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Olive Oil Cake (Torta all’Olio d’Oliva)

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January 27, 2021

“Can’t you come up with another name?”

That was my husband’s response when I said I was going to post a recipe for olive oil cake.

I suggested the Italian, Torta all’Olio d’Oliva.  He wasn’t amused.

I guess he thinks the idea of olive oil in cake isn’t appetizing.

Nonetheless, the cake is a staple in regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.  And a delicious one, at that!

Oranges at a biodynamic citrus grove in Calabria near the Italian Culinary Institute

There are endless variations.  Some are thin, barely an inch tall.  Some are savory-sweet.  Some barely reveal the presence of olive oil.  Others proclaim the flavor of olive oil loudly.  Some are good for snacking (with tea or coffee).  And a few are actually good enough to serve for dessert with no embellishment.

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Then there’s the olive oil to consider.  Even among really good extra-virgin olive oils, and I do suggest you use really good extra-virgin olive oil, there is a range of flavor profiles.  Words like grassy, bitter, peppery, fruity, and buttery come to mind.

Which you use will influence the flavor of the cake.  All will be good but some may be more to your liking than others.

Freshly grated orange zest is key to the flavor of this olive oil cake

Honestly, though, does the world need another recipe for Torta all’Olio d’Oliva?

That’s a rhetorical question, right?

I mean, really, we wouldn’t ask if the world needed another recipe for chocolate cake.  We’d just lean into it and make it happen.

If you’ve never had olive oil cake, and if you like to bake, I suggest giving this version a try.  It has a moist crumb, crunchy top (from brown sugar), and a hint of orange from orange zest and orange liqueur.

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This cake is suitable as dessert, not just snacking.  It’s not going to be a spectacle of a dessert, like the Maraschino Cherry Cake I made from the first edition Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, but I believe it will surprise many of your guests with just how good it is.

Large crystals of brown sugar, such as Turbinado or Zucchero di Canna add crunch to the top of the cake

Now for the apology:  I prefer to cook, and I DEFINITELY prefer to bake, using the metric system.  It’s just so much easier to scale recipes up and down.  Also, among professional bakers, most ingredients are weighed, even liquids.  Without a scale that measures in fractions of a gram, however, it is not practical to weigh small amounts of ingredients like baking powder and salt.  For these, I stick to teaspoons and tablespoons when I publish recipes though I often weigh these ingredients, too.  Remember, though, that a standard teaspoon is now treated as if it were 5 ml, and a tablespoon 15 ml, even though both are just a smidge less, at least in America.

We picked a few oranges for a course on preserves at the Italian Culinary Institute

Although the recipe app will convert metric measures to non-metric, I’ll be happy to supply anyone with ingredient quantities in the typical volume-based American system upon request.

Print Recipe
 Olive Oil Cake (Torta all’Olio d’Oliva)
This is a cake which definitely benefits from sitting, tightly covered, at room temperature for two days before serving. The flavors mellow and the olive oil diffuses throughout the cake. For the topping, use a brown sugar that is not soft and moist but rather granular. Use a good quality orange liqueur such as Arancello (sometimes called orangecello in the United States) or Grand Marnier.
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 60 minutes
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 60 minutes
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Oil a 9” springform pan with olive oil.
  2. Cover the bottom with parchment and oil the parchment.
  3. Sprinkle the pan with sugar and dump out the excess. Even if you spread out the oil precisely it will tend to bead up, unlike butter, so there will be some sugar clumps. Don't be concerned.
  4. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well and reserve.
  5. Combine the liqueur, lemon juice and vanilla. Reserve.
  6. In a planetary mixer, using the whisk, beat the sugar, eggs and orange zest on high speed until thick and ribbon-like, approximately 3-4 minutes.
  8. Still on high speed, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and beat until fully incorporated.
  9. The batter should get thicker.
  10. On low speed, add the flour mixture, in three additions, alternating with the liquid mixture, in two additions, starting and ending with flour. Scrape the bowl once or twice to ensure an even mix.
  11. Pour into the prepared springform pan.
  12. Sprinkle the top with brown sugar.
  13. Bake at 350°F until brown, firm on top, and a cake tester comes out clean; approximately 60 minutes. Do not underbake the cake or it will fall as it cools.
  14. Cool the cake for 15 minutes in the pan then poke the top all over with a skewer.
  15. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the cake and allow it to absorb.
  16. Remove the side of the pan and cool completely.
  17. When the cake is cool, remove it from the base of the springform pan. Wrap it in plastic and allow to rest at room temperature for at least one day, preferably two, before serving.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2021 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Crostata di Amaretti (Amaretti Tart)

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July 21, 2020

You can keep the chocolate!

It’s not that I don’t like chocolate.  It’s just that I’m not one of those people who thinks chocolate is the absolute best flavor for sweets.

My favorite flavors are almond and coconut.  Preferably together.

I remember a cake I ate when I was 12 years old.  It was an absurdly moist yellow cake that tasted of almond and coconut.

A bottle of Amaretto di Saronno before it was rebranded.

In memory of that cake, which I had only once, I have an entire stash of coconut-almond cake recipes.  I’m building up to the day when I head to my kitchen in Palm Springs (so I can bake without contending with the nearly 8000-foot elevation of Villa Sentieri) and bake coconut-almond cakes every day till I create one that tastes the way I remember it.

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In the meantime, I make lots of coconut- and almond-based desserts including almond gelato, maraschino cherry cake with almond filling (from the first edition Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook), raspberry bars with almond crust, coconut pistachio crumb cake, Brazilian coconut pudding, coconut pie, Marcona almond blondies, and wattalappam (a coconut custard from Sri Lanka) among many, many others.

Zia Fidalma selecting produce at a supermarket.

