- Baci di dama (Lady’s Kisses):
INGREDIENTS:
3.52 oz of almonds
5.29 oz of hazelnuts
6.34 oz of coconut sugar
7.76 oz of weak flour
2.82 oz of potato starch
5.29 oz oz of coconut butter
1 vanilla bean
lemon zest
(dough for approx 35.27 oz of dough= 33/34 Baci di Dama (Lady’s Kisses)
INGREDIENTS FOR CHOCOLATE CREAM:
3.53 oz of fresh cream
7.05 oz of dark chocolate (60-62%)
METHOD:
1) Sift together the flour and starch.
2) Spin in standing mixer butter, add the almonds with the finely cut hazelnuts and sugar.
3) Add sifted flour and starch in the standing mixer and let it run for 1 minute.
4) You can also end up working by hand to prevent the mixture from overheating.
5) Knead the ingredients well, take the form of a salami and allow to cool in the fridge for 12 hours.
7) Form a salami also with the remaining dough and place it in the fridge also for 12 hours.
8) After this time, take the dough and make dough strings of approx 0.78 inch.
9) Cut them into many equal parts and let them rotate in your hands in order to create slightly flattened spheres on the base. Bake for 12 min at 338 F
FOR CHOCOLATE CREAM:
1) Finely cut the chocolate, pour the cream into a saucepan and heat it almost to a boil
(Avoid to exceed 185 F)
2) Pour the chocolate into the cream and remove from the heat.
3) Stir with a whisk until it dissolve completely.
4) Once the cookies are baked couple the 2 basis obtained from the semispheres and weld with dark chocolate cream.
2. CANTUCCI TOSCANI FROM MY DEAR FRIEND’S FRANCA FONZO RECIPE :
INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs
8.81 oz of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3.53 oz of butter
17.64 oz of flour
7.04 oz of almonds: mix of peeled almonds and unpeeled almonds (cut to halves with the knife)
BAKING: 25 minutes at 356°F
1) Mix well all the ingredients, add finally the flour, the yeast and the almonds.
2) Form two long salami dough on average low and lined with film (allow to rest 1 h in the fridge)
3) Then remove and cook in the oven at least 25 minutes at 356F on the lower shelf of the oven.
4) Make sure the dough will be well cooked .
5) If they are still wet, let it dry again with the oven off in the warmth of the oven temperature.
6) Allow to cool and then put about 20 minutes in the freezer, after which them cut diagonally to form your cantucci.
3. ANNELIESE KOMPATSCHER’S APPLES STRUDEL:
FOR THE DOUGH:
8.81 oz of flour
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin Italian oil reserve
1/16 lt light warm water
For the stuffing:
52.91 oz apples (Renette, Gravenstein or Boskop)
5.29 oz freshmade by me breadcrumbs
5.29 oz butter
3.53 oz sugar
cinnamon, lemon peel
1.76 oz raisins
1.76 oz pine nuts
3.53 oz of melted butter for brushing the dough
1) Sieve flour and knead it with a hand with egg, salt and oil, while the other gradually add necessary water until the dough has the right consistency.
2) Work dough now vigorously with both hands until it will be smooth and elastic.
3) Form a ball, brush it with olive oil and rest half an hour in fridge.
4) Meanwhile, peel the apples, remove core and cut into thin slices.
5) Fry breadcrumbs into the butter.
6) On a floured cloth roll out the dough with a rolling pin.
7) Pass hands with the back facing the table under the dough and, starting from the center, pull gently trying not to tear it until it will be thin as a sheet of paper.
8) Brush the dough with some of the melted and warm butter.
9) Sprinkle with breadcrumbs two-thirds of the dough and sprinkle over the apples, sugar, cinnamon, lemon peel, raisins and pine nuts.
10) Level with a knife thick edges of the dough and, with the aid of the cloth, roll out the dough tightly in on itself.
11) Put the strudel on a baking sheet or greased baking tray, brush it with the rest of the melted butter and bake in oven at 428 F for approx half an hour.
12) Serve the strudel still warm after having dusted with powdered sugar.
13) The strudel goes very well with lightly whipped cream.
You might also be interested in a small variant that seeks to use less fat and less sugars possibly:
1) replace the whole cane sugar, with fruit jam
2) reduce the amount of butter to the minimum, I have used 2.12 oz in the apples, which I reduced to
52.91 oz and about 0.53 oz to spur all the strudel.
It can be a wonderful version for those who have problems with cholesterol and and who have heart problems that can not absolutely add sugar into their bloodstream.
4. SCHOKOHAPPEN: (typical German cake holidays)
from the beautiful Landlust magazine (November / December 2016):
INGREDIENTS:
7.05 oz chopped hazelnuts
10.58 oz dark chocolate
5.29 oz sugar
5 eggs
5.29 oz butter
1 pinch of salt
3.53oz of flour
1) Toast hazelnuts in a frying pan.
2) Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave.
3) Cool off
4) Preheat oven at 356F (top / bottom heat).
5) Grease baking pan.
6) Work eggs, sugar and salt for a few minutes until you get a foamy mixture.
7) Stir from the bottom upwards mixture of chocolate-butter and flour.
8) Add hazelnuts at last. Pour mixture into the mold.
In a preheated oven bake about 25 to 30 minutes; the dough should be still moisty in the center.
5. CHOCOLATE AND PEARS CAKE GIULIA’S LIGHT VERSION:
Ingredients:
3.53 oz raw sugar cane
2.11 oz of all purpose flour or buckwheat which is gluten free
4.23 oz of light butter (50% less fat than the classic butter)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
7.05 oz of dark chocolate
3.53 oz of amaretti or even better minced hazelnuts from Piedmont
4 egg yolks
0.09 gallon of Sicilian passito or Marsala
24.69 oz of juicy pears
PROCEDURE:
1) Peel pears, cut them into quarters, remove seeds and hard central part and marinate in white wine for 20 minutes at least
2) Bake pears over high heat until the cooking liquid and liqueur is completely evaporated.
3) Meanwhile, cut chocolate and melt in a double boiler or use microwave, adding 2.82 oz of light butter in pieces, stir to dissolve everything and cool it off.
4) Beat in the mixer the remaining butter with 2.46 oz of sugar and egg yolks until you get a nice smooth and light cream, and add the mixture to keep the melted chocolate warm.
5) Pour mixture into a large bowl.
6) Finely join crushed amaretti biscuits or minced hazelnuts, flour and baking powder sieved.
7) Divide the dough in 2 parts and pour the first part into a greased and floured bakingmould (diameter approx 9.45 inches), then cover all the pears with the second layer of cakedoough.
8) Bake your cake in a preheated oven at 356F for at least 40 minutes.
9) Once ready, leave for 10 minutes the cake in its pan to cool off, so that it will not collaps, so remove from the baking mould and sprinkle with powdered sugar; serve warm or cold even better.
6. CHRISTMAS CINNAMON BISCUIT (TASTY FAMILY RECIPE FROM MY SWEET GRANDMA SERGALI):
Ingredients for a big family:
8.81oz of flour
8.81oz of grinded and toasted nuts
8.81oz of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
7oz of butter (cold from the fridge)
toasted almonds + sugar + cinnamon for decoration
1) Whisk well the biscuit dough and put it in the fridge for 1 h
2) Unroll the dough and shape the biscuit dough in the favourite moulds.
3) Put the cookies on grease proof paper, paint with water and strew with sugar and cinnamon.
4) Decorate with almonds and pine nuts .
5) Bake 20 minutes approx. in the oven at 180°C (356°F) temperature
