This gluten-free dark chocolate cake was created by accident in Capri in 1920, in a similar way to the birth of Tarte Tatin. The pastry chef was in a stressful day and created this magic cake with chocolate and ground almonds forgetting flour: the result is this magic cake covered by a thin and crunchy crust that contains a moist and soft interior like a chocolate truffle.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Yield: Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients for a 7 IN (20 cm) mold

• 6,5 oz (g 185) almond flour
• 4,5 oz (125 g) dark chocolate 70%, crumbled
• 4,5 oz (125 g) butter, soft
• 3 medium eggs, room temperature (kept out of the fridge at least 12 hours in advance)
• 4,5 oz (125 g) white sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark rhum

Instructions

These mini savoury panettoni are a bit time-consuming but not hard to do, you can decide whatever stuffing you love. The classic recipe included prawns with cocktail sauce, smoked salmon with cream cheese and chives and lemon zest. Or cold cuts and cheeses, or vegetarian fillings.

You can choose whatever filling you love.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes (4 hours for cooling down) | Yield: Makes 6  servings.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup (50 ml) warm milk
• 13 g fresh baker’s yeast or 4 g dry active yeast
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 ½ tbsp (50 g) butter, room temperature, cut in small pieces
• 1 cup (240 g) bread (Manitoba) flour
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• 25 ml water
• 1 ½ tbsp (20 g) white sugar
• Butter for the tin
• 4 tbsp fresh cream or an egg yolk + some milk for glazing

Preparation

Add the warm milk, honey, and water to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment on medium speed. Add the yeast and, after a minute, the egg.

Then add the flour, and when it is well mixed, add the sugar, and finally the salt. If the dough is too dry, add some water. The total time including the kneading of the dough takes around 15 minutes.

Let the dough sit in a deep bowl and cover with plastic wrap. If the temperature in your kitchen is around 77 F (25 C) let it rise for 2 hours. If your temperature is around 66 F (19 C) like in my kitchen, add half an hour.

After the dough has doubled, divide it into 6 balls and knead it, bending the folds under each ball.

Butter the muffin tin and place one ball in each hole. Let it rise again for 2 hours, covering with plastic wrap.

Modify the rising time according to the temperatures in your kitchen.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F (175 C).  Using a pastry brush, coat the balls with fresh cream, or an egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons of milk. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

When the pannettoni reach room temperature, move to a cooling rack. They will be firm enough to be cut in thin slices the next day. Calculate making 5 cuts, top included. Fill the layers every 2 cuts, in order to make a sandwich. Choose your favourite canapé fillings. Once you have finished, make at least one vertical cut.

The tradition of Easter eggs is a very ancient one, as it stems from the celebration of spring as a rebirth. It is the only celebration in the Christian calendar which has a variable date, falling on the Sunday after the first spring full moon.

The festivity’s name itself – Easter in English and Ostern in German, comes from Eostre, the ancient Northern goddess who is at the origin of many traditions related to this festivity.

The egg, never mentioned in the bible, is present in many Indo-European cultures as a symbol of fertility, and eating it is a way to celebrate Spring, the renewed cycle of the seasons and the new agricultural crops.

In the Middle Ages, eggs were cooked and decorated with flowers and leaves. Being in lockdown because of the coronavirus, I had no time to indulge in buying decorations at the grocery store, so I used pansies from my garden.

If you have other supplies in the fridge (I had bought an incredible quantity of raspberry puree before the lockdown, and I always store supplies of gelatine and baking products in my pantry), it could be fun to make some namelaka – a Japanese word that means ultra-creamy.

Prep Time: 40 minutes | Cooking Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour + 15 minutes | Yield: Makes 8  servings.

Ingredients for chocolate bavarois

• 200 g dark chocolate, chopped finely
• 200 g fresh whipping cream
• ½ L (2 cups) milk
• 200 g white sugar
• 4 yolks
• 20 g gelatine

Ingredients for namelaka

• 112 g raspberry purée
• 7 g icing sugar
• 170 g white chocolate, chopped finely
• 2.5 g gelatine
• 200 g whipping cream

Instructions for chocolate bavarois

Put the chocolate, the milk, and half of the sugar in a saucepan and melt the chocolate, stirring constantly.

