The recipe for Spicy Brownies

Today we present the classic chocolate dessert of American cuisine, brownie or brownies, (plural because it should generally be served cut into small squares, then more than one per serving).

This recipe is personalized by our friend Elisa Giannini, who as usual astonishes us with her imagination and creativity. The addition of Sichuan pepper, the aroma of almonds and orange, make these brownies an irresistible sweet.

ricetta brownies

Ricetta Brownies

Ingredients
180 g of flour (I used Senatore Cappelli)
130 g of butter
2 eggs
100 g of raw cane sugar
250 g of dark chocolate to melt
2 tablespoons of bitter chocolate powder
½ teaspoon of Sichuan pepper (it is not pungent like black pepper and after the spicy, has a light lemon flavor)
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
Grated rind of an untreated orange
Almond extract
2 tablespoons of rum
1 pinch of salt
½ sachet of yeast
170 g of walnuts and almonds and hazelnuts cut in coarsely chunks

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie with the butter, then add the sugar and mix until the consistency is not homogeneous (you need a little patience do not be afraid) … let it cool down.

Combine the rum, almond extract, maple syrup, salt, pepper, orange zest and mix again.

Combine the eggs

Sift flour, baking powder and chocolate separately and add to the mixture, taking care to mix well, adding the powders a little at a time.

Once you have obtained a creamy and homogeneous mixture, add the dried fruit into small pieces and pour it into a rectangular pan lined with parchment paper (then having to cut the squared brownies the rectangular pan allows you to have no waste).

Bake at 180º C for about 30 minutes.

Elisa’s advice:

Remember …… when you cut the squares you will notice that you have many “crumbs” left in the pan …. Use them in the oven to get a delicious crumble to serve in single portions on a cream. For me it is excellent to combine with this recipe Lemon and mascarpone cream.

Brownies e crema

Brownies e crema

How to make the Sponge Cake

Ingredients:
6 eggs
180 g sugar
180 g flour
butter and flour the mold

Put 6 eggs and sugar in the planetary tank

Assemble with a whisk.

Sift the flour and add it gently, moving the dough from bottom to top.

Grease and flour a round mold with a zip.

Pour the base of the sponge cake into the mold and bake at 170ºC for 20/25 min.

Open the hinge and unmold the sponge cake.

Let it cool on a grill.

Tart, cream, figs and strawberries

For the base:

500 g flour 00
18 g baking powder
150 g softened butter
190 g sugar
3 eggs
vanilla
grated lemon peel (optional)

Work all the ingredients quickly, without heating the dough.

Wrap it in the kitchen foil and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough with a rolling pin up to a thickness of 0.5 cm. With the round dough cup, form circles and lay them on the tart cake molds.

Drill the bases with a fork.

Bake at 180ºC for 10 minutes.

This dough can also be used for bases for pies and biscuits.

Custard

600 g milk
150 g cream
127 g of egg yolks
165 g sugar
30 g corn amid
30 g rice starch
vanilla
lemon rind

Mix starches and sugar with a whisk, add a ladle of cold milk then the egg yolks. Add the milk and the boiling cream. Bring on the heat and simmer it and let it cool as quickly as possible. Pour the cold and smooth cream into a sac a poche with a smooth round tip of 1 cm in diameter. Leave in the fridge.

Strawberry gel

You can find the Strawberry Gel recipe here

Composition

In a flat dish sprinkle the strawberry gel.
Lay the shortcrust base.
With the sac a poche fill the tart.
Peel and cut figs into wedges. Arrange on the cream.
Garnish with mint leaves.

Thanks Alex!

Recipe for pancakes with almonds

If you want to start your day with a smile and full of energy you have to try  these pancakes with almonds, gluten free.

This recipe is quick, easy and also healthy.