One of my favorites, is an improbable recipe I got from Great Aunt Fidalma in Tuscany nearly 20 years ago for a crostata (tart) with a filling of crushed amaretti cookies and amaretto liqueur.

I know, I know, amaretti and amaretto only pretend to be almond.  They’re really made from apricot pits.  At least the commercial versions are made from apricot pits.

You knew that, right?

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The brand of amaretti I typically buy is Lazzaroni.  It’s the one that comes in the red tin.  Until recently, the brand of liqueur I bought was Amaretto di Saronno.  In 2001 Amaretto di Saronno was rebranded to Disaronno Originale.

Amaretto di Saronno after it was rebranded Disaronno in 2001.

When I went to buy the Amaretto to make this crostata, I found an unfamiliar one from the makers of the cookies, Lazzaroni Amaretto.

While Amaretto di Saronno is made from infusing apricot pits, the good folks at Lazzaroni say that they infuse their famous cookies (which, of course, contain apricot pits).

Lazzaroni amaretti and an amaretto liqueur by the same company.

Since the flavor of this crostata is entirely dependent on the amaretti and the amaretto, I suggest you buy good quality ones.

Print Recipe
 Crostata di Amaretti (Amaretti Tart)
Use very good quality amaretti cookies and amaretto liqueur as the taste of the crostata is completely dependent on them. You can buy amaretti in packages of 200 grams, if you buy a larger quantity, weight out 200 grams or 7 ounces. Most home cooks in Italy buy little envelopes of powered (artificial) vanilla flavoring. These are not common in the United States, so I’ve substituted vanilla extract. You can use one envelope of Italian vanilla flavor instead of one teaspoon of vanilla extract.
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Pasta Frolla
Filling
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Pasta Frolla
Filling
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Instructions
Pasta Frolla
  1. Blend the flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla powder, if using, salt and lemon zest in a food processor until combined.
  2. Add the butter, cut in pieces, and vanilla extract, if using, then blend till well combined.
  3. Add the eggs and blend till the pastry almost forms a ball.
  4. Remove the pastry from the food processor and use your hands to press everything into a single ball.
  5. Wrap the pastry in waxed paper and refrigerate for an hour before using.
  6. Roll the pasta frolla into a 13-inch circle.
  7. Line a greased 10" deep dish tart pan with a removable bottom with Pasta Frolla going about 1 inch up the sides. Trim the excess and use it to patch the crust if necessary.
Filling and Assembly
  1. Reserve six amaretti for garnish.
  2. Crush the remaining amaretti and combine with liqueur, and vanilla extract, if using.
  3. Soak, occasionally crushing the amaretti further, until thick and batter-like.
  4. Combine sugar, lemon zest and vanilla powder, if using.
  5. Combine the egg yolk and the sugar mixture with the amaretti mixture. Mix well.
  7. Beat the three egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff.
  8. Fold a spoonful of the egg whites into the amaretti mixture to lighten it.
  9. Gently fold in the remainder of the whites, in two portions.
  10. Pour the filling into the tart pan lined with pasta frolla.
  11. Garnish the top with the reserved whole amaretti.
  12. Bake at 350°F approximately 30 minutes, until golden brown.
  13. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes then gently remove the sides of the pan. (I like to do this by setting the pan on a large can then gently jiggling the pan apart.)
  14. Cool thoroughly on a rack.
  15. The crostata should be stable enough to slide off the bottom of the tart pan and onto a serving platter.
  16. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Torta all’Arancia (Orange Polenta Upside-Down Cake)

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March 4, 2020

Italy is lavished with citrus, more so in Southern Italy than Northern Italy.  Even in Tuscany, though, families traditionally use a limonaia to winter-over lemon trees grown in pots.

Potted lemon trees at a house in the village of Benabbio in Tuscany.

Citrus fruits feature prominently in Italian cuisine, especially in Southern Italy.  Calabria is responsible for about 25% of the citrus fruit produced in Italy.

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A very short list of Italian foods that contain, or are made from citrus includes the famous limoncello liqueur and its orange-based cousin, arancello; panettone that is traditionally made with candied citron; lemon sorbetto (sorbet); an array of marmalades and jams; candied citrus peels of various types eaten as sweetmeats, sometimes coated in chocolate, as well as diced and incorporated into cakes; citrus salads, including an amazing Sicilian salad of oranges, fennel, onions and black olives; and the endless dishes where lemon juice is the basis of a pan sauce or salad dressing or, in lesser quantities, perks up other flavors without making itself known.

A rustic limonaia at a home in the village of Benabbio in Tuscany. It may be simple but it works beautifully.

Bergamot, most of which (and certainly the highest quality) comes from Calabria, is the defining flavor of Earl Grey Tea.  It is also used in an array of cosmetics and fragrances.

Maestro Paolo Caridi teaching a class at the Italian Culinary Institute.

Bergamot is also one of several citrus fruits used by Maestro Paolo Caridi to concoct the scrumptious citrus flavoring he uses in some of his pastries.  I’m itching to find a source of bergamot, which I understand grows in Palm Springs, California, to make a batch, having gotten his formula when I studied at the Italian Culinary Institute.

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Being surrounded with citrus at our home in Palm Springs, I try to find ways to use the bounty.  It took me a while to come up with an orange cake (torta alle arance) that was everything I though an orange cake should be: a moist, not to sweet cake with a sturdy crumb and a distinct orange flavor.

A potted lemon tree on Great Aunt Fidalma’s terrace in Tuscany.