Soak the gelatine leaves in water to soften.

Prepare a bain-marie. Whisk the yolks and the remaining sugar in the bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy. Squeeze the gelatine, add it to the mix, and melt. Add the chocolate and str until it becomes thick.

Let it cool, and when it reaches room temperature, whip the cream and add it to the mixture. Incorporate slowly, folding it in with delicate movements from top to bottom.

Pour into the mould and refrigerate 4 to 5 hours before serving.

To remove it from the mould, dip it into a bowl of hot water for 2 or 3 seconds, then turn the bavarois over onto a dessert plate and remove the mould.

Instructions for namelaka

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a bain-marie.

Soak the gelatine leaves in water to soften.

In a saucepan over low heat, combine the fruit purée with the sugar, squeeze the gelatine, add it to the purée and melt.

Combine the fruit mixture with the white chocolate and emulsify it with an immersion blender.

Add the cream and emulsify with the immersion blender again.

Place in the fridge and let it sit all night.

The day after you can whip with a mixer and use it with a pastry bag.

Tangerine gelo. The mere mention of this dessert evokes a sensation of freshness, citrus scents, and summer nights. Tangerine gelo is a typical recipe of the Sicilian tradition. Whereas its origin has been lost over time it likely has its roots in the Arab-Norman domination, so rich in creativity, pervaded by the scent of oriental spices and citrus fruits. Before the advent of corn starch carob flour was used as a thickening agent.

This tangerine gelo is a very simple and light dessert that uses fresh fruit, offering you the opportunity  to create a dessert that is fresh, seasonal, vegan and perfect for avoiding all kinds of food allergies and intolerances. The use of corn starch adds thickness to the gelatine since traditional gelatines do not work with acidic ingredients. Moreover, not only do you avoid using ingredients of animal origin, but you also enjoy the freshness of tangerines. The same basic recipe can easily be turned into other gelatines with other seasonal fresh fruits, like watermelon and melon in summer, or even with cinnamon.

The tangerine is quite sweet, but the addition of lemon adds an acidic note that is offset by the piped decoration. If you are lactose intolerant, substitute the whipping cream with the lactose free variety, or with sugar pearls if you are vegan.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Freezing Time: 4 hours | Total Time: 4 hours and 20 minutes | Yield: Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients

For the gelatine

• 45 g (⅓ cup) corn starch
• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) tangerines, juiced and filtered
• 1 lemon, juiced and filtered
• 55 g (¼ cup) white sugar

For decorating

• 125 ml (½ cup) fresh whipping cream
• 20 g  (3½ tbsp) powdered sugar, sifted

Instructions

Pour all the ingredients except the corn starch in a saucepan and put it on the stove. Simmer over low heat for 3-4 minutes, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the corn starch, sifting it directly into the saucepan and mix thoroughly.

Pour into glass bowls and let them set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

For the decoration, chill a medium mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for 10 minutes before beginning. In the chilled bowl, whisk the whipping cream until it begins to foam and thicken. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whisk until soft peaks form. Do not over-whip. Pour into a pastry bag and decorate the top of the gelatine.

This Christmas Log, also known as Swiss Roll, originates from the French Bûche de Noël.

It represents the ancient tradition of burning a large log in the fireplace which started on Christmas eve and was supposed to last for the entire festive period, later replaced by this suggestive dessert. Nowadays, the different fillings for the sponge cake can vary from pistachio to tropical fruits. In the European tradition, we can find similar cakes all over the Western countries, such as in Spain with its Brazo de Gitano literally the Gipsy’s Arm, which probably share a very common concept.

Although it is not an extremely difficult recipe, it is fundamental to respect the temperature and cooking time for the sponge cake. If it dries out too much, it will be impossible to roll, and it will break.

