“Cuochi d’artificio”: Sweet Pesto Snails / “Cuochi d’artificio”: Lumachine al “pesto dolce”

And here we are, time flies doesn’t it? This is my last episode on this season of “Cuochi d’artificio” as the program is taking a well deserved summer break. A challenging adventure which made me grow so much and discover the fascinating world of tv production, one experience I hope to have the honour and privilege to repeat next year. This episode has for a theme snails. Well, nothing more suitable for bread, as dough is often shaped in this guise, and bread snail can be found in bakeries filled with all kind of ingredients, both sweet and savoury. In the past I have used this shaping to make my Crunchy Licorice Snails, Rye and fennel seeds snails with blood oranges and red onion chutney and Poppy seed snails. This time around I thought it could be fun to bake snails that at first glance might seem stuffed with basil pesto…while instead they are flavoured with a fresh mix of minced mint, pine nuts, white chocolate and a touch of grated lemon zest. The dough is 100% vegan. The use of cocoa butter makes it particularly soft, the best vegan bread I have developed so far…it’s really light as a feather and very similar to brioche dough. You can change the filling omitting white chocolate and put another 100% vegan ingredient. Unfortunately my knowledge in this area is limited and my attempt to produce a vegan vanilla custard failed miserably.

Here is a list of the required ingredients and step by step instructions to bake the bread and to make the filling. Here you can see the episode where I explain all the steps to bake these cute snails at home.

From the book “Dolci Regali”: Estonian Kringel / Dal libro “Dolci Regali”: Estonian Kringel

My passion for MTChallenge’s monthly appointment is well known to all of you. Even macrobiotic diet hasn’t stopped me, even thought I had to drop the last challenge. There is no way to get me out of the most challenging and fun food bloggers’ challenge in the web. I just love that feeling of anticipation waiting for the announcement of the winning recipe and the following days, waiting to know what will be the next challenge. I learned so much, certainly not enough, and enjoy it very much. Needless to say when the book “Dolci Regali” came out I didn’t waste a minute and bought several copies of the book, one for me and the other for friends and family members. Anyone obsessed with home baking should get a copy. Each page is full of wonder, inspiration and valuable information.

Twelve Loaves: Licorice, Strawberries and White Chocolate Babka / Twelve Loaves: Babka alla liquirizia, fragole e cioccolato bianco

Here we are, as every month I participate to Twelve Loaves bread collection. I must admit this month’s theme has been a bit hard on me since strawberries, the chosen ingredients, are anything but in season at my latitude.