Cake

¼ cup plus 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ½ cups flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 ½ cups ricotta, at room temperature

1 ¼ cup sugar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

3 eggs

Preheat the oven the 350 degrees. Butter your cake pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whip together the butter, ricotta, sugar, olive oil, vanilla and almond extract in a separate bowl with an electric mixer. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat until nice and airy. Add the eggs into the mix. Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until you put a toothpick into the cake and it comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for around 15 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool. While you are letting the cake cool, you can prepare your glaze…

Simple Glaze

3 ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar

4 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the sugar with milk and vanilla. You can continue to add a little milk until it is the consistency that you like it! Pour over the pound cake once it is COMPLETELY cool. Buon Appetito!! 

The Sweets of Roma: Tortine di Nutella

Ciao a tutti!! When you’re in Italy, you can’t NOT have candy and pastries. I mean, it’s kind of a law. Well, it’s not, but still. It really should be. Something I love about Italian sweets is how different the flavors are from the ones we have in America. In America it’s all about cookie dough and cookies and cream, in Italy, nut and fruit flavors are very popular. 

I've never seen a Chestnut Torta in a bakery, except when I’m in Italy. I’m a big fan of nutty flavors, so everything topped with pistachios, walnuts, almonds, pignolis and chestnuts is a nice surprise for me. I’m telling you….just looking in the windows of the bakeries was a treat. So, I thought it would be fun to post a Pastry Photo Tour of Roma!! I've also added recipes that I've tried and tested that were the closest to the actual experience. I'll be posting a new pastry recipes/photo every few days inspired by the beautiful pastries I enjoyed while in Roma. And in a few days, a Pastry/Gelato Photo Tour of Firenze! 

But for today....Tortine di Nutella. That's right. Nutella. Who doesn't love nutella? I'm not sure I should tell you how many of these babies I ate while in Italy. Honestly....I had one almost every night. I'm not even kidding. Clearly, I love nutella, as you may recall from my Nutella Chronicle Post. Every bakery has their own take on this classic tart, so I figured it was only fair to try everyone's version!! Right?!?! These are little flaky shortbread tartlets filled with a deep and rich nutella ganache. 

They. Are. Amazing. No lie. Enjoy and please let me know what you think!! 

Tortine di Nutella

Buttery Shortbread Pastry Crust

2 cups all purpose flour

14 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. chilled heavy cream

1 tsp. salt

In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, egg, sugar, heavy cream and salt and pulse until the dough gathers into big clumps.  Put the dough on a clean counter surface that is lightly floured and gather it together. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough. You can use whatever size tart pans you like, piccolo, medio or grande. Press the tart pans into the dough for your crust. Put them in the oven on 300 degrees and cook for 6 minutes. They will not be completely done, but you will be baking them again when filled with the nutella. Now prepare your nutella ganache...

Nutella Ganache 

1 cup of nutella

4 ounces of good quality milk chocolate, I like to use Perugina chocolate bars

1/2 cup heavy cream

Chopped Hazelnuts to top the tarts

Prepare the nutella and chocolate in a small mixing bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Add the nutella and chocolate to the heavy cream and mix until silky and smooth. Now get the tart/tartlet crusts (whatever size you picked) and carefully spoon the nutella into the crust. Put back in the oven on 300 degrees and bake for another 6 minutes. Take out and add the chopped hazelnuts to top of the tarts. Boun Appetito!!

Chocolate Espresso Hazelnut Cookies- Recipe Contest Semi Finalist

Ciao everyone!! Today I am so excited to officially announce that I am a semi-finalist in Eggland’s Best “Your Best Recipe” Contest!! My recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Cookies was selected. Voting takes place between Sept. 20^th at 12PM until Sept. 30^th 12PM. You can take a look at http://www.egglandsbest.com/yourbestrecipe and on the Eggland's Best "Your Best Recipe" Contest tab on the Eggland's Best Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/egglandsbesteggs/app_251842034899170 - you have to “like” Egglands Best. You will see my recipe under the Dessert Category under Caroline B.

In honor of the contest, I would like to share the original post with you. Thank you again for reading and supporting my site, it really means so much to me.

Il Dolce (Dessert)

I absolutely adore chocolate, nuts and espresso. All together or separately, it makes no difference. So when I was in Rome this past summer and stumbled upon a gelato cafe right around Piazza Navona and saw “Baci Espresso” as a flavor, I knew I was in the right place.  Baci translates to kiss in Italian, but I bet if you think of Baci, you think of those amazing chocolates with the hazelnut center. The gelato had a deep chocolate espresso base with chunks of chocolate and hazelnuts. It was absolutely amazing. Come summer I plan to take out my ice cream maker and try to recreate some of the gelato I had in Italy (including the most intense chocolate gelato I have ever had, called nero fondente.) But, I’m not quite ready for gelato. So until then, I have recreated the taste and made these equally delicious Baci Espresso cookies. While they are not the prettiest cookies, they are certainly pleasing to the palette. They are fudgy, chocolaty and the hazelnuts add a lovely crunchy to an otherwise smooth cookie.

Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Cookies

10 ounce of dark chocolate

2 Eggland’s Best eggs

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

¼ cup all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons espresso powder

1/8^th teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter.

1 ½ cups of hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, espresso powder and salt together. Stirring frequently, melt butter with chocolate. Whisk in the egg mixture. Stir in the flour and nuts. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter on baking sheet.

Bake until the surface of the cookie looks dry and the centers are still gooey, around 11-13 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool. If you don’t eat them all in one sitting, store the leftover cookies in a tightly sealed container.

Buon Appetito!

Baci Espresso Cookies

For today’s sweet treat, I will be featuring some decadent Baci Espresso cookies!!

Il Dolce (Dessert)

I absolutely adore chocolate, nuts and espresso. All together or separately, it makes no difference. So when I was in Rome this past summer and stumbled upon a gelato cafe right around Piazza Navona and saw “Baci Espresso” as a flavor, I knew I was in the right place.  Baci translates to kiss in Italian, but I bet if you think of Baci, you think of those amazing chocolates with the hazelnut center. The gelato had a deep chocolate espresso base with chunks of chocolate and hazelnuts. It was absolutely amazing. Come summer I plan to take out my ice cream maker and try to recreate some of the gelato I had in Italy (including the most intense chocolate gelato I have ever had, called nero fondente.) But, I’m not quite ready for gelato. So until then, I have recreated the taste and made these equally delicious Baci Espresso cookies. While they are not the prettiest cookies, they are certainly pleasing to the palette. They are fudgy, chocolaty and the hazelnuts add a lovely crunchy to an otherwise smooth cookie.

Baci Espresso Cookies

10 ounce of dark chocolate
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons espresso powder
1/8^th teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter.
1 ½ cups of hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, espresso powder and salt together. Stirring frequently, melt butter with chocolate. Whisk in the egg mixture. Stir in the flour and nuts. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter on baking sheet.

Bake until the surface of the cookie looks dry and the centers are still gooey, around 11-13 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool. If you don’t eat them all in one sitting, store the leftover cookies in a tightly sealed container.

Buon Appetito!

Tiramisu from Bakingperfection.com

Ciao everyone! I am very excited to share with you a wonderful recipe for tiramisu from fellow blogger DJ at Bakingperfection.com. Bakingperfection.com is a great, very informative and helpful blog dedicated to baking and all the preparation that it takes. It walks you through some different methods to help make you into the best baker that you can be! One look at his cakes and you'll be sold. 

Tiramisu is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone cheese, flavored with cocoa and liquor. There is some debate regarding the origin of Tiramisu. It may have started as a variation of another layered dessert, called Zuppa Inglese .

Several sources say that tiramisu was created at the restaurant Le Beccherie by the god-daughter and apprentice of confectioner Roberto Linguanotto, Francesca Valori, whose maiden name was Tiramisu. It is thought that Linguanotto named the dish in honor of Francesca.

Others believe the cake to have originated in the city of Sienna. Some bakers were said to have made it in honour of Cosimo III (the Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany) on the occasion of his visit to the city.

The translation of tiramisù is “pick-me-up", thought to refer to the caffeine in the espresso and effect of cocoa used in the recipe. Whatever it means, this recipe from DJ sure is delicious and decedent.  Please visit his fantastic blog at http://www.bakingperfection.com/ and enjoy his tempting recipes!! Here is the original post straight from his blog!

So who doesn’t love a good tiramisu? If you said “I don’t love tiramisu” well you’re a crazy crazy person and I don’t like you…okay I won’t go that far but you are a bit strange. I’ve seen tons and tons of recipes but I always find something I don’t like about them. I finally decided to pick out the things I do like and put them together to make one really solid recipe. I think I have succeeded with this recipe but you may not like what I do so you be the judge.

What you’ll need:

5 egg yolks

¾ cup-sugar (fine bakers sugar works best)

8 ounces mascarpone cheese (1 tub)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 packs of ladyfingers

1 cup-strong coffee or espresso (I use Medaglia D’Oro instant espresso)

¾ cup-Kahlua

Cocoa powder for dusting (optional)

White chocolate for shaving (optional)

Instructions:

Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. After 10 minutes, remove from heat and whisk until thick and bright yellow.

Add the mascarpone to the yolks and mix until combined and smooth. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the yolk mixture into the whipped cream.

Combine coffee and Kahlua in a pie pan or other shallow bowl. Dip the lady fingers in for about 5 seconds and then place them in a single layer in a 8 X 8 glass pan. Top the lady finger layer with the custard cream mixture. Make another layer of lady fingers and again top with custard cream mixture. Smooth the top and sift the cocoa powder over it. Use a fine grater and grate white chocolate over the cocoa. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours but overnight is better.

Tips:
I did not have my 8 X 8 pan so I just used a random one I found, you can do the same.

Mascarpone is kinda expensive, but if you have a Trader Joe's nearby (depending on where you live) they make their own mascarpone that is a lot cheaper and just as good. If you can't get the mascarpone cheese you can just combine the following for a substitution:

8 ounces cream cheese
2 tsp. sour cream
2 tsp, heavy cream