MTC Challenge’s Chestnuts: Chestnut flour Ravioli, stuffed with walnuts and bread, topped with melted cheese / Le Castagne dell’MTC Challenge: Ravioli alla farina di castagne ripieni di noci e pane, con fonduta di formaggella ticinese

And here I am, out of breath, red faced and perpetually late. Kind of funny, because this is not my usual self. Indeed, more than often I am the one standing at the meeting point staring nervously at the clock ten minutes in advance (In fact I was almost one hour in advance at the Migros contest!). But with the blog things work differently and last minute posts are the rule.

What a Daring Challenge! Sfogliatelle ricce / Che sfida ardita, le Sfogliatelle ricce per Daring Bakers!

Sandie of the lovely blog, Crumbs of Love, was our November hostess. Sandie challenged us to make a traditional Italian dessert, along with its American version – Sfogliatelle (or better known in the US – lobster tails!) The flakey, 1000 layers of super thin dough, shaped into a horn and filled with a scrumptious filling. Così buono!

Sfogliatelle ricce has always been one of my favourite sweet treats. Anything made out of layers, especially food, fascinates me. Like a surgeon I dissect mozzarella layer by layer, and do the same thing with Msemen, a moroccan bread a friend taught me to bake recently that will be surely included in the blog. Savouring sfogliatelle I’m used to gently pull one end to see at which extent the spiral will unravel before breaking. It’s a childish but irresistible way of savouring food.

Autumn Brioche Flower with Chestnut and Butternut Squash, a winner recipe / Fiore d’autunno alla castagna e zucca butternut, una ricetta vincente

Put together a contest, some seasonal ingredients, my brioche dough and shake until thoroughly mixed. The result? An extremely soft sweet bread and a first prize win. But let’s start from the beginning. Almost two months ago I stumbled into an article in Azione, a weekly newspaper by Migros which is one of Switzerland’s retail chains leader.

Requiem for a Sourdough: Whey bread and a Fendu Fail / Requiem per una pasta madre: Pane al siero di latte e il fendu fallimentare

Sourdough is a funny creature. Sometimes it greets you with a bubbly surface and a heavenly white wine perfume, ready to start another adventure in the bread baking world, confident in a good rise and excellent flavour. Other times, when neglected , it can turn nasty and sour with a grey appereance that speaks for itself. Sourdough is alive, and as many other living creatures it’s easy to create a bond with it.

Autumn Kolache with Chestnut flour and Persimmon Jam / Kolache con farina di castagne e marmellata di cachi per Sourdough Surprises

It’s Sourdough Surprises time again! This month’s theme, kolache, was initially a bad surprise but in the end provided me with an excuse to brainstorm and come over with a new and original recipe. What happened?

I bought you flours: Potato and Za’atar Bread Roses for Twelve Loaves / Rose speziate per te: Panini a forma di rosa con patate e za’atar per Twelve Loaves

As things of life unravel I find myself almost two weeks from my last blogpost. Blame it on the weather, blame it on too many failed recipes and things to do, blame it on me and my laziness. The last days I’ve been blessed with good recipes, good lightning and the urge of writing a new post. The recipe has been waiting two weeks in the “limbo” folder and after yet another good review from one my food testers I can share it with you. This recipe was inspired by this month’s Twelve Loaves theme: spices.

Green Adzuki filled Mochi, for a new friend / Per una nuova amica: Mochi agli azuki verdi

Food speaks to me, and I speak my feelings through food. The ones that know me best are accustomed to this form of communication, and happily welcome my unspoken but cooked/baked words. A meal, a dessert, a “simple” loaf are to me very important and significant gestures. When visiting my friends, may it be in Italy or around the world, dedicating a little of my time to work in the kitchen and put together a meal to feed the people I care the most about is the norm. I am a Southern Italian Mamma deep inside my heart.

Dried wild fennel leaves, Lemon and Pepper crackers / Sfogliate di pane al finocchietto, limone e pepe

Lately baking disasters have been the norm, the uneasy feeling of not doing it right, of not being focused. Yet another batch of grissinis gets burnt, the ciabatte do not rise as expected and every single recipe and experiments turns into drama. Not good. To get back on the track and to push myself I turn to the easiest solution to soothe the wounds to my confidence: online challenges and contests. When improvising too much I often lose concentration, having to participate to contests is another thing…there are deadlines and a recipe can turn out bad once, maybe twice. I started with a quick and easy recipe, because as always I put myself in the position of squeezing my urge of baking between chores and appointments. Renouncing is not an option.