Archive for the ‘Desserts’ Category
Blackberry and marsala cream cake with dark chocolate collar
Posted by: Roberta
August 29th, 2010 >> Cakes, Desserts, Summer desserts, Summer dishes
Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.
Cakes with yellow peach cream
Posted by: Roberta
July 27th, 2010 >> Buffet, Desserts, Summer desserts, Summer dishes
This is another fresh dessert perfect for the summertime! The original recipe comes from ‘Cucina Moderna Oro’, but I have modified it a bit. It is very easy and fast to make, but do take into account that it has to chill in the fridge for about two hours . Last but not least…it is low in calories!
Ingredients
100g dry cookies, crushed
2 big yellow peaches + ½ sliced peach to garnish
2 tablespoons sugar
Juice of 1 small lemon
30g cornflour
4 tablespoons ice water
25g butter
1/2 small glass of red orange juice ( or apple juice)*
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Method
Mix crushed cookies with butter. Add the juice and mix well. Pour the mixture into 5 silicone cups and press evenly into the bottom. Chill in the fridge.
Peel and cut the fruit. Add lemon juice and sugar and blend. Pour the mixture into a saucepan, add vanilla essence and cook. Do not bring to the boil. Dissolve the cornflour into the water and add to mixture. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes on a low heat.
Pour the cream on prepared crust. Allow to cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Turn out the cakes onto a serving plate and garnish with the sliced peach.
*If you want the crust to be crunchier, then do not add the juice to the mixture.
We happen to have a blooming yellow plum tree in our garden, and every summer it gives us plenty of delicious fruit. Since we cannot really eat it all, my mom and I usually use it to make plum jam. We don’t want it to be too sweet, so we use as less sugar as possible…the result is a wonderful sweet and sour jam, perfect for those who don’t like (or can’t eat) sweet stuff!
Ingredients
1kg yellow plums
350g sugar
Method
Wash and stone the plums. Chop the plums and pour into a large soucepan. Cook for about 15-20 minutes. Add the sugar in batches and cook ultil thick.
Pour jam into jars and close well. Store in a dark, dry place. Store in the refrigerator if opened.
It’s time for a fresh summery dessert! This one comes from the UK, a British friend of mine prepared it for me once and now I cannot help posting it!
It’s called ‘Eton mess’ because it was first served at Eton College, one of the most famous schools of the United Kingdom. “Mess” actually refers to the fact that this dessert is basically a chaotic mix of strawberries, meringues and whipped cream. I reckon it’s a perfect summer dessert: it’s fresh and quick, above all if you decide (like I did) to buy ready-to-use meringues instead of making them yourself.
It’s very easy to make and you can adjust the quantities of the ingredients as you prefer…you can add more meringues or more strawberries as you like!
Ingredients (serves 1)
5 small meringues (plus a couple to garnish)
200 ml thick cream
1 ts vanilla extract
1 ts icing sugar
8 strawberries (plus a couple to garnish)
Method
Clean and cut strawberries and leave aside (I’ve decided not to add sugar here!). Whip the cream, adding vanilla extract and icing sugar. Crumble up the meringues and pour into whipped cream. Add the srawberries and mix quickly. Pour into a serving cup and garnish with more meringues and strawberries.
This recipe wants to be a little tribute to the country that has been hosting me, Australia.
I wanted to prepare a traditional dish or a recipe with some typical Australian product. One of the most typical Aussie things is the barbecue; almost everyone has got it, and they use it to cook everything: any kind of meat, seafood and even fruit and desserts. Unfortunately, I’m the only one here without a bbq (at least for the moment!) L so I had to find something else…
Not considering seafood dishes (I have already talked about the Sydney Fish Market and gave some fishy recipe) and kangaroo meat (which is clearly difficult to get outside the country), I’ve decided on macadamia nuts…
Macadamia nuts are native to Australia; they are slightly soft and sweet, and have a high oil content, so store in the fridge to avoid rancidity!
Ingredients
50g unsalted butter, chopped coarsely
200g white eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
3 tablespoons castar sugar
2 eggs
150g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
70g macadamia nuts, chopped finely
2 tablespoon icing sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C. Combine butter and chocolate in medium soucepan; stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Cool 10 minutes.
Stir in eggs, then sifted flour, baking powder, extract and chopped nuts. Spread mixture into a greased pan. Bake about 30 minutes, cool in pan and then turn slice, top-side up, onto plate. Dust with sifted icing sugar and garnish with some macadamia nuts.
Source: The Australian Women’s Weekly – Picnic
Finally I got to use rhubarb!! I have found this recipe on ‘The CSIRO total wellbeing diet’ (published by Penguin Group). I had never used rhubarb before, and I must confess that before using it I had to do some research on the web 
. I’ve found out that the leaves are not eadible since they contain oxalic acid, which is a poisonous substance…but don’t worry, you can safely use the stalkes!
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 apples
1 bunch of rhubarb
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
cinammon
1 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
lemon zest
For the olive oil pastry
100 g plain flour
3 tablespoon of olive oil
a pinch of salt
50 ml of cold water
milk for brushing
Method
Prepare the olive oil pastry. Place the flour in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Add the olive oil and rub into flour using your fingers, until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Sprinkle in the cold water, a little at a time, and mix together. Knead briefly, then set aside, covered with a clean towel, for 1 hour.
Peel, core and slice the apples. Place apples, lemon zest, sugar, vanilla essence, apple juice, lemon juice and cinammon in a large soucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until apples are soft but still holding their shape. Add rhubarb and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a shallow pie dish.
Roll out olive oil pastry the size of the pie dish. Drape pastry over pressing the edges firmly onto the rim of the dish. Trim away excess pastry. Brush pastry lid with a little milk and bake for 30 minutes or until golden in a preheated oven to 200°C.
, I was not supposed to post this recipe, I was just improvising, I didn’t even measured all the ingredients (I don’t have kitchen scales!), but the result was so good that I cannot help but post it!
To measure the ingredients I have used:
a small cap with a capacity of 230 ml
a big cup with a capacity of 370 ml
Ingredients
3 eggs
150 ml milk
40 ml e.v. olive oil
40 ml melted butter
1 small cup sugar
1 big cup flour + 1 tablespoon
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/4 apple, sliced
butter for greasing the baking pan
Method
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar until light and fluffy (it will take at least 5 minutes). Add melted butter and the olive oil and mix. Pour in milk, sifted flour and baking powder and mix until combined. Add lemon juice and pour the batter in a greased plumcake baking pan.
Place the apple slices on top of the batter in a single line (in the middle of the pan). They will sink into the cake while cooking, so try to place them so that there will be an apple slice in each slice of the cake. Cook in preheated oven to 160°C for about 30 minutes.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.
