Simple pleasures - a slice of ciambellone

I am often asked what I like cooking best. Certainly not meat and not so much starters for some odd reasons. Pasta, rice, and cakes are probably on top of my list. There is always something so rewarding from making a rich and velvety sauce or to see magic being made under the light of the oven when all of sudden something rises and becomes gold!

 

In my first months of motherhood I was baking like mad. Not sure why. I have calmed down a bit now to the displeasure of my husband though but I'm sure to the benefit of his waist! And I'm afraid I don't believe in making cakes light by replacing butter with margarine or sweetener instead of sugar...you either do the proper thing or nothing!

So this cake is reasonably rich in butter and eggs but if you only have a slice - or two - with your cup of caffe' latte -  in the morning you will just have the right boost to start the day and will feel much more in harmony with the whole world. Believe me!

 

It is called ciambellone for its lifebuoy shape, *ciambella* as it has a hole in the middle, a little bit like a giant  doughnut. Of course you could have the same ingredients and use any type of tin. I find though that the ring shape not only adds some fun to it but also packs more the wonderful flavours. Virtually in any traditional Tuscan household you would wake up at the smell of a fragrant ciambellone.

Ciambellone Toscano

100g butter
150g sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
50g potato flour
150g plain flour
1 lemon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp milk

Melt the butter in a pan without making it bubble. Once melted mix it with the sugar and whisk it well until it becomes almost fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and keep beating.
Grate the lemon and add the zest to the mixture. Add also the vanilla essence.

Separately beat the egg whites until firm and keep them aside.

Mix the two flours with the baking powder. Using a sift, add the flour to the egg mixture and keep beating. It will be quite thick, so add the milk to make it a bit runnier.

Now incorporate with a metal spoon the beaten egg whites until they are well mixed in. The risk of not doing this well is that the cake will raise more on one side than the other.

Grease a ring tin, flour it, and pour the mixture in it. Bake the cake in the oven at 180C for 25 minutes.

It will keep well for a few days and if you want to eat it after a meal you cold serve it with vanilla ice cream and a glass of vinsanto. 

 

 

I ricciarelli di Siena - outside of Christmas

I could blame my absence from this blog on my little 7 months old son and the time he needs from me...but in reality it is simply because I started doing other things which distracted me...and perhaps it has also been because I lost a bit of enthusiasm about this blog...so come on, do leave a comment, it'll give me a push!

So I am back. After two months of absence. After all it is not that long if you think about it. But it is an eternity compared to my food blogger friends who seem able to cook, photograph, and write about their dishes almost every day.

This post was planned a while ago, in fact in conjunction with Christmas and that of course slipped. But to be honest, ricciarelli from Siena are wonderful almost any time of the year. So much so that even the Ministry of Agriculture appealed to have them protected as a year-long treat. And it obtained what it wanted! The recipe of these slim diamond shape biscuits has recently been declared PGI, "product of geographical indication", as only in Siena they can be made under the original recipe. This should not put you off from reproducing them at home - between you and I they taste pretty similar! But don't tell the PGI people...

 

I like to bite into their powdery sweet and crusty surface thinking that a noble knight, Ricciardetto della Gherardesca, came back from the Crusades and, I guess quite pleased to be still alive and all in one piece, celebrated his return by creating something that could recall the Middle-East. Their main ingredient is almond, which is greatly used in all middle-eastern cuisine, and their pointed shape was to recall the Turkish slippers.

 

I always love eating something that is good and even has so much history behind it...I do hope you will try them next time you are in Siena. In the meantime, you can try this recipe. Sadly there is a missing ingredient - bitter almonds - which I cannot find here in Cambridge. What I do though is to use a few drops of almond essence which is quite bitter.

20 ricciarelli

200g ground almonds
2 egg whites
1/2 lemon zest
175g icing sugar
2 drops of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
extra icing sugar for coating

Pre-heat the oven at C170.

Beat the egg whites until very firm. Mix the ground almonds with the sugar and baking powder. Grate the zest and add it to the almond flour.

Gently incorporate the dry ingredients to the beaten egg whites until well combined. You will have a reasonably wet mixture and don't be tempted by adding more ground almonds. It is a bit of a sticky affair but actually the good of it is that you can lick your fingers from time to time to help...