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 Torta all'Arancia (Orange Polenta Upside-Down Cake)
Instead of cutting the oranges in slices, you can supreme them if you prefer the look of sections rather than slices. If possible, use the metric measures for the best results.
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Topping
Cake and Assembly
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Topping
Cake and Assembly
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Instructions
Topping
  1. Grease a 10-inch x 2-inch circular cake pan with butter.
  2. Finely grate the zest of the three oranges without any of the white pith. A microplane grater work well. Reserve the zest and oranges separately.
  3. Combine brown sugar, butter, white sugar, and orange juice in a small pan. Heat, stirring frequently till butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Raise heat and boil for 2 minutes, without stirring, until slightly thickened.
  4. Remove caramel syrup from the heat. Stir in the zest of three oranges. Pour the caramel on the bottom of the prepared pan. Allow to set for approximately 5 minutes, until cool.
  5. Meanwhile, slice the oranges approximately ¼ inch thick. Cut off all pith and rind. Remove the tough core from any slices that have it. Scissors work well for doing this.
  6. After the caramel has cooled for about 5 minutes, arrange orange slices over the caramel without overlapping. Cut slices as needed to fill in the larger gaps between the full slices.
Cake and Assembly
  1. Stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Reserve.
  2. Beat the butter in an electric mixer until lightly creamed.
  3. Add the white sugar, then beat at high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 4 minutes.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium after each addition until the egg is combined.
  5. Mix in sour cream then vanilla and orange zest.
  6. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture a little at a time and mix until almost combined. Finish mixing by hand.
  7. Spoon the batter over the orange slices in the prepared pa. Spread the batter and tap the pan to remove air bubbles.
  8. Bake at 350°F until a cake tester comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
  9. Using a knife, loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert onto a serving dish. Cool completely.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Rabbi Goldie’s Jewish Apple Cake

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September 5, 2018

In September 1972, at the age of 17, I went from the small town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

Little did I know how much my life was going to change, nor how sheltered I had been growing up in Johnstown.  There were a few trips to Florida and California by car, and a portion of every summer spent in Atlantic City, but other than that my life mostly revolved around the family and happenings within a few hours’ drive of Johnstown.

A few weeks before I left for college, I got a note from Jon Rikoon who was to be one of my roommates.  Jon lived on Long Island.  I don’t think I’d ever been to New York at that point.

Harnwell House, the dorm (now a college house) I lived in during freshman year

Another of my roommates (we had a three-bedroom, four-bed dorm “apartment”) was Chip Fleischmann, as in Fleischmann’s yeast.  The fourth roommate only lasted the first semester and I simply can’t remember his name.  (He kept to himself mostly.)

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Early in freshman year, Jon started dating Gail Milgram.  Gail spent a lot of time in our apartment and she and I became very good friends.

Gail’s relationship with Jon didn’t last beyond freshman year but our friendship did.  We saw a lot of each other throughout our undergraduate years and for a few years thereafter while I was in medical school.

Our friendship remained strong.  In fact, at one point early in medical school Gail and I had to temporarily stop spending time together as her boyfriend at the time was jealous of our relationship.  Needless to say, he didn’t last!

Gail and I were in infrequent contact after my first couple of years in medical school.  In fact, years could go by without contact but, somehow, we always managed to reconnect.

As the years did, in fact, go by, Gail officially changed her name to Goldie.  She also became a rabbi.

A few months ago, out of the blue, just after I decided to post a recipe for the Jewish Apple Cake that (the then) Gail taught me how to make in college, I received an email from her.

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She was in Europe for the summer and we set up a time to chat by video conference but her internet connection did not cooperate and we were unsuccessful in our attempts to chat.  We’re planning another attempt at video conferencing when both of us are in the States later this fall.  I’m looking forward to catching up with her.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy what is now, officially, Rabbi Goldie’s Jewish Apple Cake!

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 Rabbi Goldie's Jewish Apple Cake
It is best to bake this cake in a plain, shiny aluminum pan. A dark pan will overcook the outside before the center is done. Don't add the sugar to the apples before you are ready to pour the batter into the pan or it will pull a lot of liquid out of the apples.
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Rating: 4
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Jewish
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 90 minutes
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Jewish
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 90 minutes
Passive Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 4
Rating: 4
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Instructions
  1. Grease and flour a 10" tube pan with a removable bottom.
  2. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
  3. Peel the apples, cut them in quarters and remove the core.
  4. Slice the apples crosswise into 1/8 inch thick slices.
  5. Mix the apples and cinnamon and set aside.
  6. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream oil and 2 cups plus 3 tablespoons sugar.
  7. Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition.
  8. Add 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon orange juice and vanilla. Mix well.
  9. Add flour and baking powder mixture and mix well.
  10. Add 5 tablespoons of sugar to the apples and mix well.
  11. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan.
  12. Top the batter with half the apples.
  13. Top the apples with half the walnuts, if using.
  14. Add the remaining batter and top with the remaining apples and walnuts, if using.
  15. Bake at 350°F for approximately 1 hour 40 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
  16. Cool for 10 minutes on a rack. Remove from pan and cool completely.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Maraschino Cherry Cake

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July 18, 2018

In  September 2012, at a wine paring dinner at The Compound Restaurant in Santa Fe during the holy days of Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, a group of us hatched an idea to start a dinner group.

After a lot of discussion and email exchanges, we decided to name the group Santa Fe Ate, both for what we do and for the (play on the words regarding the) number of people in the group.

From the “Things You Can Cook in a Wood-Burning Oven” dinner: Roasted Cauliflower with whipped Goat Cheese, Ricotta, and Olive Oil Dip and Cannellini alla Toscana

We had our first dinner in January 2013 and we’ve been going strong ever since.  We meet about once every three months, rotating houses.  At each dinner we decide the theme for the next dinner.  This may not be the best time to make such a consequential decision given the amount of alcohol typically consumed.  For example, one of our themes was French Indo-China 1920s to 1930s!

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Frank and Doug don’t really cook so their group assignment is always to come up with a signature cocktail and appropriate wine pairings for each course.  They have leeway to be creative in finding or creating a cocktail, which they have to do for even for cultures where drinking alcohol is not really common.  If the theme of the dinner relates to a wine producing region, the wines are generally from that region to the extent feasible.

