Author: Anna

9 YEARS OF FOOD ADVENTURES

Yesterday marked the ceramic blog-versary, that is, 9 years of an exciting ‘marriage’ I’ve been sharing with good food and culinary adventures.
As usual, I tend to celebrate the time of my first post, published that day, back in 2014, when I was in Sweden and I baked semlor for the Swedish Fat Tuesday, during my time there as an exchange student. Even if nowadays writing for Aroma di Cannella is not very frequent, I like to keep this little foodspace going and see how, over the years, sharing recipes and foodstories has accompanied me in several life adventures.

For Aroma di Cannella newbies or if you have just landed here for the first time more or less by chance, I can recommend this other foodstory from last year to understand why every year it’s sort of a double celebration around this time. Or alternatively, if you are keen on more reading, have a look at the feature section ‘Down the memory lane’ below.

As usual, blog-versary is the occasion for some good baking time, so here I share with you this nice recipe of crumble-blueberry muffins. Enjoy!

CRUMBLE-BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients (for 12 muffins)

For the muffins:
200 gr baking flour
1 pinch of salt
125 gr natural yogurt or low-fat quark
135 gr sugar
2 eggs
75 ml mixed seeds oil
150 gr blueberry

For the crumble:
25 gr sugar
20 gr butter
40 gr flour

Prepare the crumble

In a bowl, mix the sugar, flour and butter (chopped in cubes and cold from the fridge) first with a fork and then with your hand, until sandy. Put the bowl in the fridge to rest while you prepare the muffins.

Prepare the muffins

Mix the sugar with the eggs, add then the oil, the yogurt and the pinch of salt, and mix well.
In a bowl, combine the flour, the baking powder; and the pinch of salt, add them to the dough of sugar, oil and eggs, and mix. Last, incorporate the blueberries (previously mixed with 1 tbsp of flour, in this way you prevent them from sinking at the bottom of the muffin).
Fill the muffins cups with dough until 2/3 of the cup, add 2 or 3 blueberries on top, and then cover the muffins with the crumble.

Bake the muffins and enjoy!

Bake the muffins in pre-heated static oven, 180°, for 15/17 minutes until golden. Let them cool down before serving.

Down the memory lane:
Looking back at the past 9 blog-versaries of Aroma di Cannella

ITALO-DUTCH FAT TUESDAY BAKES

Hope the Italian friends won’t be mad at me after reading this post, but today I am going to say it: I baked the Carnival castagnole with hageslag, that is, with the codette di cioccolato or chocolate sprinkles.

I know, it might be because I have been living in TulipLand for almost 8 years now and I might have some influence from the Nederlander. Yet, when last Sunday, in occasion of Carnival baking plans for Fat Tuesday, he told me: Why don’t we cover the castagnole with hageslag? I seriously thought: it could work! And it did.

Let me perhaps take a few steps back and clarify two things: why castagnole and hageslag.

If you have been following me a little bit in the past years, you probably know that Fat Tuesday is quite a big event for Aroma di Cannella (for short explanation of why Fat Tuesday is so iconic, you can read this post, and more in the post carousel at the end of this page). And, as tradition calls, I spent some time over the past weekend (and not today, that is Fat Tuesday, because I had to work!) on doing some Carnival bakes. And this time, the first time, with my Nederlander.
I was looking for some easy baking that (very challenging) did not require frying. While scrolling the posts from past years, I thought I could try to replicate the castagnole di Carnevale that I made a few years back and, finally, write an English version of the recipe. I ended up, at the end, using another recipe (see below), yet, the final result was pretty nice and the dough turned out to be very versatile with various decorations.

And here we come to the hageslag part. If you are not from The Netherlands, you know hageslag or codette di cioccolato (chocolate spinkles) as a chocolate garnishment that you put on top of cookies and muffins. Well, in the Netherlands (and probably nowhere else in the world), people have it for breakfast (or even lunch, I can assure you!): take a slide of bread, spread butter on top and last sprinkle the hageslag. Yes indeed. Not our thing, right?

Going back to the Fat Tuesdat bakes, after baking the first batch of plain castagnole (the one in the center, in the photo below), I thought: how could we make the others a bit different? And the Nederlander answered: with hageslag!
I was surprised that, for once, he thought about chocolate sprinkles for their real use, that is, on sweets and bakes. So we did. And the castagnole turned out really nice and crunchy.

And after such inspiration, we baked the third batch with pistachio crumbles. My favorite!

Recipe (castagnole di Carnevale)

For the dought (about 40 pieces)

1 egg
100 gr sugar
8 gr vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)
40 ml sunflower oil (or equivalent of butter)
1 orange zest and 2 tbsp of its juice
8 gr baking powder

For decorations

Icing sugar
4 tbs Hageslag (chocolate sprinkles)
4 tbs Pistachio crumble

Procedure

1- Mix the sugars with the egg, oil, orange zest and juice.
2- Add the dry ingredient and mix the ingredients a bit with a spoon. Then, start kneading the dought with your hands: it will turn crumbly first and then you should be able to make it compact, like a cookie dough. Also, it should be sticky.
3- Divide the dough in pieces of 10 gr each and roll them into a rounded shape (the castagnola, the name derives from castagna, or chestnut, because of the shape).

For the plain castagnole (middle, photo): place them in a silicon baking tin for small, round pastries (diameter 3.5) or in an oven-tray, covered it baking paper. Cook in pre-heated over (ventilated) at 170° and bake for 11-12 minutes.

For the hageslag castagnole (right side, photo): put the chocolate sprinkles on a plate and roll the castagnole on the sprinkles, so that they adhere to the dough. Place them in a silicon baking tin for small, round pastries (diameter 3.5) or in an oven-tray, covered it baking paper. Cook in pre-heated over (ventilated) at 170° and bake for 11-12 minutes.

