Florentines...not just for Christmas

I made these cookies during the holidays, as they are indeed a Christmas classic. However, they are so good and easy to make that I will sure bake them again soon. What first captured my curiosity was the name of these treats, which is a clear reference to the city of Florence in Italy, as if they were originated from there. The title of the recipe that I found in a magazine however was not confirming this point, since it says "Florentines from France". I searched the internet to find a solution to the mystery and it seems it is a very interesting story well explained by food writer Emiko Davies in "The truth about Florentines" published in the Honest Cooking on line magazine. As she clears up the main ingredients of these biscuits are typically French, such as cream, butter, just a bit of flour and chocolate and the base is "essentially a roux, a oh-so-French cooking technique". These cookies were created in the late 17th century in France and named Florentines in honor to the Florentine queen, Caterina de' Medici, like some other dishes (eggs Florentine, quiche Florentine). What I love of Florentines is their rich taste of almonds, candied fruit and chocolate, a crispy bite with a tender heart, a perfect match for your favorite tea or coffee. To me Florentines are a marvellous present... not just for Christmas. Here's the recipe! 

Florentines 

(makes 16-18 cookies)

100 g candied orange ( or lemon or citron) zest
80 g sugar
150 g ground almonds
50 g almond flakes
50 g white flour 00
50 g butter
150 g fresh cream
150 g dark chocolate

Pour cream, sugar and butter in a small pot and bring to a boil stirring slowly. Remove from fire and add the flour continuing to stir. Chop the candied fruit and add them to the compound together with the ground almonds and the flakes. Pour spoonfuls of this paste on a plate covered with baking paper, leaving enough space between one another. Use a spoon to flatten the little piles, each time rinsing the spoon out with cold water. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 180 C for about 10 minutes, till you see the rim getting brown. When ready, take them out of the oven and let them cool down. Melt the chocolate in a bain- marie and brush the bottom of the cookies. Let them dry upside down on a grill. If you like you can decorate the front with chocolate using a baking syringe.

Key Lime pie

It's ages I've been posting any good little things...Bad blogger, I know. Time is so quick and I've been busy studying for my Master Sommelier class, which I have recently finished. So, here I am, posting a pie I actually baked some months ago. Key Lime pie, a very easy cake with a king ingredient, that I really really love: Mr Lime. When I'm doing my grocery shopping I always look for limes in the fruit section. Even though I know I will not buy them, I'm happy to see those nice little green balls, waiting to make someone's recipe a success. Yes, citrus aurantifolia -  that's the botanical name of lime -  is so perfumed and fresh ...it gives me the idea of something extremely clean and wonderfully aromatic. If I had to match the color green with another color I would choose white: the colors of hope and peace, that's perfect harmony for me! 

Lime is such a versatile ingredient, like lemon, but with a more exotic touch. Its origin is indeed in India and Malaysia and it is commonly used in Thai cuisine, as well as Vietnamese, Mexican and Latin American cuisines. It goes in main meals, soups, vinaigrettes, salsas, sauces, cakes, desserts, ice creams or sorbets. And not to forget, its role in cocktails, as one of the main ingredients of my favorite one, the worldwide beloved Mojito. If you are a wine lover like me, you will agree with this rule I recently read in a book: "Want to know the secret to pairing white wines? Think of a cool region wine with no oak on it- say, Sancerre, Pinot Grigio, or Tocai Friulano. Now, think of a lime. If you can put lime on your food, you can most likely pair it with an unoaked white wine". 

Well, it's time to reveal the "secret" of my Key Lime pie...here's the recipe!

Key Lime pie

(this recipe is taken from the book Torte dolci e salate, KeyBook. Makes 6-8 servings)

To make the dough:

250 g white flour

125 g soft butter in little pieces

2 - 3 tablespoons cold water

1/4 teaspoon salt

To make the cream:

4 yolks

395 g condensed milk

125 ml lime juice

2 teaspoons lime zest

Start making the dough by adding a pinch of salt to the flour. Then add the butter and work till you get a compound similar to grated Parmesan. Make a fountain and add water little by little to reach the right consistency. Wrap the paste with film and let it rest for about half an hour in the fridge. To make the cream work all the ingredients with an electric whisk for two minutes till they are all mixed well. Roll out the dough and lay it on a buttered 23 cm cake mold and riddle the bottom with a fork. Pour the lime cream in and level it with a palette knife. Bake the cake at 180 C for about 20-25 minutes, then let it cool for two hours in the fridge. You can use a slice of lime to decorate it and serve it with icing sugar and whipped cream.