From the French Indo-China 1920s to 1930s dinner: Cambodian Fish Amok (Fish and Coconut Milk Curry Baked in Banana Leaves)

The other six of us do successive rounds of emails refining the list of dishes to be prepared and organizing them into courses.  Our task is to be as authentic to the theme as possible.

French Indo-China 1920s to 1930s was probably our most narrow theme.  Others have included, for example, Summer in Provence, Winter in Friuli, Along the Silk Road, Persia (not Iran but Persia), Comfort Food, and Things You Can Cook in a Wood-Burning Oven (for which the entire meal was cooked in our outdoor wood-burning oven).

The only meal we’ve had which strayed from the basic plan was Timballo.  Timballo is a (typically large) pastry-encased and baked dish of layered pasta, hardboiled eggs, cheese, meatballs, and other meats, all moistened with tomato sauce.  Each of the cooks was assigned one or more components of the timballo to make at home.  We got together to assemble and bake the final dish.  This was a multi-hour process, even with all the prep work done in advance.

Unmolding the timballo

To help pass the time, Frank and Doug devised a blind wine-tasting in which we had to try to identify the varietal and provenance of each wine.  I believe the eight of us tasted six bottles of wine.  After we finished those, we opened some more.  This was the dinner at which we decided the theme of French Indo-China 1920s to 1930s.  You may notice a correlation between alcohol intake and unusual dinner themes!

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Earlier this year, our theme was Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book, first edition, published in 1950.  Every dish had to come from the cookbook with no changes, substitutions or updating unless absolutely necessary.  One of the appetizers was anchovies rolled around cornichons!

Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book, 1950, First Edition

The food was actually surprisingly good.  I suspect part of that was related to how each of us selected our dish or dishes (Becky, who did appetizers selected three!).  The wines were, undoubtedly, fabulous.  In the United States, if you were drinking wine in the 1950s you were likely drinking French wine, and good French wine, at that!  On that night, so were we!

I made a Maraschino Cherry Cake with Almond Crème Filling and Maraschino Boiled Frosting.  Though if I were making the cake again, I would probably substitute my recipe for Italian Pastry Cream for Betty’s Crème Filling, I really wouldn’t make any other changes.

Here’s the recipe directly from the first edition of the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook with a few minor adaptions of the technique by me.  For you bakers out there, I’m providing the original sea-level measurements as published in the cookbook.  Since I baked this at nearly 8000 feet in elevation, I followed Betty’s recommendations for adjusting for high altitude.

Getting ready to make Maraschino Cherry Cake
Print Recipe
 Maraschino Cherry Cake
You can divide the work for this cake over several days. The filling can be made up to three days in advance and refrigerated, tightly covered. Stir in the toasted almonds just before using. The cake layers can be made a day in advance, wrapped tightly and refrigerated. The frosting should be made when you’re ready to frost the cake. The original recipe called for “rich milk” in the almond crème filling. Remember, this recipe was published before the advent of homogenized milk. Half-and-half is a good substitute. Except in professional recipes, it is rare to see egg whites measured in volume but it is a very good idea as the white, much more than the yolk, varies with the size of the egg.
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Course Desserts and Sweets, Sweet Sauces, Frostings, and Fillings
Cuisine American
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 1/2 hours
Passive Time 6 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Maraschino Cherry Cake
Almond Crème Filling
Maraschino Cherry Cooked Frosting
Course Desserts and Sweets, Sweet Sauces, Frostings, and Fillings
Cuisine American
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 1/2 hours
Passive Time 6 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Maraschino Cherry Cake
Almond Crème Filling
Maraschino Cherry Cooked Frosting
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Instructions
Maraschino Cherry Cake
  1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Reserve.
  2. Combine milk and Maraschino cherry liquid. Reserve.
  3. Cream butter.
  4. Cream in sugar until fluffy.
  5. Add dry ingredients in four additions, alternating with milk-juice mixture in three additions. Mix lightly, but well, after each addition.
  6. Stir in nuts and Maraschino cherries.
  7. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.
  8. Fold beaten egg whites into batter, using about ¼ of the egg whites first to loosen the batter.
  9. Pour into two greased and floured 9” cake pans.
  10. Bake 350°F approximately 30-35 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
  11. Cool the pans on a rack approximately 10 minutes.
  12. Remove layers from pans and cool completely.
Almond Crème Filling
  1. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt and half-and-half in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
  2. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
  3. Slowly pour about half of the boiling half-and-half mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, to temper the yolks.
  4. Put the saucepan with the remaining half-and-half mixture back on the heat.
  5. Pour the tempered yolks back into the saucepan, whisking constantly.
  6. Bring the mixture to a boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.
  7. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond and vanilla extracts.
  8. Pour the pastry cream into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, putting the wrap directly on the pastry cream to avoid a skin.
  9. Refrigerate until cold.
  10. Stir in chopped almonds just before using.
  11. Just before making the frosting, put one cake layer on a serving platter. Top with Almond Crème Filling.
  12. Top with second layer.
Maraschino Cherry Cooked Frosting
  1. Combine the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and Maraschino cherry liquid in a double boiler.
  2. Cook over boiling water, beating constantly with an electric mixer until a spreadable consistency, approximately 5-7 minutes. The top of the double boiler should not touch the boiling water in the bottom.
  4. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts.
  5. Immediately frost sides and top of cake.
  6. Decorate the top with whole Maraschino cherries
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Zia Ida’s Lemon Bars

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July 4, 2018

Happy Fourth of July!!!

I’m posting this recipe today because it is one of the three desserts that I typically serve on the Fourth of July.  The other two are Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars and Nick Maglieri’s Supernatural Brownies.