Prep Time: 45 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour| Yield: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

For the sponge cake

• 5 eggs
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ tbsp (10 g) honey
• 1 cup (100 g) cake flour, sifted
• ¾ cup (140 g) white sugar

For the chocolate ganache

• 1½ cups (350 ml) fresh whipping cream
• 12.5 oz (350 g) dark chocolate, chopped

Instructions

Put a bowl in the freezer.

For the sponge cake

Pre-heat the oven at 425° F (220° C)

Separate the eggs, and put the yolks in the bowl of a free-standing mixer and in another bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt.

Add the honey, the sugar, and the vanilla to the yolks, and beat for 7 to 9 minutes with the whisk attachment.

Gently fold in the whipped egg whites in two batches using a large spoon, with large circular movements from top to bottom.

When it is well-mixed, add the flour in 3-4 batches. Pour the batter in a 12×15 inch (30×37 cm) baking pan, covered by parchment. Level it, creating a ½ inch (1 cm) layer.

Bake for 5-6 minutes until golden and firm.

While it is baking, prepare a film layer on the kitchen top, the surface must be larger than the one of the sponge cake.

When the sponge cake is ready, lay the top of it on the film, take the parchment off immediately, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar, in order not to make it stick together. Roll it immediately, using the film to help your work, close and leave it in the film.

For the chocolate ganache

Put the cream on the stove and bring it to almost a boil. Switch off and pour the chocolate in it. Mix it with a whisk until chocolate will be perfectly melted.

Move to the bowl you take off the freezer and whip with an electric hand whisk for 10 minutes.

Spread half of the ganache on the sponge cake, except 1-inch (2 cm) from the border. Roll it again, cut a small piece which shall be connected to the log, in order to make a small branch.

Spread the rest of the ganache on the log and use the prongs of a fork to simulate the surface of a log.

This Imperial Milk is a family recipe and originates from what Italians traditionally call “Portuguese Milk” or what is more internationally known as “crème caramel”. It goes by different names and is very common in all Western cuisines.

The ingredients are simple: eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla combined in a pleasant dessert, which is given a unique touch thanks to the addition of finely ground almonds and Amaretto cookies. This finishing touch was conferred by my great-grandmother who  used a coal burning range. She had to perfectly regulate the coal inside the oven and cooked the Imperial Milk by placing burning embers on the mould’s metal lid.

This dessert was extremely popular in European restaurants during the last decades of the twentieth century, probably due to the convenience for restauranteurs, who could prepare it quite in advance and to keep it until clients requested it.

The basic ingredients of this recipe bring back the use of eggs and milk, combined to make use of what were considered medicinal virtues of eggs since ancient times. During the Middle Ages these ingredients were appreciated because of the need to eat meatless alternatives during fasting periods, especially during Lent.  Nevertheless, in Spanish-speaking countries, the attention is focused on the eggs, “flan de huevo” or more simply “flan”, and not on the milk.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 1 hour + 5 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour + 35 minutes | Yield: Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients

• 4 cups whole fat milk
• ½ cup Peeled almonds
• 4 Amaretti cookies
• ½ cup white sugar
• 7 medium eggs, room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean
• For the caramel
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/3 cup white sugar

Instructions

Bring milk and vanilla to boil in light medium saucepan. Remove from heat and let it cool down.

Pour the almonds in a baking pan, on parchment) and bake it in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes at 350 F (180 C) – until pale gold. Let them cool down.

Pour the ingredients for caramel directly in the mold. Protecting your hands with gloves, put the mold over low heat and dissolve the sugar in it. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to boil. Boil without stirring until mixture turns deep golden brown, swirling pan occasionally. Carefully tilt mold to coat bottom (not sides) with caramel.

In a grinder, pour the almonds, the Amaretti and 1 tablespoon of sugar and grind the mix, until it turns into a powder.

With an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and the rest of the sugar until pale. Add the mix of powdered almonds and Amaretti, and the milk through a sieve. Pour the custard in the mold you have prepared.

Place the mold in a baking pan and add enough hot water to it to come halfway up sides of mold.

Bake at 320 F. (160 C) for 1 hour and grill for 5 minutes at 400 F (200 C).

