MTC Challenge: Piadina Romagnola

This month’s MTC Challenge was a massacre for me…never underestimate what a flatbread can do to your brain. Tiziana (last month’s winner) requested not one but 5 recipes. Yes 5 recipes, and obviously I had to come up with something different, an attitude I have always had and which eventually turns up against me like in this case.

Bavarian Cream with White Chocolate, Cinnamon and Orange and Dark Chocolate Butterflies / Un bavarese a quattro mani e due cervelli: Bavarese al cioccolato bianco, arancia e cannella con farfalle di cioccolato fondente

As I promised to you here on my Garganelli homemade pasta post I am finally posting the recipe for the dessert me and Michela made while her visit in Switzerland. Pastry is a world that fascinates me. Accuracy, balance of ingredients, pure aesthetics. Three core elements that just thinking about them make me shake with anxiety.

Easter Bread: Hot Cross Buns / Pane Pasquale: Hot cross buns

Yet another month and Panissimo is back again. March marked the beginning of the “Easter leavened season”, which is usually known for complex and rich in fat recipes. Usually the time required for testing and improving these recipes is significant.

Sourdough Surprises: Monkey Bread drove us bananas! / Sourdough Suprises: Monkey bread, il pane delle scimmie che ci ha fatto perdere la testa

It’s the 20th and Sourdough Surprises is back. As always I am delighted to discover a new bread kind, and what bread! I must admit this has been a great hit among my new official recipe testers: Flavia (go and take a look at her work here, she’s an amazing photographer and graphic designer) and her studio buddies Daniela, Micha and Alessandro not to mention Antonio, Flavia’s boyfriend, who devoured 3 and a half out of 4 monkey bread balls she had taken home. I must admit I was quite skeptic, not being a huge fan of overly sweet things, and was a bit scared only looking at the shape and fierce fatness of this very special bread.

A late Christmas treat, Gingersnap biscuits by The Garum Factory / Un dolcetto molto natalizio…po’ in ritardo! Biscotti allo zenzero e spezie di The Garum Factory

Last Christmas I was full of good intentions. Many challenges were thrown around the web, themed especially for the festive season and in all good faith were pinned down on my calendar, looking forward to participate. Not only I forgot to bake a bread for Twelve loaves but didn’t participate to a single contest. Blame it on the panettone obsession, on the new part time job, and well…on the festive season! The only recipe that was completed, foreseeing many happy festive baking moments was candied ginger.

Smithy Loaf, or about Twelve Loaves and the pleasure of unfussy baking / Smithy Loaf, o anche di Twelve Loaves e il piacere di una semplice infornata

Keep it simple. This is this month’s Twelve Loaves theme, as beautifully explained by the talented Rossella in her blog Ma che ti sei mangiato?. Simplicity can freeze. Always in search of the elaborated techniques, which require time and effort but reward with breathtaking results and oh so many compliments we forget about the joy of a simple, quick bake. Yes baking can be rewarding with little efforts, using basic ingredients and techniques you can obtain delicious results within one hour sharp.

Merry Belated Christmas and a latecomer recipe: My Mum’s Mincepies / Tardivi Auguri di Natale e una ricetta in differita: I Mincepies di mia Mamma

Merry Belated Christmas! Working in a shop around this time of the year means no time to blog around and unfortunately little baking and cooking too. But I am back, and cannot exempt from leaving one little traditional recipe even though it’s a latecomer.

Christmas is nothing without traditions. I grew up with a weird mix of Father Christmas meets Joan Baez in front of the manger scene. But I guess that’s our tradition.

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.

Stale bread? French toast! / Pane secco? Colazione gustosa!

I must admit it, sometimes I get carried away. Last weekend some friends came over for breakfast and I overbaked. Not only they had a go at my latest millefeuille experiment, I also baked some brioches, an experimental bread (regretfully chucked away…a failure!) and four baguettes.