Our front gate ready for the Fourth of July, 2017

The first year that these three became our traditional dessert course, one of our guests, after tasting them, commandeered the platter and started serving the other guests.  He introduced the dessert as “Sex on a platter!”

That was the moment when I knew I could not make changes to the dessert course without proof that the changes would actually be an improvement rather than just different.

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The three desserts make a winning combination.

Guests arriving by van from the parking area

This year, we are not throwing our usual Fourth of July party.  Instead, we are spending two weeks on Fire Island.

For the last five and a half years, my husband, Frank, has been working in Alamogordo, New Mexico, a four-hour drive from our home in Santa Fe.  With rare exceptions, we’ve only seen each other on weekends during this time.  The trip to Fire Island is a celebration of his last day of work in Alamogordo which was this past Friday.

Fourth of July guests

Even when not part of the Fourth of July dessert trifecta, these lemon bars get great reviews but I have to apologize a bit to Zia Ida.

Zia Ida is my husband’s Aunt Ida.  Zia is the Italian word for aunt.

Zia Ida, far left, my father-in-law, and their aunt, Zia Fidalma, from Tuscany

I still consider these to be her lemon bars even though I’ve tweaked her recipe.  I added the lemon zest as her original recipe only called for the juice.  I think the zest adds layers of lemon flavor as the essential oils are way more lemony than the juice.  I also like to add coconut, though it wasn’t part of the original recipe and can certainly be left out.  Since I like my lemon bars tart, I increased the lemon juice from the original 5 tablespoons.

These lemon bars are not fussy to make.  I’ve seen fussy recipes that include steps like precooking the filling and diddling with the crust.  I don’t think either of those steps would improve the flavor and they’d definitely increase the work involved.

More Fourth of July guests

If you have a favorite recipe for some sort of dessert bar, I’d love to see it.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Zia Ida’s Lemon Bars.

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 Zia Ida's Lemon Bars
The coconut is optional. If you like your lemon bars less tart, use 5 tablespoons of lemon juice. After zesting the lemons for the crust and the lemon topping, squeeze the juice and strain well. You may need juice from an additional lemon.
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine American
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 12 hours
Servings
bars
Ingredients
Crust
Topping
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine American
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 12 hours
Servings
bars
Ingredients
Crust
Topping
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Instructions
Crust
  1. Butter a 9" x 13" pan.
  2. Line the buttered pan with buttered parchment, allowing the parchment to overhang the sides of the pan a few inches in all directions.
  3. Pulse flour, sugar and zest in food processor until combined.
  5. Add cold butter, cut in small cubes. Briefly pulse until mixture forms coarse crumbs.
  6. Press the crust mixture into the prepared pan.
  8. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes until lightly brown.
Topping
  1. As soon as the crust is out of the oven, make the topping.
  2. Whisk the eggs to combine.
  3. Whisk in sugar, salt and lemon zest until light yellow.
  5. Whisk in flour and baking powder.
  7. Add strained lemon juice and mix well.
  8. Pour over the warm crust.
  9. Sprinkle with coconut, if using.
  10. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
  11. Cool on a rack to room temperature.
  12. Cover the baking pan and refrigerate overnight or until cold and firm.
  13. Using the edges of the parchment, remove the cooled pastry from the pan.
  14. Cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Mom’s Biscotti (aka Anise Toasts or Slice Cookies)

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April 20, 2018

Growing up biscotti were not ubiquitous the way they are now.

Remember, this was before the coffee shop craze swept the country and when Italian food was viewed as “foreign.”

Sure, one could get biscotti in Italian specialty stores.  There was even a marginally passable supermarket version from Stella d’Oro.  (It still exists though the company has been sold many times.)

Stella d’Oro Biscotti (I just can’t bring myself to spell it incorrectly with an uppercase “D” and a lowercase “o”)

But mostly, biscotti were homemade.

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My mother’s biscotti are a little softer on the inside than the standard biscotti today, which seem to have a crunch the whole way through.  She also made them much smaller than is now common, maybe three inches or so in length as opposed to six or eight.

The interesting ingredient in these biscotti is maraschino cherries.  The maraschino cherry as we Americans know it was a product of food science from the 1920’s and 30’s.  “Real” maraschino cherries, Marasca cherries from the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, pickled in salt water and preserved in Maraschino liqueur, are actually quite rare.  There are many versions of cherries preserved in liquor from throughout Europe, some clearly developed as substitutes for authentic maraschino cherries.

I remember eating these biscotti in the 1960’s so the recipe is at least that old, probably older.  It is unlikely, however, that these biscotti ever saw real maraschino cherries due to their rarity.

If this recipe dates to pre-prohibition, in which case it would have been from my grandmother or someone in her generation, it’s possible that some sort of cherry preserved in alcohol (on the order of a real maraschino cherry) was originally used.  I have no idea if the recipe is that old.

Since liquor-soaked cherries were outlawed during prohibition they would have been eliminated from this recipe even if it is that old.  Which brings us to a dichotomy in thinking about recipes that I often consider:  the difference between authentic and traditional.

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Is food authentically Italian if it’s prepared in Italy by an Italian but does not follow any traditional recipe?

If cioppino is made following a longstanding traditional Italian regional recipe but the cook substitutes seafood available in the United States for that available in Italy, is it authentic?

There is no doubt that these biscotti are traditional in my family, having been made for more than 50 years.  But what would make them authentic?  And for that matter, would it be authentically Italian or authentically Italian-American?

I suggest you mull that over while dunking biscotti in your morning caffe latte.

