Dolci Regali, MTC’s third book is here! / Dolci Regali, finalmente il terzo libro della collana dell’MTC!

I don’t know about you but to me Christmas is a source of massive headaches and late races to purchase gifts. Not to mention gift wrapping and greeting cards, people who know me well are aware of my habit of wrapping presents in old newspapers, which I love to scribble with stupid doodles and vaguely punk collages. This year I won’t miss the opportunity to buy this wonderful volume for some of my friends and family members. “Dolci Regali” is the third book of MTC’s book series, which was born a year ago “L’ora del paté”. With such a title (Dolci means Sweet and Regali has two meanings, gift and royal) there’s no better choice for a Christmas gift, isn’t it? As in the book series’ dna this volume focuses on a very specific topic, exploring a period of time between the late seventeenth and early nineteenth century, which saw the rise and triumph of pastry, with the birth and development of leavened sweet breads starting from the mythical babà.

My first Daring Bakers hosting: Paris-Brest! / Il mio primo Daring Bakers come “ospite”: Paris Brest!

The November Daring Baker’s challenge took us for a ride! Luisa from Rise of the Sourdough Preacher challenged us to make Paris-Brest, a beautiful pastry celebrating the Paris-Brest bicycle race.

Almost one year ago I got an email from Jenni, from The Gingered Whisk blog, asking me whether I was up for a Daring Bakers Challenge hosting. I pinched myself once, twice, took a deep breath and said yes without hesitation but already worrying about what to come up to. I have been admiring DB’s challenges since many years…I remember still being in Genoa so we are talking about eight years ago, when Daring Bakers was born. After a lot of thinking my choice fell on a French pastry classic since my favorite challenges are those involving pastry skills, and oh boy a range of skills are needed indeed to pull off a perfect Paris-Brest!