Coconut Biscuits with Dark Chocolate Topping

A lovely treat to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee, these biscuits are also easily transportable, and therefore suited for a picnic buffet. For the topping, I used dark chocolate with 50% cocoa solids, as it tastes less bitter and is a good compromise even for milk chocolate lovers.

Salted Caramel Millionaire's Shortbread

My love affair with salted caramel, which I currently seem to be sharing with the whole world, continues. This time, the heavenly ingredient takes its proud place in the heart-attack provoking confection that is millionaire's shortbread. If you are not familiar with shortbread, know that it is a biscuit made with an obscene quantity of butter, originating from Scotland. At some point an evil mind, or perhaps a genius (depending on your point of view!), had the idea of covering this delicious but already very rich biscuit with a layer of caramel and another one of chocolate, hence creating the millionaire's shortbread: a deluxe version of the "humble" original!  It packs a zillion calories a bite, so I recommend you approach it with care :-), but its pure decadence makes it the epitome of a sweet treat!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies

A true American classic, that does not apologise for what it is. Why should it? These biscuits yeld the same addictive combination that made salted caramel so successful: i.e., the saltiness (of the peanut butter) that marries wonderfully with the sweetness (of the brown sugar and the milk chocolate). They are light and crispy on the surface, but chewy and fugdy in the middle. Make a big batch to to share with friends on a cold afternoon, while watching a DVD and sipping hot chocolate.

Pear & Chocolate Tart

Here comes the Autumn, bringing us brown leaves, chillier air and the longing for comfort food.  I am a fan of pears, although funnily enough (at least for me!) I do not know many people that share this passion. If you too are not that keen on this fruit, I especially encourage you to try my tart: the soft shortcrust pastry (previously described in this post) encases a smooth chocolate filling, and chunks of this juicy, sweet Autumnal produce. It's not without reason that la crostata al cioccolato e pere features on the menu of many Tuscan restaurants around this time of the year!

Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes

If you are a regular follower of this blog (in that case, a special hello to you and welcome back!) you may notice that I have posted a similar recipe before, for lemon cupcakes. However, I have recently came up with a rivisited and, in my opinion, improved version, therefore I have decided to publish this one too and let the readers decide for themselves. This new version includes a lemon curd filling, and a couple of tablespoons of lemon curd also go to enrich the butter cream icing. Finally, the cupcakes are drenched in a tangy lemon syrup before the icing is applied.

Blackberry Jam Tart

Last August we stayed at a beautiful agriturismo in Tuscany, called Fattoria Pianetti. For breakfast, the owner would offer her guests a selection of home-made jams and cakes, amongst which a divine tart (crostata in Italian) made every day with a different filling - apples, cherry jam and so on. The peculiarity of these tarts was that they were made with a soft shortcrust pastry, as opposed to the usual biscuity one. The result was delicious; I can describe it like something halfway between a cake and a tart, holding a fruit or jam filling. These tarts made with pastafrolla morbida (soft shortcrust pastry) are often found in Italian cooking, typically in home-made, rustic desserts prepared by grannies and mammas to finish off a family lunch, or to serve at breakfast time alongside a cappuccino or caffellatte.

Salted Caramel & Chocolate Mini Tarts

This has to be one of my favourite desserts ever. Light, crisp shorcrust pastry encasing a smooth chocolate ganache, which upon the first bite reveals a melting centre of salted caramel. What's not to like? True, they require a little effort to make, and I can assure you they will be gone pretty quickly, but that's the case with all the beautiful things in life :-)

Walnut & Banana Bread

Although for some reason it is known as "bread" (maybe for its loaf-like shape?), this is actually a cake. While it would certainly not disappoint served with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon, I also find it is particularly suitable to have at breakfast, as a substitute to the usual croissant, as the nuts and bananas make it filling and a real energy-booster. This is also a smart way to use up any overripe bananas that may have been left in your fruit bowl for a day too many, and have developed those unattractive, little dark spots. In fact, the riper your bananas, the moister and more delicious your cake will turn out to be!

Orange & Almond Cake

This cake tastes of the sun and to me, it evokes all the wonderful scents carried by the gentle breeze of Sicily or perhaps Greece, on a bright Summer day. This is why it inspired me to serve it with Greek yoghurt, topped with toasted walnuts and a drizzle of honey. The recipe is by one of my favourite chefs, Michel Roux Jr, but I added a few twists to make it my own - the sweet and tangy orange drizzle topping being one of them!

Colourful Fruit Skewers

This is not really a recipe, more of a suggestion for a fun way to serve your usual fruit salad. The combination of of the fruit chunks' bright, vibrant colours looks really appetizing, and it is one of the healthiest desserts you could ever offer your guests or family after an evening meal. It also makes for an attractive centrepiece on the buffet table at a party, or brunch. The credit for this idea goes to my lovely Italian aunties Bonaria, Paola, Patrizia, Ornella and Doli who created it for our Easter lunch.

