Homebaker’s Cookbook: Almond and Sesame Biscuits / Il Ricettario di Homebaker: Biscotti alle mandorle e sesamo

Some time ago I discovered reginelle palermitane, very simple but delicious biscuits. This recipe is simply inspired by the original biscuits, which I thought were the result of a mix between wheat flour and almonds an ingredient in fact missing in the original recipe, as found out after a fairly detailed study, nonetheless I decided to put in the mixture to make my own version for Homebaker’s Cookbook. I chose to use homebaker’s farina 400, a flour specific for biscuit baking. Since I started using it in my recipes for biscuits and crackers I keep a package in the pantry…the difference, compared to biscuits baked with all purpose flour, is tangible and all the baked goods resulting are definitely more crisp! These almond and sesame biscuits are not too sweet and are ideal for both breakfast and a coffee break.

Butternut Squash and Licorice Muffins / Muffins alla zucca butternut e liquirizia

Butternut squash mon amour. I started appreciating pumpkin and butternut squash quite late into my twenties, but since my father grows these vegetables in his garden I now cannot wait for the arrival of the cold season in order to taste sweet and savoury dishes cooked with this versatile ingredient. Its natural sweetness makes it an excellent ingredient for cakes and muffins so why not do a little experiment and combine it with one of my favourite ingredients ever? And here it is…the omnipresent liquorice! Needless to say the pairing is superb, these muffin are soft and sweet (but not too much). You can’t get any better than this!

Ceci n’est pas un macaron: Black Tea “Macarons” / Ceci n’est pas un macaron: “Macarons” al thé nero

Yes I know, I promised myself I wouldn’t be baking sweet treats anymore…but this recipe had been waiting for more than a year to be published only waiting for me to improve my macaronage and piping skills. Since many egg whites have been stored in my freezer since December I thought it might be the right time to give it another shot. And I gave it, actually three shots (two of which turned out ok, one of which turned out too runny to even bake the batch). The result is okay but not quite the thing. As you well know proper macarons look like this. Flat top, nicely raised foot. Mine look like the Swiss famous Luxemburgerli sort of a sweet mini hamburger. But my guinea pigs assured me, they taste good and have the right chewiness to them, so I decided to post the recipe and share it with you.

Daring Bakers: Venetian Easter Breads / Daring Bakers: Veneziana (Fugassa de Pasqua)

The April Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She challenged us to Spring into our kitchens and make Easter breads reflecting cultures around the world.

You can’t imagine my happiness when I read this month’s theme for the Daring Baker’s challenge, Easter Breads! I had just tried out this gorgeous recipe by Fables de Sucre and was so amazed by the perfect result at the first attempt.

Celeriac, White Chocolate, Cardamom and Fleur de Sel Caramel tartellettes / Tartellettes al sedano rapa, cardamomo e caramello al fleur del sel

I have been toying with this idea for a long time now. The inspiration came both from Kate’s beautiful blog, Veggie Desserts, and a mock bechamel sauce I made a few years ago with the use of celeriac to avoid fatness and heaviness given by butter and milk while using the natural sweetness and creaminess of this plant. Creaminess, sweetness, white, white chocolate, cardamom.

Aniseed, candied peel and almond meal all-flours-in bread / Pane mille farine con anice, arancia candita e farina di mandorle

Sometimes you just feel too lazy to check in the pantry or to go groceries…but not for baking. In these occasions it often occurs you are short on ingredients, especially those you keep seeing hanging around but never use. This is what happened to me last week, I was craving to bake a bread with licorice in the dough and remembered a small tin box that my mum keeps in a cupboard in the kitchen (I’m at my parent’s place garden sitting). She always did, since I was a child. Well…probably something changed because there was no trace of licorice candies in any corner of the kitchen, let alone in the other rooms of the house.