Spelt, Semi-Whole Wheat, Buckwheat flour, Wheat Germ Sourdough Bread / Pane al lievito madre con germe di grano, farina di farro, semi integrale, e farina di grano saraceno

Until a few years ago, when I baked my bread with yeast and used AP flour only, it didn’t occur to me that flours could be so different and serve different purposes. In Switzerland we do not have a thing such as AP flour, mostly because wheat flours found in the shops have all 11% protein content, unless semi-whole meal, wholemeal or other kind of grains flour. Yes, how distressing.

Daring Bakers: Pastel de Tres Leches

Inma was our Sept. 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and WOW did she bring us
something decadent and delicious! Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, creamy yet airy, super moist but not soggy…just plain delish!

As an avid foodblog reader, until some months ago when I decided to open my own blog, I was not new to Daring Bakers challenges and often admired the many efforts I usually saw depicted on website such as Tastespotting and Foodgawker. Never I would have imagined rolling up my sleeves and take the challenge too.

Sourdough and Hazelnut Grissini / Grissini alla pasta madre e nocciole

After my post on sourdough crackers I thought it would be nice, every now and then, to post some recipes that use excess sourdough. There are plenty around and I think it’s a nice way to use our little blobs excesses without having to pack the freezer with sliced bread. One of my favourite solution ever, and I warn you these sticks are addictive, is grissini.

Saffron and pistachio marshmallows / Marshmallows allo zafferano e pistacchi

Marshmallows, there’s something addictive, joyful and yet quite childish about the fluffy pastel colored candies. The danger of eating these candies lies in two factors, one being the effective impossibility of stopping munching on them resulting in stomach ache and nausea, the other would be appearing a little childish to the eye of anyone older than 14. But let’s face it, how many of you have to fight the urge of grabbing a marshmallow packet while waiting in queue at the petrol station counter?

Millefeuilles Seventh Heaven / Millefoglie al settimo cielo

“Thousand tests to tame it, a thousand experiments to find it,
A Millefeuilles to bring them all and in the Paradise of saturated fat bind them.”

Sourdough Surprises and the ticinese crumpet / Sourdough Surprises e il crumpet à la ticinese

 

Farina Bóna is a traditional product of Onsenorne Valley (Canton Ticino, Switzerland). It’s a corn flour (Zea maize), obtained by grinding very finely the previously toasted grain. Looking up in the internet, to see whether I could be helpful to fellow bloggers and followers, I found this interesting article by David Lebovitz which tells something about the history of farina bóna and also gives instructions on how to make your own toasted corn flour.

Banana Bread, the ultimate comfort food / Banana bread, cibo coccola per eccellenza

Autumn is slowly drawing in, climate is getting colder, days are getting shorter. We are hit by mixed feelings about whether adventuring out of the house risking to catch a cold out of a sudden watery change of weather, or stay in, sipping on an old good cuppa. Tea time, comforting and soothing. Nothing wipes away fatigue, stress and anxieties like a mug of black tea. There’s no game, tea wins over everything. It can be savoured with a good varieties of foods, may it be sandwiches, scones, biscuits or cakes. One of my favourite options is toasted banana bread, with a gentle spread of salted butter.

Sourdough Crackers and the art of recycling / Crackers alla pasta madre, o dell’arte di riciclare

One of the first thing that hit me when I started my adventure with sourdough baking, was the constant referring to throwing away the excess sourdough. Yes, you read well. Throwing away. All formulas to make your own sourdough that I found on the net used a lot of flour (200 gr) so you can imagine that in a few days one would swim in sourdough or be forced to throw away a lot of it. Are you kidding me? One thing I always hated is food waste. So from the beginning I decided to work on smaller percentages of flour and water, but still found myself with some excess sourdough. What to do? A quick look on the internet provided me with a lot of different solutions, from crackers to grissini and pancakes.

Versatile Blogger Award

Today yours truly tecno-incompetent blogger was awarded with the “Versatile Blogger Award” by Elly, aka Ovosodocook. Obviously I had no clue what this was about and had to go and check informations about it. Yes I do live on a different planet! Being awarded means I “have to” award other blogs which I follow and love. If any of you that have been nominated by me do not feel comfortable with this kind of “chain letter award” please feel free to delete my post on your blog and not award anyone. I fully understand that this could bother someone (oh lord another chain letter thing) and to me there is nothing mre important in life than respectiong other people opinions. If you do not respond I won’t feel offended at all. Here you go, the ones I chose for their talent, passion and enthusiasm for sharing their knowledges and skills:

http://www.myitaliansmorgasbord.com/

http://machetiseimangiato.com/

http://bricioleincucina.com

http://cakegardenproject.com/

http://familybakeryandcountry.wordpress.com/

http://figandquince.com/

http://lagreg.wordpress.com/

http://paroledizucchero.com/

http://tortore.wordpress.com/

http://unsoffiodipolveredicannella.wordpress.com

http://veggiedesserts.co.uk/

http://www.conlemaninpasta.com/wordpress/

Oggi la vostra amica tecno-incompetente (si proprio io!) ha ricevuto un award, il “Versatile Blogger Award”, da una fellow blogger che si chiama Elly di Ovosodocook. Ovviamente chi mi conosce personalmente si immaginerà la mia faccia a punto di domanda. Mi sono subito attivata per scoprire di cosa si tratta. Si, lo so, vivo su un altro pianeta! Avendo ricevuto questo award “devo” conferirlo ad altri blog che seguo con continuità e di cui apprezzo contenuti e qualità. Eccoli qua, coloro che seguo un po’ in modalità stalker. Chiaramente se qualcuno di voi nominati non avesse voglia di proseguire nel nominare e portare avanti questa cosa non fatelo. Capisco che ad alcuni possa dare noia questo tipo di cosa strutturata come le catene postali (che odio profondamente) a me sembra un’iniziativa carina e mi fa piacere ma certo non mi offenderò se riterrete opportuno cancellare il mio commento con il link e non proseguire attribuendo l’award. Il rispetto per le opinioni altrui é la cosa che mi sta più a cuore. Ed eccoli qui i miei awarded blogs, perché hanno talento, passione e condividono con entusiasmo le proprie esperienze e conoscenze:

http://www.myitaliansmorgasbord.com/

http://machetiseimangiato.com/

http://bricioleincucina.com

http://cakegardenproject.com/

http://familybakeryandcountry.wordpress.com/

http://figandquince.com/

http://lagreg.wordpress.com/

http://paroledizucchero.com/

http://tortore.wordpress.com/

http://unsoffiodipolveredicannella.wordpress.com

http://veggiedesserts.co.uk/

http://www.conlemaninpasta.com/wordpress/

Millefeuille VI drawing near to it / Millefoglie VI, sempre più vicini…

So it’s that time of the week again…millefeuille time! We’ve got good news from the kitchen and I finally have the feeling we are getting closer to get a good recipe. Ok, maybe not “the perfect recipe” but since time is coming up a good recipe will do, won’t it?