venerdì 26 agosto 2016

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...sono felice che tu sia passato a farmi una visitina... Lasciami un tuo messaggio, se ti và...

giovedì 13 agosto 2015

Welcome Muffins

Very Welcome to my Kitchen...


Dear Michael&Norma...
...I was waiting for you and in the meantime I've baked some nice Pear&Oatmeal Muffins with fresh pears from my garden...just for You...

Let's have a refreshing drink together and try my cakes...

You may like making them by Yourself... So, here
the Ingredients: 250 gr all purpose flour, 50 gr fine oatmeal, 14o gr sugar, 85 gr melted butter, pinch of salt, 7 gr baking powder, almond extract, 2 eggs, some chopped pears.
Combine the dry ingredients: flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt. In a separated bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: eggs, milk butter and almond extract. With a spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Gently stir in chopped pears. Do not overmix the batter. Fill the muffin cups (lined with paper muffin cup liners) and bake for about 15-20 mins at 200° C until lightly browned.
Please, leave a message...and come to visit me often... Love

mercoledì 12 agosto 2015

Hallo, I am Barbara…

 I love England, where I have got to know a real genuine cusine made by simple recipes and flavors, these I often love bringing to my table….because that simplicity represents Myself…

I am very interested in the innovative cooking techniques, always look for special ingredients, new flavors, armories of tastes…all crucial things in my cooking style…
I enjoy cooking for my family and friends, offering them the fruit of my big Passion. All the recipes come from ideas taken here and there, elaborated, and from ingredient recycling and experimentation…
Working in England would be wonderful and very important for Myself...

venerdì 19 dicembre 2014

Pea Muffins

 
...what intrigues me of the peas is the colour...the starchiness..and above all the herbaceous sweetnees and saltiness at the same time...

For long I've been thinking about playing with this ingredient and some spices to create a new armony of flavour to incorporate in one of my cakes...


Finally I've come up with these little jewels...my Pea Muffins perfumed with Macis...Bitter Chocolate Chips and some diamonds of Salty+Macis Caramelized Peas...
 

 

mercoledì 17 dicembre 2014

...testimonianze di un bel viaggio..

...con i veri Mastri Fiorentini del Gelato Artigianale, questi sì, forti della loro esperienza sanno davvero come si fa "I GELATO"...e "I GELATO" loro lo fanno non colle polverine majiche...

Si loro...proprio loro...!!! 
Sorbetto di Zucca Gialla Mugellese Biologica profumato alla Cannella e variegato con Caramello Salato con Semi di Zucca tostati...il primo dei due gusti realizzati con il mio gruppo Miraggio Artico..
...lo dedico a Ciro Cammilli della Gelateria Perché No di Fi...perché riflette la filosofia del suo gelato...quella per cui l'ingrediente che da sapore si deve sentire forte e chiaro e non concede spazio ad aggiunte "inquinanti"...e qui la zucca si che si sente...
Cheese Cake Miraggio Artico...variegato con Confettura di Fichi alla Vaniglia Tahiti e Pasta Frolla Gluten Free alle Nocciole e Cardamomo..
...questo lo dedico ad Ale Cambi della Gelateria Ice Dream e ad Alessandro Malotti della Gelateria Malotti di Scandicci che mi hanno sostenuta ed incoraggiata..oltre ad avermi trasmesso il loro grande entusiasmo ed insegnamento...
  
...ma entrambi non posso non dedicarli a LUI...

il FENOMENO...il GURU...MR SERFIE...PREZZEMOLINO...e che dir si voglia...ma un VERO MITO... ..il mio MITO...!!!

...MR VETULIO BONDI...a cui ho rotto le scatole tutta l'estate per questo corso...ma che continua ad essere presente nella mia vita e semplicemente con i suoi likes o i suoi messaggi "makes my days"...

Grazie Oh Tuliooooo!!!

martedì 15 luglio 2014

Carrot Cheese Cake

 
..with a mix of goat ricotta cheese and Greek yoghurt, on a base of  lavender bread and cereal mixture...
 
..candied carrot bits , gooseberries and fresh mint leaves as garnish..

sabato 12 luglio 2014

Bread&Chocolate...

...improved recipe, no egg containig...

...and improved shape...

giovedì 10 luglio 2014

mercoledì 9 luglio 2014

Sticky Toffee Apricot Cake...