For the pistachio castagnole (left side, photo) put the pistachio crumble on a plate and roll the castagnole on the crumble, so that the crumble adheres to the dough. Place them in a silicon baking tin for small, round pastries (diameter 3.5) or in an oven-tray, covered it baking paper. Cook in pre-heated over (ventilated) at 170° and bake for 11-12 minutes.

Buon Carnevale!

Down the memory lane:
Looking back at the past 9 years of Fat Tuesday FoodStories

CHOCOLATE-PUMPKIN MADELEINES

And it’s that time of the year 🎃 it’s time for the

🟠Pumpkin Series🟠

As some of you might know, I’m a big fan of pumpkin! Yet, when I was younger, I really didn’t like it…with time I’ve learnt how to appreciate it and use it in so many preparations!

So let’s get started with a newbie recipe from the @aroma_di_cannella’s repertoire: CHOCOLATE-PUMPKIN MADELEINES 😋

For the skeptical palates, these madeleines are a good introduction to enjoy a very nice (and #lactosefree!) sweet treat made of pumpkin. And no worries, you’ll barely taste it with the predominant flavor of chocolate, enriched by a light pinch of cinnamon. But trust me, the pumpkin is in there 😉

Enjoy! 🎃

INGREDIENTS (For 25 madeleines)

250 gr pumkin
80 gr sunflower oil (or mixed seeds or equivalent of butter)
2 eggs
100 gr brown sugar
8 gr vanilla sugar
130 gr flour 00
30 gr unsweetened cocoa powder
10 gr baking powder
Pinch of salt
Cinnamon

For the chocolate glaze
80 gr fresh cream
80 gr dark chocolate (or milk chocolate if you want a sweeter taste)

PROCEDURE

Start with chopping the pumpkin and steam-cook it until it softens. Then, blend it together with oil.
In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugars and salt, then add the pumpkin & oil mix, followed by the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and cinnamon. Stir all ingredients until well combined.
Pour the batter (approx 2 tbs) on a madeleines tin. Bake in preheated (static) oven 200°C for 12/13 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the glaze. Heat the cream until almost boiling. Then, add the chocolate and stir well until it melts. The glaze should be smooth and dense.

Let the madeleines cool down before dipping them in the glaze.

CHOCOLATE-PISTACHIO CREAM MUFFINS

Better later, than never! I’m back 🎉 with one ingredient that has become a dear one to me on the past 3-4 years: pistachio 💚

CHOCOLATE-PISTACHIO CREAM MUFFINS

Instarecipe

Ingredients (for 12muffins)
2 eggs 
150 gr baking flour
75 gr butter
150 gr sugar
75 ml milk
8 gr baking powder
35 gr cocoa powder
12 tsp pistachio cream
50 gr pistachios + some extra for decoration

Procedure

Mix the soft butter with the sugar with a mixer, and then add one egg each time.
In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and the baking powder; add them to the dough of sugar, butter and eggs, and mix. Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the milk until smooth. Finally, add the finely chopped pistachios. 
Fill the muffins silicon cups with 1tbs dough, then add 1 tsp of pistachio cream, and add 1 tbs so to cover the cream. Last sprinkle some pistachios (you can chop them in bigger pieces) on the top of the muffins. Bake the muffins in pre-heated static oven, 180°, for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

PASTA AL PESTO DI PISTACCHI

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Sicily for the wedding of two friends and, as a pistachio lover, I had my dose of pistachio-based food 😋 and I couldn’t resist to stop by a small supermarket and get some fresh, grained pistachio, and some pistachio pesto. So the other night, while still holiday-ing in Italy but back North at my fam’s, I decided to make a nice pasta dish with the pistachio pesto 💚 Add some tomatoes 🍅 and cheese 🧀, and you have a perfect summer treat. Super simple and super yummy 🤤

InstaRecipe (for 2 people)

You need:
160 gr penne
200 gr cocktail tomatoes (diced)
3/4 tbs of pistachio pesto
olive oil
Grana Padano cheese or Parmesan to taste

Procedure

In a big pot, heat the water for the pasta. Cook the penne as per package instructions.
In the meantime, in a pan cook the tomatoes with some olive oil until soft. When ready, pour the pasta in the pan with pesto, and some extra olive oil if needed. Stir well for a couple of minutes. Serve with some grated Grana Padano cheese or Parmesan.

Buon appetito!

LEMON CURD PIE

Summer time ☀️🏖⛰ calls for a fresh, fruity treat 😋 and if it’s super easy to make, completely no-oven bake, even better 😉

Grab a few ingredients and get ready to enjoy this delicious LEMON CURD PIE with a fresh touch of raspberries and coconut 🍋❤️🥥

#Instaecipe (baking tin 20 cm)

Start with melting 125 gr of butter and blending 225 gr of Digestives cookies. Mix the two ingredients and put the mixture at the bottom and on the sides of a cake tin, previously covered with baking paper. Use a spoon to make the butter-cookie dough flat. Put the cake-base in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the lemon curd. Mix 4 egg yolks, 80gr lemon juice and 80 gr sugar, and cook the mixture in low heat, while stirring. Once nicely yellow and creamy, remove the mixture from the stove and add 80gr butter. Stir until the butter is completely melted. Once ready, pour the curd in a bowl and cover immediately with transparent film.

When the curd is set and cold, pour it on the top of the cookie base. Store the pie in the fridge for the night or at least 4 hours before serving.
Final decorations with some fresh raspberries, coconut rasp and whip cream. Enjoy it 🍹