Coconut Pistachio Loaf

Nothing particullary interesting to say about this loaf, except the fact that has a delicate taste and lightness. Veeery very slightly sweet, almost unsweetened, but pleasant 'cause you can catch the fully presence of coconut. To be honest I added a little more sugar than the original recipe (40 g more), because of the coconut milk instead of plain milk. Coconut milk gives a nearly salted background that might be not pleasant at all...we're not baking savoury stuff here...:). You can add it some more if you want, but be careful not to overdo...this loaf must be this way, free to like it or not, but take it as it is!

P.S.:...who said that there was nothing interesting to say about this loaf...look here how many words...

INGREDIENTS: 220 g flour; 120 g sugar; 10 g baking powder; 3 eggs; 350 ml coconut milk; 60 g butter, melted; 1 cup flaked coconut; 100 g pistachios.

Mix the dry ingredients. Mix together the liquid ingredients. Mix all together and finally add the pistachios, coarsely chopped. Put the batter in a loaf tin, cover the syrface with extra chopped pistachios and bake in preheated oven to 180°C for about 40 minutes or until a cooked when tested with a skewer.

BaNaNa DaY

A tribute to the most tasty fruit of all!

CHOCOLATE-BANANA BABKA

Babka is with no doubt my favourite sweet bread ever. I don't know the reason why...maybe for the method and all those rollinig. Maybe for the deep, dark brown spiral drawn over each slice. Maybe simply for its amazing taste and range of consistances. It's already good with the plain cocoa or cinnamon filling, but it's devine along with chocolate chuncks and banana slices...Are you ready to die for it?

INGREDIENTS:

For dough:

3/4 cup warm milk (105–115°F);1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar;3 teaspoons active dry yeast (from two 1/4-oz packages);3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting;2 whole large eggs;1 large egg yolk;1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract;3/4 teaspoon salt;1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened

For egg wash:

1 large egg yolk;1 tablespoon heavy cream or whole milk

For chocolate-banana filling:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, well softened;2 (3 1/2- to 4-oz) bars fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped;1/4 cup sugar; 3 (not ripe) bananas.

PREPARATION:

Make dough: Stir together warm milk and 2 teaspoons sugar in bowl of mixer. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast).

Add 1/2 cup flour to yeast mixture and beat at medium speed until combined. Add whole eggs, yolk, vanilla, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low, then mix in remaining 2 3/4 cups flour, about 1/2 cup at a time. Increase speed to medium, then beat in butter, a few pieces at a time, and continue to beat until dough is shiny and forms strands from paddle to bowl, about 4 minutes. (Dough will be very soft and sticky.)Scrape dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap.

Let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Assemble babkas with filling: Line each loaf pan with 2 pieces of parchment paper (1 lengthwise and 1 crosswise).Punch down dough with a lightly oiled rubber spatula, then halve dough. Roll out 1 piece of dough on a well-floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into an 18- by 10-inch rectangle and arrange with a long side nearest you.Beat together yolk and cream. Spread 2 1/2 tablespoons softened butter on dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Brush some of egg wash on long border nearest you.

Sprinkle half of chocolate evenly over buttered dough, then sprinkle with half of sugar (2 tablespoons). Arrange the sliced babanas. Starting with long side farthest from you, roll dough into a snug log, pinching firmly along egg-washed seam to seal. Bring ends of log together to form a ring, pinching to seal. Twist entire ring twice to form a double figure 8 and fit into one of lined loaf pans.Make another babka with remaining dough, some of egg wash, and remaining butter and chocolate in same manner. Chill remaining egg wash, covered, to use later.

Loosely cover pans with buttered plastic wrap (buttered side down) and let babkas rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until dough reaches top of pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Alternatively, let dough rise in pans in refrigerator 8 to 12 hours; bring to room temperature, 3 to 4 hours, before baking.)Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.Brush tops of dough with remaining egg wash.

Bake until tops are deep golden brown and bottoms sound hollow when tapped (when loaves are removed from pans), about 40 minutes. Transfer loaves to a rack and cool to room temperature.

Banana cheesecake with orange jelly

INGREDIENTS:

For the cookie base: 100 g butter, melted; 200 g cookies, crumbed.

For the filling: 500 g ricotta cheese; 300 g full-fat cream cheese; 5 eggs; 200 g sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 ripe bananas, mashed; 2 Tbsp cornstach.

Mix the melted butter with the crumbed cookies and cover the base of a 20 cm square cake tin. Chill in the fridge.

For the filling mix the ricotta with sugar and vanilla extract. Beat with electric beaters, adding the eggs, one at time, then cornstach. At the and mix in the bananas. Pour over the cookie base and bake in preheated oven to 180°C for about 1 hour. Chill in the fridge overnight.

For the orange jelly: 300 ml orange juice; 3 sheets of gelatine; 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Put the gelatine sheets in cold water for 10 minutes minimum. Warm the orange juice and cinnamon over low heat and melt in the gelatine. Pour over the chilled cheesecake and refrigerate until solid.

stars STARS stars

starsStars Stars Stars Stars

Stars star STARS stARs

STARS StaRs stars starsstars

STARS STArs

stars

These little cookies have a story...they came to me in error, suddenly and uncertainly. I was baking for a little school party (I don't remember what), and tought that that stuff wasn't enough for all those people (most famish guys). I hadn't enough ingredients to make another cake, no idea of another easy-transportable trick. So, quite nervous, I opted for pettines: short pastry cookies. Trivial, old, unoriginal, all the qualities I hate. It was winter time so I used what we had in season: apples an cinnamon. Surely not an original choice, but better then the plain version. Better...really better. The dampness of the apples, cut into little cubes, moistened the pastry that give life to incredibly moist, light and irresistible little sweeties. These cookies became one of my battle horse, the first thing people requested when asked on what I had to bring at every party, what we call an HUGE success. Try an tell me if they'd become yours too.