Cranberry Nut Cookies

I found this simple recipe in a magazine while I was waiting my turn at the hair salon. These cookies are very fast to prepare, all you need is just a few ingredients, but be sure to use a very good extra virgin olive oil if you don't want your cookies smell of machine oil...You can make them with any kind of nut, I had walnuts at home, anyway the original recipe was with pistachios and dried cranberries. Here the recipe of these delicious Cranberry Nut Cookies, enjoy! 

Cranberry Nut Cookies

400 g white flour

200 g sugar

1 egg

3 egg yolks

80 g extra virgin olive oil

70 g dried cranberries

70 g walnuts

a pinch of baking powder

Beat the egg and the yolks with the sugar until they get light and frothy. Add flour and the rest of the ingredients. If necessary add some more flour to get a more solid compound. Create a sort of bread block and put it into a previously buttered oven dish.  Preheat the oven to 180 C and bake for about 15 min. Let it cool and cut the block crosswise to form the cookies. 

Zelten...a traditional Christmas cake from Trentino Alto Adige

This is another cake I made during the Christmas holidays. Zelten is the traditional dessert prepared in Trentino Alto Adige in this season. The name comes from the German word "selten", which means "seldom" since it is baked only in this special occasion. The recipe can vary a little bit from village to village, it is mainly prepared with flour, eggs, butter, sugar and baking powder like a sweet bread stuffed with candied fruits and nuts.  In my version, I only used dry figs, raisins and a lot of nuts. The result is a very rich and tasty cake that can be cut in little cubes and eaten little by little on Christmas and the days after. Covered with film it can last indeed several days without losing its full taste. I read that according to the tradition all the members of the family should contribute to the preparation of Zelten and that it has to be eaten just after the Midnight Mass  as a symbol of Thanksgiving. Well, I did it all by myself...but my family was very active in eating and finishing it...Here the recipe, enjoy it! And a very Happy New Year to you all...hope it will be a year full of good little things...stay tuned! 

Zelten

(this recipe is taken from giallozafferano.it) 

1 glass of water (or milk)

500 g dry figs

40 g hazelnuts

40 g walnuts

40 g almonds

40 g pine nuts

40 g raisins

70 g dry raisins type Malaga 

2 small glasses of rum

80 g butter

1 sachet baking powder

3 eggs

100 g sugar

250 g white flour

Cut dry figs in little strips, the Malaga raisins in smaller pieces and grind grossly part of the walnuts. Put these fruits in a large bowl, add raisins, the rest of the nuts and the rum. Let this fruit compound macerate for at least one hour. In the meantime separate the yolks from the egg whites. Beat the yolks with half sugar, till they get  light and frothy. Melt the butter in a kettle. Add this melted butter to the eggs, stirring well. Add the macerated fruits, a glass of lukewarm water or milk (I used milk), continuing to stir. At this point add the sifted flour and baking powder. In another bowl beat the egg whites until stiff with the rest of the sugar and add them gently to  the dough. Pour the paste into a oven dish (20x25 cm) previously buttered and sprinkled with flour. Decorate with additional nuts as desired. Brush the surface with a yolk and bake at 160 C for about 90 minutes. If the surface gets too brown, cover with an aluminium foil, riddling it with a fork (to let the steam go out). 

Christmas gingerbread cookies

Typical of England, North Europe and North America, gingerbread cookies are traditionally baked during the Christmas season. With their colorful decorations and different shapes they bring a funny and arty touch to your holidays tea or coffee break. They can also be hanged for the sweetest and most delightful Christmas tree or be packed into small boxes or bags for a lovely homemade gift. Making these cookies takes a playful afternoon, ask your friends or children to help you...Have fun and Merry Christmas!  