Coconut & Chocolate Cake

Or Bounty Cake, as my brother called it, as the combination of coconut and milk chocolate immediately reminded him of the famous chocolate bar that used to be very popular in the eighties. This cake is next to impossible to get wrong as the high quantity of coconut ensures it stays very moist, therefore you can bake it for a party or a special occasion with the minimum effort and the maximum outcome!

Tiramisú

One of the most popular Italian desserts,  tiramisú means "pick me up",  due to the many energising ingredients that make this pudding.  Eggs, sugar, coffee and liqueur will reinvigorate you with a boost of calories and stimulants that would keep you going for a while. Next time you need to power through a studying session or need to prep all night for a work presentation, swap your Redbull with a bowl of tiramisú - there are less chemicals and the taste is a thousand times better ;-)

Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake, i.e. pure pleasure served on a plate. There are many variations out there, but for me it has to be a soft, moist sponge covered in thick, luscious chocolate icing. Only use the best dark chocolate you can find for this; Divine or Green & Blacks never disappoint.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

A feathery sponge cake, drenched in a glistening, tangy syrup: fairly simple, yet so full of character. These are the words that best describe this cake, in my opinion. The first time I had it was when my boyfriend's mum baked it for me, in the occasion of my birthday. I have been making it ever since, following the recipe she passed on to me, with a little twist: the addition of two tablespoons of lemon curd to the batter, to make it even more lemony! I like using a loaf tin as I enjoy the rectangular, yellow slices that it produces, however you can use a regular round tin if you prefer.

Ricciarelli

Ricciarelli are almond and sugar biscuits traditionally eaten around Christmas time, which originate from the city of Siena, in Italy. They are fat and gluten free (although very sugary), with a melt in the mouth consistency and a sweet, lingering scent. They keep well in an airtight container and therefore make lovely presents to give to your friends and family. You can accompany them with an aromatic espresso, or dip them in dessert wine (for instance, Vin Santo).

Apple & Almond Crumble

This is an autumnal, comforting pudding which lacks the sense of guilt you may be left with after scoffing a sugar loaded, dairy-heavy dessert, as it is mainly constituted by fruit. Or at least this is what I like to tell myself. I served this with a dollop of Yeo Valley's Apple Flapjack yoghurt, to remain on the virtuous side; however double cream or vanilla ice-cream would not be out of place here, either.

Lemon Cupcakes

I made these for a friend's birthday party yesterday. I followed the recipe from the Hummingbird bakery cookbook, however introducing a few changes of my own (i.e. I put less sugar in the sponge mix, to balance the sweetness of the icing; and included lemon juice in the latter, to make it more tangy). I also left out the yellow food colouring for the icing and chose use blue sugar flowers and purple edible glitters as decorations.

Chocolate & Amaretto Torte

The idea for this torte sprung from the need to create a pudding for my boyfriend's birthday dinner. Two of his favourite ingredients are chocolate and amaretto, and he loves chilled desserts. Therefore, I have included amaretto both in the form of liqueur and biscuits, and used an equal amount of dark and milk chocolate mixed with mascarpone to make a smooth filling. The result is an incredibly rich, indulgent pudding. Probably suitable to be a birthday dessert, as you should only be allowed to consume this amount of calories once a year!

Peach & Almond Pie

You honestly can't beat Summer fruit. As much as I love the crunchy apples and juicy pears of Autumn and Winter, they simply can't compare to the colourful abundance of apricots, peaches, melons and berries you get in the warm season. My greengrocer yesterday was displaying such a variety of Summer fruit, all smelling enticing and sweet, that I suddenly got an urge for baking a peach pie! I decided to follow the recipe I use for making plum and walnut cake (which may sooner or later end up on the blog, too!), which is Nigel Slater's; however I implemented a few changes, such as roasting the peaches in honey before incorporating them to the cake batter; using self raising flour; and substituting the chopped walnuts with flaked almonds. Yum! Half of it's already gone...not all eaten by myself alone, mind you!

White Chocolate Pannacotta with Raspberry Coulis

Pannacotta has to be one of the easiest desserts you can make. The name means cooked cream, and that's exactly what it is! You can flavour it in any way you want, with vanilla, coffee, cardamom...in my case, white chocolate! Now I have to apologise, as I forgot to take a picture of the finished coulis, but I assure you the bright pink of the coulis looks extremely pretty against the delicate, pale pannacotta. Moreover, its sharpness cuts beautifully through the richness of the dessert. Give it a go and let me know what you think!