CINNAMON-APPLE SUCCESS COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

250 g flour; 125 g butter, chilled and cut into cubes; 125 g sugar; 1 egg; 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon; 2 golden apples, cut into little chuncks

METHOD:

In a food processor mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add the butter and reduce into crumbs, then add the egg. Transfer the dought in a bowl, add the apples and kneat (the dought will be sticky, it's ok, it's normal, just add a little fluor, just enough to remove it from your hands, but not too much, it must remain wet and moist). Roll out the dough in a thick layer and cut with the star-shaped cookie cutter. Lay the cookies on a baking sheet, place one apple cube on each cookie and powder with extra ground cinnamon. Bake in preheated oven to 180°C for about 15 minutes, or until the become browned on the edges.

Don't overcook them!!! Less is more!

All Stars Cake

(Banana, coffee and

cardamom butter cake)

INGREDIENTS: 250 g fluor; 1 Tbsp cocoa; 200 g sugar; 250 g butter; 4 eggs; 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp ground cardamom; 2 bananas, mashed; 1/4 cup strong coffee; 2 Tbsp coffee powder.

Beat the softened butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addiction. Add the coffee, then sifted flour, cardamom, cocoa, coffee powder and baking powder. Finally add the mashed bananas and mix well. Put the batter in a silicon star-shaped tin and bake in preheated oven to 180°C for 30-40 minutes or until cooked when tasted with a skewer. Dust with powdered sugar.

The absolute chocolate cake

(mommy recipe)

This will be the moistest and most wet cake you've ever tasted, with the deepest chocolate flavour. It will stick to your theeth and palate and make your tongue turn black...but you'll beg and demand for another piece of it!!!...or maybe more...;)

Ingredients:

350 g unsweetened chocolate

250 g butter

5 eggs, separated

5 Tbsp sugar

5 Tbsp flour, or less

Directions:

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat and let cool at room temperature. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cool chocolate mixture and wisk until well blended.

Wisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the egg whites to the chocolate-butter-eggs mixture and wisk well without caring about being delicate. Will well, and for a long time, until the batter becomes shiny, then add the flour. Bake the cake in a preheated ove to 180°C for about 30 minutes. The cake will puff up and crack on the surface, then will collapse.

Eat at room temperature.

* Add any kind of flavour or spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger (or a mix of all), or mint.
** Dust with powdered sugar or cocoa

...............How to use some ripe pears..............

Upside-down pear cake

Topping: 2 Tbsp honey; 1/2 sugar; 1/4 cup brown sugar; nutmeg, grated; ripe pears.

Cake batter: 1 1/2 cups flour; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder; 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 2 large eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 cup milk; Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 4 tablespoons butter in a 9-inch round baking pan. Place the pan in the oven just long enough to melt the butter. Remove pan from oven; scatter 1/2 cup brown sugar evenly over the melted butter.
With a sharp knife, peel the pears, removing all pith, and slice. Arrange the slices to cover the bottom of the pan.
In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and allspice. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat remaining 6 tablespoons butter until creamy. Add granulated sugar and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar; beat until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add dry ingredients and milk to butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
Pour batter over pears in pan. Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; turn cake out onto serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired.

Saffron and Ricotta cake

This is one of the best cake I've ever eaten. It has all the ingredients I adore: nuts, ricotta and saffron.

I just love the effect that the layer of ricotta makes. White, incredibly white, and all around the deep yellow of the saffron. It has a wonderful taste too and different consistences that make this cake almost perfect.

Ingredients (serves 8)
150g (1 cup) dried walnuts, coarsely chopped
95g (1/2 cup) mixed peel
125ml (1/2 cup) orange-flavoured liqueur (such as Cointreau)
1/2 tsp saffron threads
300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
215g (1 cup) caster sugar
140g (3/4 cup) semolina
1 tsp baking powder
125g butter, melted
2 eggs
500g (2 1/2 cups) fresh ricotta
250ml (1 cup) water
55g (1/2 cup) walnut halves, coarsely chopped
2 tbs icing sugar mixture
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
125ml (1/2 cup) fresh lemon juice
155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar, extra

Method
Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base and side with non-stick baking paper.
Combine dates, mixed peel, liqueur and half the saffron in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until just heated through. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes to soak.
Use an electric beater to beat together the flour, sugar, semolina, baking powder, melted butter, eggs, half the ricotta and half the water in a medium bowl until well combined. Add the date mixture and walnuts and stir to combine.
Combine the icing sugar, lemon rind and remaining ricotta in a small bowl.
Spoon half the cake mixture into prepared pan and smooth the surface. Spread cake mixture evenly with ricotta mixture. Spoon the remaining cake mixture over the ricotta mixture and smooth the surface.
Bake, covering with foil halfway through cooking, for 1 hour 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool before turning onto a wire rack over a baking tray.
Meanwhile, place the lemon juice, extra caster sugar, remaining water and remaining saffron in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves and syrup thickens slightly. Pour the hot syrup over the cake and set aside to soak.