In the case of the Italian Milk Portuguese style, the mould is covered by a lid in order to keep the top of the custard soft. In this case, the almonds and cookies must raise to the top and form a crispy crust.

Run a small sharp knife around edge of custard to loosen. Invert custard onto plate and serve.

Fried custard is a versatile dish. According to where you are in Italy, it has different variations: it is considered mainly as an appetizer in the Marche and Emilia regions, a part of a sumptuous mixture of fried treats like apples, stuffed fried olives (olive all’ascolana), different meats, vegetables and zucchini flowers. The different components vary according to seasonal availability. There are also slight differences in the batter for this fried appetizer. Our ancestors, who probably had iron clad stomachs, created these dishes in times when there was no heating in the houses, and everyone had a very active life.

A question that many foreign clients ask is “Do Italians really eat all these courses and food in a single meal?” The average person of my generation cannot, unless there is a special occasion. However, we enjoy offering our guests a taste of the richness and variety of Italian cuisine. A generous attempt that is sometimes misunderstood as trying to kill them with kindness through food.

In Venice, this is considered a Carnival dish and it is part of an incredible variety of fried sweets that Italians adore. Like cenci (link ad altra ricetta), it is part of a collection of fried recipes.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Yield: Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients for the custard

• ½ cup (100 g) white sugar plus more for sprinkling after frying.
• 3 medium egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons (35 g) pastry or 00 flour
• ¼ cup (35 g) corn starch
• 2¼ cups whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 or 3 strips of organic lemon zest

Ingredients for the batter and frying

• 1½ cups breadcrumbs
• 2 medium eggs
• sunflower oil for frying

Instructions

Gently whisk egg yolks, eggs, corn starch, flour and sugar in a saucepan until smooth, then whisk vigorously until light in colour, 1–2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add the milk in a steady stream; scrape the sides of the saucepan. Scrape in vanilla seeds discarding the pod or add vanilla extract. Add lemon zest. Cook mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it starts to thicken. Continue whisking vigorously until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, 6–10 minutes. Immediately remove the custard from heat (do not bring to a boil). Remove and discard lemon zest.

Using a rubber spatula, pour the custard into a baking dish lined with parchment paper.

Let it cool.

Slide a knife around the sides of custard to loosen, cover with a plate and flip over onto the plate. Peel away the parchment paper and cut into cubes or diamonds.

Pour breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl or on a piece of kitchen paper.

Break the eggs in a bowl and whisk. Using your fingers, dip each cube in the egg mixture, then coat with breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess.

Fry until they are golden, and sprinkle with some sugar.

Make Ahead

The custard can be cooked and left in the dish one day ahead.

Usually I stick to the Italian tradition, but by now, this dessert has entered our kitchens too. Moreover, I added a personal touch, since I had fantastic organic oranges at home, at the top of their Sicilian flavor.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Yield: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (500 ml) fresh whipping cream
• ¾ cup (200 ml.) milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 organic orange
• ¾ cup (100 g.) icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons Cointreau
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180C) and put 6 small ovenproof ramekins in a baking tin.

In a medium bowl, combine yolks and icing sugar, and mix with a whisk. Shave the orange zest in it.

Keep mixing while you slowly add all the ingredients except the caster sugar.

Divide the mixture between the ramekins and pour warm water into the tin until it comes two-thirds of the way up the ramekins. Bake for about 50 minutes until the custard is set – it should only wobble faintly when shaken. Cool and then chill until cold.

Before serving it, scatter the tops of the cold brûlèes with caster sugar, and use a blowtorch or hot grill to caramelize the tops – if using a grill, you may need to put them back in the fridge for half an hour before serving to cool down again.

With the Bologna Certosino (Chartreuse cake) I want to introduce you to a typical Christmas cake of Bologna cuisine, with almonds, pine nuts, unsweetened chocolate and candied fruit. It is almost unknown out of Emilia-Romagna region: sadly, the fame of many regional cakes is clouded by industrial products, which I am not a great fan of.

This cake is called panspeziale (apothecaries’ bread) – a kind of gingerbread, since in Middle Age it was created and baked by apothecaries (speziali).

