Apricot almond muffins

I have finally declared my "muffinmania"... as you can see from the labels I added to my blog. So, this is another of the series, a very simple and delicious recipe that well mix the sweet and "sunny" taste of dry apricots with the delicate fragrance of almonds and the raw touch of cane sugar. Even if you are not "addicted" like me...hope you will enjoy these Apricot almond muffins! 

Apricot almond muffins

(the recipe is taken from Muffin and cupcakes, a book from Cucina Moderna, Italy. Makes 12 muffins)

150 g self raising flour

50 g white flour type "00"

salt

30 g finely chopped almonds

125 g softened butter

150 g cane sugar

1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence

2 big eggs, lightly beaten

1,25 dl milk

90 g dry apricots cut into little pieces

25 g almond flakes 

Preheat the oven to 170 ˚C (centigrade). Line muffin pans with paper liners. Sift the two types of flour with a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add the chopped almonds.  In another bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla on medium – high speed until a cream is obtained. Add eggs, one by one, stirring a bit. Lower speed at minimum and mix the dry ingredients with milk. Add dry apricots and almond flakes stirring with a spoon. Pour the mixture into the paper liners until 2/3 full. Cover the top of the muffins with some additional almond flakes as a decoration. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffins reach the right consistency. Let them cool completely. 

The perfect recipe to relax...Black Forest Cheesecake

We had such a hot weather here in Italy last week and I've been a little lazy cooking, especially baking...Well, the temperature suddenly dropped down in the last two days, we're having a lot of rain :( but a nice coolness...perfect to relax at home or in your (still wet, but refreshed) garden with your favorite book in one hand and a cup of coffee/tea in the other...that you can nicely pair with a slice of  this Black Forest cheesecake I recently made. The name is certainly inspiring...a forest...why not a rain forest with big cherries and cocoa trees all over and me exploring the wild environment and enjoying the adventure...not so relaxing actually....well let's go back to the safe garden and to the kitchen. This cake is really creamy and tasty, combining the fresh taste of cherries (with their acidity that cleans the mouth) with the sharp and persistent bitter aroma of dark chocolate. If you prefer a glass of wine instead of coffee or tea, I suggest a Moscato Rosa from Alto Adige or Friuli Venezia Giulia. One I know very well is the IGT Moscato Rosa from Marco Felluga, in the Collio Doc area. Perfect to pair with dark chocolate and red fruits desserts, with its hints of strawberries, cherries and raspberry syrup. Ah, and for an even more relaxed atmosphere I suggest listening  to the great soft guitar sound and warm voice of Jack Johnson ("the surfer"), who performed live yesterday in Rome. Lucky the ones who were there! For the others, like me, I posted a video I found on YouTube, where Jack sings Better together live.  Happy relax! Here the recipe of my Black Forest cheesecake.

Black Forest Cheesecake

(the recipe is taken from the Italian Guida Cucina magazine, year 2011, n.3. Makes 6 servings)

125 g chocolate shortbread cookies

75 g melted butter

500 g soft ricotta cheese

75 g sugar

2 eggs

200 g melted dark chocolate
170 g chopped cherry (or raspberry) cereal bars
425 g pitted fresh or frozen cherries

Crumble the cookies to dust and mix with the melted butter. Pour the compound in a 24 cm cake mold and press it to let it thick well. Cover and put in the fridge to cool for at least half an hour. Work together ricotta and sugar with electric whips, add the eggs one by one, stirring well. Add the melted chocolate, cereal bars and  cherries stirring with a wooden spoon. Spread out the compound in the cake mold over the cookie base and bake the cake at 180 C for 50 minutes. When ready, remove from the oven and let it cool. Cover the cheesecake with kitchen film and refrigerate for at least  three hours before serving. Decorate with white chocolate curls, made with a potato peeler. 