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 Biscotti
In my family, these biscotti are traditionally made much shorter (after being cut crosswise) that is commonly the case now. For longer biscotti, form 6 logs approximately 9 ½ to 10 inches long before baking. For shorter biscotti, form 10-12 logs of the same length. The recipe is easily cut in half (which is what I did when making this batch).
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian, Italian-American
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Passive Time 30 minutes
Servings
dozen large biscotti
Ingredients
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian, Italian-American
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Passive Time 30 minutes
Servings
dozen large biscotti
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Drain the cherries.
  2. Cut the cherries in quarters.
  3. Squeeze out excess liquid by gently pressing a small handful of cut cherries between your flat palms. Do not make a fist and do not smash the cherries. Reserve the cherries.
  4. In a very large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and baking powder using your hands.
  5. Make a well in the center.
  6. Add the eggs.
  7. Begin to incorporate some of the flour into the eggs working in a circular motion using your hands.
  8. Add the oil and butter and continue mixing.
  9. Add the milk and anise extract. Mix thoroughly.
  10. Add the cherries and nuts, if using.
  11. Fully incorporate the cherries and nuts.
  12. Form into six or twelve cylinders approximately 9 ½ inches long. Six cylinders will make biscotti that are quite long once cut crosswise. Twelve cylinders will make shorter biscotti.
  13. Bake the cylinders for 30 minutes at 350°F. You can line the sheet pan with parchment if you prefer.
  14. Brush the tops with beaten egg.
  15. Bake 5 to 10 minutes longer, until golden brown and the cylinders are cooked through. Larger cylinders will take longer to bake.
  16. Cool the baked cylinders on the baking pan on a cooling rack for approximately 10 minutes.
  17. Cut the baked cylinders crosswise on the diagonal into slices approximately 1 inch thick.
  18. Cool the slices completely.
  19. Lay the slices cut side down on a baking pan.
  20. Toast in the top rack of the oven at 450°F.
  21. Turn and toast the other side.
  22. Remove biscotti to a rack to cool.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Torta di Riso (Italian Rice Tart)

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January 31, 2018

Torta di Riso is an Italian specialty.  It is basically a rice pudding baked inside of a pastry crust; a Rice Tart, so to speak.

I first had Torta di Riso more than 20 years ago while visiting Italy with my husband and his parents.

We ate meals at the homes of many relatives.  I often arrived with a spiral-bound notebook to jot down the inevitable recipes that would be discussed around the table or the recipes I begged for after being served something wonderful.  That notebook is a mashup of American and Metric measures and English and Italian words for ingredients.  It became a bible of sorts for recreating many of the dishes I ate on that trip.

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My father-in-law’s Zia (Aunt) Mery made the first Torta di Riso that I ever tasted.  Her recipe is below (adapted for American measures).

After having it at Zio (Uncle) Beppe and Zia Mery’s house, I started noticing Torta di Riso in many places in Tuscany.

My father-in-law with his Uncle Beppe and Aunt Mery, from whom this recipe for Torta di Riso originated in their garden in Tuscany, 1994.

Alkermes liqueur originated in Tuscany so it is particularly appropriate to use it as the liqueur in Torta di Riso.  Alkermes is nearly impossible to find in the United States, however.  One can make a perfectly traditional Torta di Riso using rum in place of Alkermes but the resulting confection won’t be pink.

According to CooksInfo, “Alchermes was invented in the Frati Convent at Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Its making was kept secret, but the recipe was reputedly stolen by spies from the nearby city of Siena, which Florence was often at war with.”

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Recipes for alkermes (also spelled alchermes) are closely guarded but the process basically involves infusing alcohol with spices and flavorings like cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, star anise, rosewater, and orange zest.  The red color comes from cochineal, an insect that is the foundation for natural red food coloring.  The resulting infused alcohol is sweetened and diluted with water.

The pastry crust is pasta frolla, a slightly sweetened pastry, leavened with baking powder, and often flavored with vanilla and lemon zest.  This is Mery’s recipe for pasta frolla but I also have one from Zia Fidalma that makes about half the quantity.

Torta di Riso was a big hit at my father-in-law’s birthday dinner last week. So were the cocktails, wine, and champagne!

If you don’t have access to Alkermes, you can use rum.  In fact, torta di riso is not always pink.  Many that I saw in Italy were white.

If you want to try to make your own Alkermes you can find a recipe here.  Amazon even sells the dried cochineal insects that provide the traditional scarlet color.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

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 Torta di Riso (Italian Rice Tart)
This classic Italian dessert is basically a rice pudding baked inside of a pastry crust. Alkermes is a traditional Tuscan liqueur used in a number of sweets, including torta di riso, for its color and spice-like flavor. If you don’t have Alkermes, use rum. Not all versions of torta di riso are brightly colored. Vanilla powder is a natural vanilla product, not artificial. Use vanilla extract if vanilla powder is not available.
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 75 minutes
Passive Time 30 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Pasta Frolla
Rice
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 75 minutes
Passive Time 30 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Pasta Frolla
Rice
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Instructions
Pasta Frolla
  1. Blend the flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla powder, salt and lemon zest in a food processor until combined.
  2. Add the butter, cut in pieces, and blend till well combined.
  3. Add the eggs and blend till the pastry almost forms a ball.
  4. Remove the pastry from the food processor and use your hands to press everything into a single ball.
  5. Wrap the pastry in waxed paper and refrigerate for an hour before using.
Rice
  1. Wash and drain the rice.
  2. Combine the rice, water and milk in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan.
  3. Bring the rice to a boil.
  4. Cover the rice and simmer, stirring frequently, until cooked and the liquid is almost completely absorbed. If the rice does not have the consistency of thick oatmeal, add a bit more milk at the end to make it creamy.
  5. Mix the sugar, lemon zest, and Alkermes and/or rum into the rice.
  8. Pour the rice into a bowl and cool, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
Assembly and Baking
  1. Cut off a small piece of the pastry to make a lattice top and refrigerate.
  2. Roll the remaining pastry between waxed paper, turning often, until it is large enough to cover the bottom and sides of a 10 inch springform pan.
  5. Line a 10" springform pan with the pasta frolla.
  6. Cut the pastry even with the top of the pan. Add the scraps to the pastry you have reserved for the lattice.
  7. Beat the egg and egg yolks to combine.
  8. Stir the beaten eggs into the cooled rice.
  9. Pour the rice into the pastry lined pan.
  10. Roll out the pastry reserved for the lattice.
  11. Cut seven or eight strips, approximately 1/2 inch wide.
  12. Arrange the strips into a lattice on top of the rice. Cut off the excess.
  14. Roll the pastry lining the sides of the pan down to the top of the rice and form a decorative edge.
  15. Bake at 350°F until the crust is lightly browned and the rice is barely jiggley in the center, approximately 30-45 minutes.
  16. Cool on a rack for approximately 20 minutes.
  17. Remove the side of the pan and cool completely.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Crostoli (Italian Fried Pastries)

