Bread&Chocolate...

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

...and improved shape...

Coffee&Hazelnut Chiffon Cake...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

.

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!

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 ...

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...

Easter Zuccherini

Traditional Easter Cakes with a crunchy pastry, very fragrant and with all the scent of the Spring in the mixed citrus zest and saffron...

Rock Choc Cookies

 

...a kind of drop cookie, with a crunchy outside for the cereal mix crumbs and a moist inner with raisins and the fragrance of the orange zest..then again, some crunchy bits...the roughly chopped walnuts and the bitter chocolate chips..all for creating a real harmonious taste...

Rocky Road Brownies...

...an American recipe for the traditional Brownie, but with the scent of cardamom and orange essence and a weird topping...marshmallowbitterchocolatehazelnut topping..

Surely not my favourite kind of cake but curious to try this recipe at least once and taste what Americans like...

Bunny Cake..

..a beautifully moist Carrot Cake with the taste of the hazelnut and the scent of the orange zest..  ...garnished with a velvety salted macis toffee sauce and decorated with lavender perfumed carrots in syrup...all the components absolutely home made...

                 

I Sòr-risini

...delicate cookies, made from only Carnaroli rice meal...with a lovely scent of chestnut honey...

Bomboloni

...lovely little balls, very very...very soft, slightly sweet and citrus zest perfumed... Crunchy and sweet on the surface for the sugar crystal... The heart is a velvety traditional pastry cream with the taste of my childhood...same taste of my Granny used to make...