Pancake alle mandorle

Pancake alle mandorle

Ingredients for 4 people:

260 g almond flour
4 large eggs
120 g almond milk
600 g extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
15 g raw honey (2 tablespoons) or maple syrup
8 g bicarbonate
cinnamon powder
sea salt

Work all the ingredients in a bowl with a whisk. The batter should be neither too thick nor too liquid.

Heat iron or a nonstick pan, grease with coconut oil and with a ladle, pour the amount required to make the first pancake. The first pancake is also a test to see if the dough is the right consistency. Once cooked on one side, with the help of a spatula, turn and finish cooking also from this side..

Continue with all the batter.

Serve pancakes hot accompanied with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, maple syrup, nuts, yogurt sauce with wild berries, peanut butter, goji berries ….

Best Red Velvet Cake Recipe

There are many legends that run around the Red Velvet Cake, one of the most popular American cakes.

I think his real story begins with the great American depression of the end 800.

It seems that John Adams, in 1888 he opened a company to extract and food coloring.

With the Depression, its products began to have less market and had the brilliant idea of developing a promotion sale of innovative for its time.

In those years some cakes took a slightly red colored, due to the chemical reaction of some ingredients used: cocoa and the acidity of other products.

Adams decided to create the red cake that had ever been made and had distributed more drugstores possible, billboards with the image of the pie. The main ingredients to make the cake were only the red coloring and vanilla extract. To those who had bought them would have been given the secret recipe, thus enticing customers to spend anything extra to buy its products.

So he managed to overcome the difficult years and the Red Velvet Cake became increasingly popular.

Best Red Velvet Cake Recipe

Best Red Velvet Cake Recipe

Today the reference recipe comes from the Magnolia Bakery in New York.

Magnolia Bakery in New York

Magnolia Bakery in New York

Red Velvet Cake

For the base

440 g flour 00

170 g butter (at room temperature)

3 eggs (room temperature)

450 g sugar

6 teaspoons red food coloring liquid

16 g unsweetened cocoa powder

6 g vanilla extract

9 g salt

370 g white natural yogurt (or buttermilk)

7 g apple vinegar

7 g bicarbonate

For the cream:

50 g flour 00

500 g whole milk

450 g butter (at room temperature)

400g castor sugar

9 g vanilla extract

Method:

for the base mount planetary softened butter with 225 grams of sugar until it will be nice fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, alternating with the remaining sugar

Add the sifted cocoa, coloring and vanilla while continuing to mount.

Dissolve the salt into the buttermilk or yoghurt

In a bowl mix apple vinegar and baking soda

Stir in butter based, alternately, the flour, buttermilk with salt and vinegar with baking soda.

Spread the mixture evenly into three cake tins from 24 cm diameter butter and flour

Bake in oven preheated to 180 ° C for about 25-30 minutes (check the area with a toothpick).

Remove from oven, let cool and remove from the molds.

For the vanilla cream dissolve the flour in cold milk inside a saucepan stirring with a whisk.

Put on low heat and simmer for 10 minutes stirring constantly.

Cool quickly.

Cream butter and sugar until it is very fluffy.

Add vanilla and continue beating.

Combine the cream and flour at room temperature.

Parry disks and put the first on a hard cake.

Make a first layer of cream. Continue with the other disks.

Completely cover the cake with cream and smooth it with precision.

Leave it covered in the refrigerator until serving.

Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake

How to make candied ginger

Candied ginger recipe

Candied ginger

500 g fresh ginger and peeled
500 g brown sugar or granulated
water

Peel the ginger with a potato peeler or with the tip of a spoon.

Cut into slices or cubes

Boil ginger for 20-30 minutes, until it is tender.

Put the ginger in a saucepan, cover with water, add sugar and cook slowly, stirring, especially at the end when the water will be absorbed almost completely.

Spread the candied ginger in a sheet of baking paper and let cool.

Mix with other brown sugar.

NB The water from the first boiling, is an excellent anti-inflammatory tea, then you can use either hot or cold, perhaps adding a little honey.