17 Comments

December 26, 2017

I didn’t grow up eating crostoli.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t have our own version of fried dough.

Unlike crostoli, which are thin and crispy and leavened with baking powder, I grew up eating ovals of fried yeasted bread dough sprinkled with granulated sugar.

Frying bread dough and sprinkling it with granulated sugar is a common among Southern Italians. My mother had a name for it that I’ve never heard anywhere, it sounded something like “pitla.” I started doing some research. The word “pitta” is still used in Calabria, where my mother’s family originated, for various types of dough-based foods, including some that are quite flat. The word “pitta,” which I believe derives from the Greek word “pita,” became the word “pizza” in standard Italian. I’m guessing that “pitla” is a dialectical variation of “pitta.”

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One of the positive outcomes of doing research on Italian fried dough products is that I came across a wonderful Wikipedia page on fried dough from around the world.  Check it out here.

Crostoli (or crostui in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region of Italy where my mother-in-law was born) are traditionally served at Christmastime. My mother-in-law says that they would sometimes have them at other times of the year when they “wanted something sweet” that was simple to make.

My mother-in-law’s zig-zag pastry cutter

Not growing up eating crostoli, I asked my husband to tell me what he remembered.

I got two sentences:
“We always had them at Christmas.”
“They’re not my favorite.”

There you have it, the entirety of the crostoli story in 10 words.

I even waited a couple of days and asked him again if he remembered anything else about crostoli. “Nope” was the answer.

Now we’re up to 11 words.

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That might have been the end had it not been for Christmas Eve. The morning of Christmas Eve, after I mixed dough for panettone, my mother-in-law and I made up a batch of crostoli to take to Christmas Eve dinner at the home of our friends Rich DePippo and Doug Howe.

Rich’s grandfather was from Domegge di Cadore in the Veneto region of Italy, just next door to Friuli-Venezia-Giulia where my mother-in-law was born. In fact, Domegge is about 100 kilometers from Treppo Grande, my mother-in-law’s home town.

As it turns out, Rich and his mother, visiting for Christmas, also made crostoli the morning of Christmas Eve.

Using a Microplane grater makes fast work of zesting lemons

There were dueling crostoli served for dessert (along with pizzelle, nut roll, and biscochitos).

Rich’s were long and thin, with a slit cut in the middle through which one end of the dough was twisted before frying. This seems to be the most traditional shape that I’ve seen in my research, though Lidia Bastianich, who is also from very near where my mother-in-law was born, ties hers in a knot.

Having seen pictures of crostoli twisted and tied before embarking on making them with my mother-in-law, I asked her why hers were just left as irregular squares (well, quadrilaterals, really) of dough. That’s the way her mother made them was, of course, the first response. After which she added that she liked them to puff up, which they don’t do if they’re twisted or tied.

The other difference in the crostoli is that Rich used anisette to flavor his whereas my mother-in-law used lemon zest and vanilla.

The anisette was definitely a new twist. In researching crostoli, I’ve seen citrus, usually lemon or orange, as the most common flavoring.  Often vanilla is added; sometimes brandy or rum. Never have I run into a recipe with anisette. Hopefully Rich will weigh in on his family’s recipe for crostoli and how they came to use anisette for flavoring.

Meanwhile, enjoy!

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan, it will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

 

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 Crostoli (Italian Fried Pastries)
Crostoli are pastries that re rolled thin, fried, and dusted with granulated sugar. Powdered sugar melts and becomes sticky so granulated sugar is traditional. Crostoli are usually larger than the ones shown here, something like 1 ½ inches by 3 or 4 inches. We made these smaller because they were being served as part of a dessert buffet at the end of a large meal.
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.
  2. Make a well in the center and add eggs. Using a fork, begin to incorporate the flour.
  3. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice and incorporate.
  4. Add melted butter.
  5. Mix to form a soft, non-sticky dough.
  6. When the dough becomes too stiff to mix with a fork, use your hand. Do not over knead.
  7. Cut into four or five pieces.
  8. Roll out less than 1/8 inch thick, dusting with a little flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
  10. Cut into rectangles, approximately 1 1/2 inches by 3 inches, with a zig-zag cutter.
  13. When all are cut, deep fry until brown. If you are not comfortable doing this from experience, use a thermometer and keep the oil at about 350 degrees Farenheit.
  14. Sprinkle with granulated sugar as soon as they are removed from the oil so the sugar sticks.
  15. They are best the same day but will stay fresh at least one day at room temperature, loosely covered.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2017 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Crostata di Noci (Italian Walnut Tart)

4 Comments

December 20, 2017

One evening in 1996 my husband and I were sitting with his parents in a dimly-lit bar in Venice. We were all chatting. I was drinking grappa, as was my father-in-law. Then the desire for dessert hit me. If you’ve spent any time in Italy you know that at no point in the day are you actually hungry. There’s just too much wonderful food around to not partake in it. So the desire for dessert had absolutely nothing to do with the need for more calories.