Make walnut size balls and flat them on your palm. Give them a rough shape of diamonds and by doing that cover them in icing sugar and coat them well. Place them on a trey covered with baking paper.

Cook them for 10 minutes. Once cooked take them out of the oven and leave them to cool. Store in a dry and cool box for up to a week. But to be honest they won't last more than a day! And they go down very well either with a glass of sweet wine, vinsanto, or even Ruby port (as in the background).

 

Migliacci and a Wine Festival

I must start - erm, once again - by apologizing for my long silence. I admit I have been distracted by many other projects (including my almost 5 months' old son) and frankly I have not realized how quickly time has gone. November has literally flown away!



Back in October we went to Tuscany. I have always loved visiting my home region at that time of the year, not only because the roasting heat is gone by then, but also because the hills around Siena turn into a multitude of colours and home tables see some of the most wonderful products like porcini, marroni (chestnuts), truffles, and the first harvested wine.

I keep being amazed by how much seasons still dictates the menus in restaurants, homes, and supermarkets -   practically nobody would dream of making panzanella, which involves fresh ripen tomatoes, in January for example. I think we are all used to nibble raspberries in February or fry courgettes in December, and of course, don't get me wrong, I find all this quite handy at times. However, there is a certain charme in going by the season and live like our parents or grand-parents did. I believe there is a strong revival and "fashion" in rediscovering old culinary traditions and flavours though so who knows somehow we might go back in time again?

One of the oldest puddings, and apparently in "extinction", that you can find at village wine festivals is Migliacci. Vegetarians should stop reading now as they won't find them at all appetizing....one of the key ingredients of these little pancakes is pig's blood which is mixed with flour - in the poorest paysant families it was replaced with breadcrumbs as wheat flour was a luxury - sugar, lard, and leftover biscuits (in Tuscany cavallucci - of which I will talk soon) and later enriched with candied fruit and chocolate. The Sienese ones are sweeter than the ones from Pisa or Pistoia becoming real puddings.

 

 

I was quite curious myself and wanted to give it a try if I had found them. The perfect opportunity was this Wine Festival in Mensano, a pretty hamlet near Colle Val d'Elsa, where, armed with a glass of wine that can be purchased at the entrance of the main road, one can walk around sampling wine from several local producers. As the samples are more than generous you need to fill up your stomach with some food and that is something else you can find in abundance - panini with freshly cut ham or finocchiona (a large salame flavoured with fennel seeds), porchetta, cheese, roasted chestnuts, and migliacci.

 

I am not sure whether you will ever want to reproduce them at home - I suspect it is not easy to find it...half a liter of pig's blood please! But perhaps a good old fashion butcher might smuggle in some for you! If you do though all you have to do is to mix 250ml of blood with 100g flour, 1 egg, a handful of candied fruit, 50g sugar, and if you have them some crashed cavallucci or dried aniseed biscuits - in their absence I would suggest to drop them out of the list and perhaps add a tea spoon of vanilla essence instead and an extra table spoon of flour or breadcrumbs.

...will I manage to handle two more posts before Christmas? Challenge...

A Seasonal Focaccia - sweet bread with grapes

I cannot believe that it is the end of October already. Autumn has arrived sneakily with its colours, made a few carpets of leaves here and there, and almost taken them away with it. Halloween is tomorrow and then All Saints will mark a new month. I have always felt that grape is Autumn quintessential ingredient - together with figs, walnuts, and mushrooms. 

This sweet bread is one of those things that you need to know where to buy as otherwise it can be alluring at the look but deeply disappointing at the taste. And of course even better if you have a bit of time in your hands and decide to make it at home.

Soft amaretti - no more secrets

There is nothing more rewarding than hitting upon the right proportion of ingredients for one of your favourite things. Soft and sour amaretti are those sweets that you would eat one after the other, and as it takes only one bite to devour these little jewels it gets pretty difficult to keep a full jar for more than two days...our it's almost half empty and I do have restrained myself!

Maremma, Maremma!

