Torta Caprese

Last week I went on a holiday at Amalfi coast and one of the places I visited was Capri. 
I had been there before a few years ago but I didn't remember it being so beautiful, absolutely fascinating.

I could easily imagine myself living there :)

One of the classic recipes of Capri is the chocolate-almond pie. 
It doesn't include white flour so it's also gluten free. 

TORTA CAPRESE

250 g dark chocolate

4 egg yolks

190 g (2dl) sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

250 g almond flour

150 g melted butter

4 egg whites

+ icing sugar on top

Prepare a spring cake tin greasing it all over. Preheat the oven to 175 C.

Melt the dark chocolate and butter. In a bowl whisk egg yolks with half of sugar and vanilla sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add chocolate, almond flour and butter. Whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar into a hard foam, then add it in the chocolate mix folding it carefully on it.

Pour the ready mixture in the cake tin and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. 
The cake should remain moist in the middle so do not overcook it.

Let the cake cool for a while, remove the collar, turn it upside down, remove the base of the tin and sprinkle lots of icing sugar on top. Serve with good espresso.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dates with Mascarpone

Until a year ago I had never tasted a fresh date but from then on started to adore them. 

The good fresh ones are not always easy to find (obviously depends where you live, but unfortunately here they don't grow..) I usually buy them from a local biological supermarket NaturaSì, there they are quite ok. This time I couldn't get the fresh ones but to make a healthy dessert I made the dried ones with the mascarpone filling. 

DATES WITH MASCARPONE

200 g dates

100 g walnuts

Filling:

150 g mascarpone cheese

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Open the dates with a knife and remove the stone.

In a bowl mix mascarpone cheese, sugar and vanilla sugar.

Fill the dates with the mix and decorate each one with a walnut.

Place in the fridge until served. 

 

 

 

Feta-Eggplant Rolls

Eggplant and Feta cheese are one of my favourite summer ingredients, I could eat them everyday. 
They remind me of vacations in Greece and Turkey, places I adore!! 
I used a ready bread dough this time, I was in a hurry because I had a friend coming over :) But if you prefer you can make the base yourself. Just a simple white bread dough :) 
I promise to make some bread soon..

FETA-EGGPLANT ROLLS

1 pack of ready white bread dough 

Filling:

1 medium eggplant 

olive oil for frying

50 ml tomato puree

Pepper, salt and hint of mint

Lots of fresh basil

200 g Feta cheese

Prepare an oven pan with bun liners. 

Cut the eggplant into slices and sprinkle some salt on it. Let it stay for an hour and wipe off the extra salt and the water off the surface. Cut the slices into cubes and fry in a pan with olive oil until the cubes turn golden and soft. Add tomato puree, pepper, salt and mint. Mix and let cool a bit.

Make the bread dough into 1 cm thick rectangular. Cut the feta cheese into cubes. Spread the eggplant mix on the dough leaving one side of the long side plain. Add the feta cubes and fresh basil. Start making a log leaving the plain side last. With a sharp knife cut 3 cm thick pieces and place them on the bun liners. Bake the rolls in the 200 C for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with a nice salad, olives and glass of white wine ;) 

Peach Pie

The peaches are amazingly delicious this season, even the biggest ones taste sweet and juicy. 
This pie is so easy to make, you need just few ingredients and the only thing you must do is to buy the best vanilla ice cream you can find to add that little extra something.

PEACH PIE

400 g peaches

250 g apple biscuits (or simple butter cookies)

2 eggs

85 g (1 dl) sugar

100 ml milk

+ icing sugar

+ vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 200 C. 

Wash and slice the peaches. Prepare a pie tin spreading butter on it.

In a bowl whisk the eggs with sugar, add milk and crushed biscuits. Pour the mix on the pie tin and place the peach slices carefully on top.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for half an hour. Sprinkle icing sugar on top and serve with ice cream.

 

Also some pictures of lovely Verona..

 

Crostata ai Fichi

Figs are one of my favourite fruits and very seasonal so this period I'm eating them everyday.

I love them with Prosciutto di Parma, Chèvre cheese or just with natural yoghurt and honey..

This is the first time I made a pie of them and have to say it's not bad at all :)

CROSTATA AI FICHI

Base:

200 g (3dl) white flour

130 g (1,5dl) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

100 g butter

1 egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

300 g fresh figs

2 eggs

85 g (1 dl) sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

1 lemon bio (juice and zest)

250g mascarpone cheese

Prepare a medium pie tin by spreading butter and sprinkling breadcrumbs all over it.

Put the flours in a bowl and make a hole in the middle. Add sugar, vanilla sugar, room temperature butter, egg yolk and salt. Start mixing the flours with other ingredients little by little until the dough is completely smooth. Wrap the dough in a baking paper and place in the fridge for 20 minutes. 

Then make it a thin round with a rolling pin and place it in a pie tin covering also the lines.

Wash the figs gently and slice them. In a bowl whisk the eggs with sugar and vanilla sugar, add the juice and zest of lemon and mascarpone cheese.

Pour the mix on the pie base, then on top place the sliced figs. 

Bake in the oven 175 C for 20-25 min. 

Delicious served both warm from the oven or after cooled in the fridge for an hour.

 

Tartes Aux Citrons

My parents and my sister went for a vacation at the French Riviera in the city of Menton. 
I was so depressed because I couldn't go with them (I just started a new job so I have few holidays) but to cheer me up they brought many little gifts and delicatessen. 

Besides foie gras, baguette and cheeses, one of the most delicious things I got were the little lemon tartlets which I wanted to imitate immediately.

TARTES AUX CITRONS (8 small pies)

Base:

150 g butter

85 g (1 dl) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 egg

200 g (2,5dl) white flour

Filling:

3 lemons (bio)

150 g (1,75dl) sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of Maizena

+  sugared whipped cream

Prepare little pie tins spreading butter and sprinkling some breadcrumbs on them. 

In a bowl mix the room temperature butter with sugar, then add vanilla sugar, egg and in the end white flour little by little mixing very well. Divide the dough in eight pieces and make them little flat cakes with a help of a rolling pin. Place the dough sheets on the tins and press them on them covering also the linings. Bake the pies at 180 C for 10-15 minutes until they turn golden brown, then remove from the oven.

Prepare the filling by heating the juice of the all three lemons and the zest of two in a pan until it's almost boiling. Add the sugar and then maizena mixing very carefully. Let cook for a while still mixing and then reduce the heat. Beat the eggs into a foam and combine them with the lemon mix. Turn off the heat, mix well until the texture is all smooth and let cool. 

Pour the filling on the pie bases and place the tartlets in the fridge at least for an hour. 
Serve with whipped cream and enjoy :)