Going for something new, I selected Crostata di Noci. I was absolutely amazed by what I got.

The pastry was standard-issue Italian pasta frolla, a slightly sweet leavened crust that’s like a cross between shortbread cookies and a dense cake. The filling, however, tasted for all the world like nut roll, one of my favorite pastries but one that is also very time-consuming and frustrating to make.

In that instant, it all made sense. Nut roll hails from Eastern and Central Europe (as does another of my favorites, the poppy seed roll).  In northeast in Italy there is a lot of Eastern European influence. Suddenly, taking nut roll filling and putting it in a pasta frolla case meant I could have something that tasted just like a nut roll but without all the frustration of actually making nut roll.

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Now, Crostata di Noci will never actually replace “real” nut roll just like making bread in my bread machine won’t replace making bread by hand. But, with a bread machine, I have homemade bread every day which wouldn’t be the case if I had to make every loaf by hand. With less than half-an-hour’s active time, I can indulge my taste for nut roll any time I want!

Around the holidays nut rolls were ubiquitous in my home town but my mother and my Aunt Margie made the best nut rolls I have ever had. Largely this is because they both put in a large proportion of sweetened nuts to dough. Honestly, there was just enough dough to roll pinwheel fashion and hold the whole thing together. Many other nut rolls were bready by comparison.

To be sure, my mother’s filling differed from my Aunt Margie’s. I’m not sure how each of them came by their respective recipes but my suspicion is that Aunt Margie’s came from her mother or another Italian relative or friend because it contained orange juice. The use of citrus in various pastries is common in Italy. Pasta frolla, for example, is traditionally flavored with lemon zest and vanilla. I am guessing my mother’s recipe came from my father’s mother or someone on the Slovak side of my family because the liquid in the nuts was milk and not orange juice.

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Separate from actually eating nut roll, there was this whole aura around making them (at least there was when I was young!). Buying shelled walnuts and using a food processor make quick work of preparing the nuts but in the 1960s, making nut roll started with my mother buying a large quantity of whole walnuts. We would sit around the table and crack the nuts open then extract the nutmeats. I still have the nutcracker and picks that we used.

My parents’ nutcracker and picks

After all the nuts were shelled, they needed to be ground. We did this in a hand-crank grinder of the same type used to grind meat for sausage. As a kid, I got to turn the crank on the grinder! I no longer have my mother’s grinder as it got rusty from being stored in the basement but I have my own that is pretty much identical. I got it when I was in college.

The hand-crank grinder I got while in college

After the excitement (well, as a kid it was pretty exciting!) of shelling and grinding the nuts we all kind of abandoned my mother who started the laborious process of actually making the nut rolls. That is definitely not a job for amateurs. The dough had to be very thin but just thick enough to contain the nuts. The nuts had to be moist, sweet, and generous in quantity compared to the amount of dough. Then the whole thing had to be rolled up and baked.

After my mother died, Aunt Margie started sending me nut roll every year. After Aunt Margie died, my cousin Donna (Aunt Margie’s daughter) picked up the nut roll mantle. The two nut rolls that I got this year will be carefully doled out over a few weeks, befitting their preciousness, starting on Christmas Eve!

This year’s nut roll from my cousin Donna.  Notice the large proportion of nuts to dough.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss it. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. Take a look at Bertha’s Flan.  It will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

After returning from that trip to Venice I was determined to recreate Crostata di Noci. I whipped up a batch of Zia Fidalma’s pasta frolla and made a simple walnut filling with orange juice in a nod to the Italian origins of this particular pastry.

The first try was a winner and I haven’t really made any substantive changes in the recipe since. If one wanted a creamier filling, one could add a few tablespoons of butter but, honestly, the crostata is so rich that I haven’t felt the need to make it more so.

Until I tackle nut roll making 101 (which I swear I’m going to do one day soon!), I’ll have to settle for crostata di noci, and the occasional nut roll care package from my cousin!

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 Crostata di Noci (Italian Walnut Tart)
Lightly sweetened ground walnuts fill an Italian pasta frolla crust in this Venetian dessert. If you’re not a fan of walnuts you could use other nuts. If you want to make the crostata extra festive, put a paper doily on top and sprinkle it with powdered sugar to get a pattern.
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Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Passive Time 30 minutes, plus cooling
Servings
people
Ingredients
Pasta Frolla
Nut Filling
Course Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Passive Time 30 minutes, plus cooling
Servings
people
Ingredients
Pasta Frolla
Nut Filling
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Instructions
Pasta Frolla
  1. Blend flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla powder, salt and lemon zest in a food processor until combined.
  2. Add the cold butter, cut in pieces.
  3. Blend till well combined. The mixture in the food processor will appear to move as one mass though when you stop the processor you will see that it is not.
  4. Add the eggs and vanilla extract if you are using that instead of vanilla powder and blend till it almost forms a ball.
  6. Remove the pastry from the food processor and incorporate the final bits of flour by hand.
  7. Wrap the dough in waxed paper and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before using.
Nut Filling
  1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
  3. Cover the nut filling and keep it at room temperature while rolling out the pasta frolla.
Assembly
  1. Roll out pasta frolla between sheets of waxed paper until it is just large enough to come up the sides of a 10" diameter by 1” tall tart pan with a removable bottom.
  2. Trim the edges of pastry even with the top of the tart pan.
  3. Add the filling and spread it out evenly.
  4. The filling should come just to the top of the tart pan.
  5. Bake the crostata at 350°F for approximately 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
  6. Cool and remove the sides of the tart pan.
  7. The crostata can be sprinkled with powdered sugar for serving and/or accompanied by lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2017 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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