Later, the Bologna Chartreuse friars began to bake it, and it was named after them. Other scholars believe the origin of his name is due to “special bread” (pan spzièl ) in Bologna dialect.

After careful historic researches, in the summer of 2003, Bologna delegation of Academy of Italian Cuisine deposited at Bologna Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the official recipe of Certosino.

This one, nevertheless, is not the canonic recipe but my mum’s, since that, like in all families, there is always the addition of little personal touches.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Yield: Makes 8-10 servings.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (100 g.) whole almonds, peeled
• ¾ cup (100 g.) pine nuts
• 1 cup (100 g.) dried figs, in chunks
• ¾ cup (100 g.) raisins
• 1-cup (100 g.) walnuts
• 7 oz (g. 200) diced candied fruit mix
• 21 oz. (g. 600) whole candied fruit (orange, cherries, cedar)
• 1-tablespoon anise seeds
• 1-teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups (250 g.) pastry flour
• ½-cup (100 g.) white sugar
• ¾ cup (80 g.) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-teaspoon baking soda
• Tepid water

Instructions

Heat the oven, 350 F. (180 C.)

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients, adding the diced mixed fruit, except the candied ones which must be left in a whole.

Pour the mixture in a baking pan, previously covered with parchment. Use the candied fruits to decorate the top of the mix and bake it for 40 minutes at 350 F. (180 C.).

Check with a wooden toothpick if it is cooked. If the stick is still wet, add 10 minutes.

These chocolate truffles are lovely special presents to give at Christmas time: there is nothing like a homemade gift for our families and friends to express our love for them.

The combination of chocolate, rum, coffee, and Amaretti cookies is reminiscent of Turin’s Bonet. These chocolate truffles are very festive and particularly appropriate to celebrate the winter holidays. The dark chocolate can be replaced with white chocolate and you can play with different ingredients to make the most of their versatility.

These chocolate delicacies have a very “exotic” yet transalpine touch. Piedmont cuisine is deeply influenced by its proximity with France, and not only because of geography; in fact, the Savoy dynasty, which ruled Italy until the end of WW2, was blood related to the French dynasty. Not only did the Savoy family try to compete with its French cousins in building palaces that wanted to resemble Versailles, but the two languages spoken in the parliament of Turin were French and the Turin dialect, until the constitution of the Kingdom of Italy.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 2 1/4 hours (including chilling time)| Yield: Makes 20-25 truffles.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup (250 ml.) heavy (fresh whipping) cream
• 1 tablespoon (8 gr.) instant espresso coffee
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml.) dark rum
• 12 ounces (350 gr.) Good-quality finely chopped semisweet chocolate, or chocolate chips
• 4 ounces (80 gr.) amaretti cookies

Instructions

Set a heat-safe medium bowl over a medium saucepan filled with an inch or two of water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water in the pot). Heat over medium heat until water is simmering, then add cream to bowl and heat until warm, about 3 minutes. Add instant coffee and chocolate and cook, stirring constantly, until melted, about 3 minutes (or up to 5 minutes if using chocolate chips).

Carefully remove the bowl from the saucepan and pour chocolate mixture into a second heatproof bowl or pie pan (preferably made from metal, since it cools more quickly). Add the rum and mix carefully. Let cool at room temperature 15 minutes, then freeze until truffle base is firm, about 1 hour.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Once chocolate mixture has chilled, use a teaspoon, melon baller, or small scoop to drop truffle mixture by the heaping teaspoonful onto the prepared sheet. Form truffles into balls by rolling them quickly between the palms of your hands. This process is a little messy, so wash your hands in cold water halfway through rolling, if desired. Freeze truffles on prepared sheet for 20 minutes.

Topping:

With a blender or food processor, finely chop the cookies and pour the powder in a plate.

Once chilled, roll truffles in the topping pressing slightly to adhere the ingredients to the truffles. Store finished truffles in the refrigerator up to 5 days; remove to room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Note: if you do not find amaretti cookies or do not like them, you can replace them with chocolate powder, shredded almonds, grated pistachios or hazelnuts.