Here the video. Jack Johnson, Better together

It's pastry time!...Strawberry Bavarian Cream

I'm at class again...this time it's about pastry making. I've always admired the art of making cakes, the creation, the marriage of flavors, the sweet geometry of tastes, the painting of decorations. The wonder and magic of a dessert, the guessing of flavors from the cake's name,  the happy faces staring at the delicious appearance, the melting in your mouth surprise. Yes, I'd love to be a pastry chef in my sweetest dreams...so here I am learning the basic with my teacher Gabriella and her assistant Agnese.  At the first (of four) lessons we prepared a very simple strawberry Bavarian cream, that I made at home again, perfect for a fresh summer dessert or snack. We also made some cream puffs, that Gabriella used to create a Croque en bouche, a cream puff pyramid covered by a rain of caramel...a real magic! And we made the puffs fly...in the shape of swans...Since I sometimes (quite often indeed) leave reality for fantasy I added at the end of the post a video of a young Italian artist, whom I recently listened live, Raphael Gualazzi. He's a great pianist, who brought back the true jazz vibe in Italy...I would like to share this little "trip" with you. Before that, the recipe of the strawberry Bavarian cream. Buon appetito e buon viaggio! (Enjoy the flight!)

Strawberry Bavarian Cream

(the recipe is taken from my class cookbook written by Roberta Molani - makes six servings)

500 g strawberries 

1 lemon juice 

120 g sugar

12 g leaves isinglass (gelatin)

500 g lightly whipped cream 

Blend strawberries with sugar and lemon juice. Soak gelatin leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes. Drain and let them dry over a clean dishcloth. Divide the strawberry shake into 3 parts. Cook one part in a kettle till it begins to boil. Remove from fire and add gelatin stirring quickly. Mix this syrup again with the rest of the strawberry shake and with 500 g lightly whipped cream. Refrigerate for at least three hours. Decorate with fresh strawberries, additional whipped cream and a mint leaf. 

Here's the official video of Raphael Gualazzi performing the song Reality and Fantasy, which gives the name to his album and live tour. Mitico!

Learning to brunch...Pan-cooked pizza with sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, provola cheese and champignons

This is a very easy pizza to prepare. The trick is to cook the dough in a pan instead that in the oven. Then, after the pizza is stuffed with your favorite ingredients (in this case sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, provola cheese and champignons) you have just to put it in the oven to grill for a few minutes. The taste is very rich and the pizza is so crunchy, but still with the thready cheese I like. We did it at a brunch cooking lesson I recently attended. I learned that brunch is not only about pancakes, French toast, eggs and coffee, and when there's an Italian touch it might become even more interesting. Besides pizza, we prepared a salad with oranges and grapefruits, a potato Italian omelette, a marinated salmon, a cous cous with roasted vegetables and feta cheese, a mozzarella bread, a Taboulè cous cous (typical of Lebanon), a corn bread, Boquerones (a Spanish style fresh marinated anchovies), grilled grapefruits and two types of  muffins, one with rice and the other one with apples and carrots.  I have to say, this was the best brunch I have ever had, so thank you Americans for having invented brunch...and thank you Italians for pizza and the art of cooking!!!  Enjoy  this tasty pizza  with a fresh glass of beer or an easy sparkling white wine, like a Prosecco. 

Pan-cooked  pizza with dry tomatoes, black olives, provola cheese and champignons

(the recipe is taken from my class cookbook written by Roberta Molani, makes 6 servings)

300 g self raising flour

1 tablespoon Provencal herbs

water

salt

500 g basil and garlic tomato sauce

10 sun-dried tomatoes in oil

basil leaves

150 g sliced  champignon mushrooms

200g smoked provola cheese (cow's milk cheese typical of Southern Italy) or mozzarella cut into little pieces.

2 tablespoons pitted black olives

extra virgin olive oil

Mix the flour with the water (about 2 dl), a pinch of salt and the Provencal herbs in order to obtain a soft and flexible dough. Roll it out in the shape of a disk on a pastry board.  Oil a pan and cook the pizza on both sides for about 4-5 minutes each. Place the cooked dough disk in a baking tray and stuff it, when still warm,   beginning with tomato sauce, then with sun- dried tomatoes, basil,  mushrooms, provola cheese or mozzarella,  black olives, more basil leaves, and lastly, add a  sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil. Put in the oven to grill until the cheese is melted and thready.