Too often we underestimate what lays just a stone’s throw from us. I grew up in Tuscany and spent most of my summers on its coast. Maremma was the region that hosted all my swims, sun-tans, and afternoon ice creams and for years I simply took it for granted.  But only recently have I fully appreciated the beauties that this region offers to the curious traveller, a tourist who is in search of peace and old flavours. 

 

  

It is not surprising that the New York Times describes it as one of “the best destinations for those seeking nature, clean waters, and tranquillity”. Maremma is the wild heart of Tuscany, a region of melancholic beauty where white cows resting under olive and cypress trees and the butteri, the traditional shepherds, leading herds of buffalos along gentle sand dunes, and among pine trees and chestnut woods. Those who are able to ride can even join them at dawn and watch them working.

Dining al fresco

...and another summer is almost gone! To tell you the truth I am not entirely sure we even had one this year. June and July have been wet and windy and August has mixed some sunny muggy days with rain and clouds. I knew I should have planned a Spring baby and fly away a few months after! Lesson learnt for the next one!

In the meantime though I don't miss any opportunity to sit in the garden and enjoy a glimpse of sun. This lunch we put together at the last minute opened a window onto a luminous pier we were strolling along this time last year in Liguria, enjoying the singing of the seagulls and the screams of children running for their third ice cream of the day.

Linguine con le cozze is a "must" in our family in the Summer. And it is not the mussels cooked in the French style; oh no, they are as simple as possible with just those few ingredients that enhance the smell and taste of salt and sea. I can almost hear the waves crushing against the rocks.

  

Perfumes of Lavender

It is certain that if I say lavender you automatically think of the south of France. Fields of purple waves touched by warm sun and busy bees. True that even the word itself derives from Old French lavandre and that therefore this association would not seem entirely wrong. However, also England can claim a large handkerchief of its land of this blue flower that fills up the air with its pungent and distinct smell.

And here goes also with its uses. Added to sage, rosemary and thyme it enriches the meat of a chicken roasted in the oven or, if the temperature dictates, on the barbeque. Mixed to the flour it makes some classic scones a surprise to enjoy for a truly Summer tea. And like in this case, infused to milk transform some banal cupcakes to something new.

Cherries Part III: chocolate cake

This is the last post on cherries. I did promise to give you a sample of what you can do with cherries, if you have been lucky enough to have some either from your own garden or a kind neighbour/friend who had too many and didn't know what to do with them.

I seemed to manage to post the focaccia recipe just in time before contractions started and had to dash to hospital waiting for our little son to arrive - he did eventually 12 hours later...I promise he wasn't late because of the fear of facing more cherries! Shame he won't have the chance to have a taste of it...a few more months!

What I love of fruit is the versatile use one can make of them - I could have probably gone up to 10 posts with cherries including savoury recipes but I thought you would have been slightly sick of me by then and no more cherries on the horizon anyway! So I have limited myself to three. I think that's enough.

This recipe can be done using other fruit as well like strawberries, oranges, or even peaches. Chocolate and cherries might not be a very original combination but it really does work! Also this cake is not too sweet and will please all those who watch their weight and care for their teeth!!

Chocolate and cherry cake


50g dark chocolate
100g flour
4 eggs
100g sugar
60g butter
2 handful of cherries or 3 tbsp cherry jam

Melt baigne marie the chocolate and once melted add the butter and sugar; incorporate well.

Beat the yolks with the sugar until fluffy. Add the butter when cool and mix well.

Sift the flour to the mixture and fold everything to make sure they are not lumps. Beat the egg whites and fold them to the mixture.

Grease a 10cm tin and flour it. Pour the mixture into the tin and scatter the cherries which inevitably will drop to the bottom. Alternatively you can cook the cake and then spread the jam on the surface when it's still warm.

Cook at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until well risen. Sprinkle icing sugar and serve!

 

And I can be proud of myself too, not just for basking the cake, but for posting this having typed it all just with one hand!

Cherries Part II: sweet focaccia

As I promised in my previous post, I want to share with you this very simple recipe that uses the many cherries - if you have been lucky to have an abundant harvest (or have a generous friend) - you might have in your hands (literally, considering how messy they can be!).