Gingerbread cookies 

(this recipe is taken from giallozafferano.it  Makes around fifty cookies)

350 g white flour (type 00)

150 g butter

100 g cane sugar

150 g honey

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon powdered nutmeg

1/2 (half) teaspoon powdered  cloves

2 teaspoons powdered ginger

2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon

a pinch of salt 

For the decorations:

food colors

1 egg white

200g icing sugar

Sift flour with sugar in a large bowl, add the spices, baking soda and a pinch of salt, lastly the cold butter cut into little pieces. Add honey and work till you get a compound like crumbs. Add the egg and knead for some minutes to create a ball. Wrap the paste in film and let it cool in the fridge for at least an hour. Roll out the dough to 4 mm thick and cut the cookies using the cookie cutters you like. Put the cookies on a plate covered with baking paper and bake them in preheated oven at 180 ˚C for about 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool down. Prepare the frosting by beating the egg white until stiff, adding little by little the icing sugar. Separate the frosting in many little bowls, adding in every one a different food coloring. Use a sac à poche to decorate the cookies as desired.

Thanksgiving memoirs...the Pumpkin pie!

I can't believe it's almost Christmas...I am so late with my blog posting...so just a little note to tell you I recently baked my first pumpkin pie and it was really delicious! It made me think about the first Thanksgiving I celebrated in my life, last year in New Jersey with part of my family there...what a great dinner we had with all the traditional Thanksgiving recipes, the turkey, the sweet potatoes, the cranberry bread...and as a dessert a wonderful pumpkin pie...This terrific cake with its sweet spicy fragrance reminds me of the great time I had in New York, not only on Thanksgiving, but on Halloween and my birthday as well. It was my unforgettable Autumn in New York...so I take this occasion, inspired by the spirit of Thanksgiving, to thank all my family in New York/New Jersey for those magic moments! I miss you guys!

Pumpkin pie 

(this recipe is taken from www.shakeandbake.it {using less sugar} Makes 8-10 servings)

To make the dough:

490 g  white flour (type 00)

150 g sugar 

225 g soft butter

3 eggs

1 and a half lemon grated peel

a pinch of powdered vanilla extract 

To make the filling:

100 g cane sugar

1 tablespoon corn flour

1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon

1 teaspoon powdered ginger

1 teaspoon powdered nutmeg

2 eggs

750 g steamed and blended pumpkin pulp

225 g condensed milk 

First prepare the dough working together all the ingredients, the eggs and sugar, then butter, the aromas and lastly the sifted flour. Wrap the paste with film and let it rest for about half an hour in the fridge. To make the cream first sift the spices and the flours, add the eggs (lightly beaten), the blended pumpkin pulp and the condensed milk. Mix well. Preheat the oven to 190 C. Roll out the dough to 3 mm thick and lay it on a buttered 26 cm cake mold. Pour the pumpkin cream in and level it with a palette knife. With the rest of the dough create a sort of frame to add to the rim of the cake mold. Brush the rim with a little egg or egg white and bake the pie for 20 minutes at 190 C. Reduce the oven temperature to 180 C and bake for another 20 minutes. If the surface gets too brown cover with an aluminum foil, riddling it with a fork (to let steam go out).

When ready let the cake cool a bit. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm with whipped cream, topped with a touch of cinnamon.

Pumpkin feelings...Ginger-spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Here we are, another piece of my "muffinmania". I love Fall with its yellow and red leaves covering the streets like soft carpets and the orange of pumpkins delighting our kitchens and... keeping away vampires during Halloween. In this recipe, the sweet pumpkin pulp is enriched by the intriguing touch of exotic spices, like cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, leaving a wonderful natural spicy fragrance all over the house. Here the recipe of these delicious Ginger-spiced Pumpkin Muffins for your autumn breakfast or "good little moments"...^_^

Ginger-spiced Pumpkin Muffins

(this recipe is taken from cuochepercaso.blogspot.com - makes 12 muffins)

350 g white flour
200 g pumpkin pulp
50 g sugar
50 g cane sugar
3 eggs
150 g butter
1 sachet baking powder
100 ml milk
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
a pinch of nutmeg

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Cook or steam the pumpkin pulp and mash it with a fork. Melt butter and let is cool. Add sugar and work till the compound gets frothy. Add eggs, flour, baking powder, the mashed pumpkin pulp. Lastly add the spices and milk, stirring gently. Pour the mixture into the paper liners until 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 180 C until the muffins reach the right consistency. Let them cool.