...picked the first ripe apricots from my tree..wanted to deliver their lovely sour and sweet flavour by this recipe that is not written, a part for the  sponge, but comes from the idea of  matching different textures and consistencies..

...so here it is...with caramelised toffee apricots and crumbs of Amaretti over a soft and very moist sponge with its heart of apricot bits, simply mixed with Amaretti to balance the sourness of the fruit...

lunedì 7 luglio 2014

Bread&Chocolate

...lovely little rolls with a delicious hazelnut and cocoa spread filling, not Nutella, but something definitely better...which means that it is absolutely false that Nutella is always Nutella... 

Best Meringues...

...ever..

...with hazelnuts and bitter chocolate...

lunedì 30 giugno 2014

Double face Roulade...

rigorously gluten free (only organic Carnaroli rice meal and rice starch) nice and spongy with a velvety filling of  hazelnut spread and rice crispies that give the crunchy touch...
...dusted with cocoa powder...

venerdì 27 giugno 2014

Old fashion Tart...

...having a lovely jar of  homemade plum conserve and feeling nostalgic of times Me and my Granny were making together a tart for the tea time...and most of all having someone to cheer up with a lovely sweet present...my sudden though has been...
..just following my granny recipe for this...


...not a professional short crust pastry but the one my Granny used to make, by adding  a pinch of baking powder, the zest of a lemon (this is a must!) and the rustic stripes on the top...twenty five minutes in a moderate oven and that's it!

 
...a crunchy crust but lovely soft inside (for the pinch of baking powder and the use of whole eggs that expand the dough...). The plum conserve intentionally made less sweet gives a wonderful contrast with the base...

giovedì 26 giugno 2014

Fish'n Chips...

...my husband and I love it..as the best cheerful meal...ever!

 
...ok...it is not Scottish haddok, but a poor frozen piece of cod that I always use, flake, brush with lemon, debone and dip in a lovely Scottish lager batter, kept very cold till last minute... The result is a fish encapsulated in a cloud so yammy..
I garnish with fryed sage leaves, slices of pineapple and pickles and the never missed  tartar sauce... And I must tell that, 'cause I don't like throw food...in this case I separately fry the bone of the fish that still have remains ofyu flesh on...good...
The chips are "the cherry on the cake" for the fish...

mercoledì 21 maggio 2014

Croissants...first attempt...ACTION!!!

I had never felt confident enough to  make this particular  dough and in facts it is not easy to do and not quick but I believe it is only a question of getting used it and you' d find yourself improving time after time... 
Anyway I couldn't ask more than what I have got!!! Simply delicious, almost perfect...I mean according to my taste, according to the way a croissant should taste for me...
 They haven't the same shape intentionally as I tried to use any bit of the dough and I left them plain as I wanted to taste them like this the fist time...
.

martedì 20 maggio 2014

Pannacotta with Strawberry Caramel...

sauce...
...my Granny Maria's favourite! She would die for this creamy dessert...with the scent of lemon and kumquat zest and the velvety strawberry caramel spiced with cardamom and pink pepper...
I admit this is a lovely dessert especially after a nice Saturday dinner together with Her, my beloved Granny Maria!

lunedì 21 aprile 2014

Panina coll' Uva

Panina with raisins, this is a very traditional bread/cake... In facts, every bakery in Arezzo, the town where I live, produces a huge quantity of it during the whole Lent till Easter and sometime a little after... It is consumed with boiled eggs and salami at breakfast on the Easter Day.
It is made from a fresh yeast dough with the addition of soft raisins and typically ground saffron that gives the yellowish colour and a pinch of pepper ( I've liked to perfume with some macis from my cupboard ) and olive oil from our family production...I find the oil gives the Panina a lovely moisture and lightness better than lard that is mainly used...
 ...while raising...

Pizza Pizza...

...from our ritual Saturday dinners......Margherita with some leaves of fresh rocket...
..and with lots of  Stracchino Cheese and Mozzarella ...before baking...
...my husband's favourite...not mine...and here,...off the oven ...

venerdì 18 aprile 2014

Merry-go-round Cake...

...a melting-in-the-mouth lemon mousse between layers of raspberry meringue...

garnished with a circle of little meringues..dots of homemade strawberry conserve..leaves of mint....and a sprinkle of Sichuan pepper reminding the scent of the citrus...

Sticky Apple Strudel Buns...

...from a very soft dough made with potatoes...

...and with a sweet heart of tender apples and raisins but the crunchiness of the walnut bits. Glazed with some caramel sauce...