Scarpaccia is a zucchini cake from the northern coast of Tuscany. There are two versions: savory from the town of Camaiore, and sweet from Viareggio. I had already prepared and blogged about the savory version, so now it’s time for … Continue reading Scarpaccia di Viareggio (Zucchini Cake)
This is hardly a recipe, but it is very good and so I wanted to share it with you anyway. In Italy this is called a “salad” of strawberries and parmigiano. To make this work, you will need high quality ingredients: … Continue reading Strawberries with Parmesan and Balsamic Vinegar (Insalata di Fragole e Parmigiano)
Tarte Tatin is a famous French tart that is often prepared with puff pastry, but the original is made with more of a shortcrust kind of pastry. In this variation I used pears instead of apple, and I used a … Continue reading Tarte Tatin aux Poires (Pear Tarte Tatin)
If you like dark chocolate, you will love this dark chocolate crème brûlée. Compared to regular crème brûlée the flavors are hefty and although the chocolate version has the same contrast between the creamy custard and the crispy caramel, there … Continue reading Chocolate Crème Brûlée
Thanks to the warm weather we’ve had lately, Dutch white asparagus are available some weeks earlier than other years. I was shopping for a dinner party and had realized (1) that I wanted to add some more vegetables to the … Continue reading White Asparagus with Goat Cheese and Honey
One of the great things about Italy is that there are so many regional and local recipes that there is always something new to discover. I have still not run out of ideas that I gathered during our trip to … Continue reading Cartellate Pugliesi
At a restaurant in the mountains of Calabria we had cherry ice cream in which the cherries were coarsely chopped. I really liked the texture, and so decided to make my own version of it. Amarena cherries are cherries from … Continue reading Amarena Cherry Ice Cream (Gelato di Amarene)
We’ve been back home for more than two months, but I am still enjoying the inspiration from our three weeks in Southern Italy. At Cala del Citro we had a wonderful dinner, that ended with almond ice cream. I loved … Continue reading Almond Ice Cream
Pumpkin season has arrived. We did not have this pie during our recent trip to Italy, but the inspiration for it did come from Italy. Paola recently blogged about a pumpkin, gorgonzola, and pear tart. I have combined gorgonzola and … Continue reading Pumpkin, Pear, and Blue Cheese Pie (Crostata con zucca, gorgonzola e pere)
A sweet spinach tart? Yes, really. It is delicious. I have discovered this original dessert from the North-Italian town of Reggio Emilia thanks to Simona who is from that region and has the wonderful Italian food blog Grembiula da Cucina … Continue reading Erbazzone Dolce (Sweet Spinach and Almond Tart)
Blood oranges are in season. They have a striking color and flavor. This is a light and nutritious dessert, in which the oranges are combined with yogurt and pistachios. Instead of yogurt you could also use ricotta, or a mixture. … Continue reading Blood Orange with Yogurt or Ricotta and Pistachios
A seàda (also written as sebàda, seatta or sevada) is a typical dessert from Sardinia that we saw on restaurant menus everywhere. It is a large ravioli that is filled with unaged local sheep’s milk cheese (pecorino sardo primosale), then deep-fried in olive oil and … Continue reading Seadas con Miele
A simple fruit salad can be made special by the addition of a bit of rose water. Rose water is made by steeping rose petals in water and originates in Iran and India. It has a wonderful smell of roses. Berries … Continue reading Rose Water Fruit Salad
Sachertorte is a famous cake from Vienna that I had never made before. Thanks to CampariGirl’s post I was reminded of it. A Sachertorte is a chocolate cake with two layers, separated by a layer of apricot jam and finished with a … Continue reading Sachertorte
One of my favorite Italian food bloggers was Silva Rigobello. Unfortunately I have to write in past tense, as she passed away in 2015. I still prepare her recipes from time to time, and in this case it is a … Continue reading Pineapple & Coconut Upside-Down Cake
Recently we had green apple and goat cheese as dessert at Restaurant Jacob in Leiden. I have a few bottles of a wonderful late harvest Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre that I thought would work particularly well with that combination. And … Continue reading Apple and Goat Cheese Dessert
When I saw this yogurt cake on Mimi’s blog, I wanted to make it straight away. She had eaten it at Moro, a restaurant in London, and loved it so much that she made it at home. I can see … Continue reading Yogurt Cake with Pistachios and Pomegranate
For months now I’ve been making muffins for breakfast with oat bran, quark (or cottage cheese or skyr), eggs, and stevia as the base. I bake them every weekend to eat for breakfast during the week. These muffins are nutritious … Continue reading Banana Oat Bran Quark Stevia Muffins
We love foie gras and I was curious to try and make foie gras ice cream. I looked at some recipes on-line, but found none that made sense to me. Some even suggested to discard (!) or save for another … Continue reading Foie Gras Ice Cream
Stroopwafels are a Dutch treat that is very popular both inside and outside the Netherlands. They are thin round waffles, filled with syrup that has a hint of cinnamon. They are very addictive! When a Dutchman wants to charm a … Continue reading Homemade Stroopwafels (Dutch Syrup Waffles)
I wish you all a happy and healthy 2017 with delicious food and wine. As my first contribution to this, I present to you homemade lychee ice cream. Lychees are a tropical fruit with a complex delicious aroma and flavor. When … Continue reading Lychee Ice Cream
This is the last post in a trilogy of posts with the recipes of the components for the dessert that I served at game & wine dinner parties over the last three Saturdays: marzipan mushrooms, almond madeleines, and in this … Continue reading Spiced Pear Ice Cream (Stoofperenijs)
Madeleines are classic French small cakes that have to be slightly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with a wonderful aroma of either vanilla, citrus zest, or, as in this case, almonds. They are not difficult to … Continue reading Almond Madeleines
Marzipan and almond paste are pretty similar, as both are made by grinding almonds and sugar together. The differences are that marzipan is sweeter than almond paste (almond paste is 50% of almonds by weight, whereas marzipan is 35-45% almonds), … Continue reading Homemade Marzipan Mushrooms
Recently, Mimi blogged about pumpkin mousse, a decadent mousse with mascarpone. I liked the idea of pumpkin mousse, and made my own version, leaving out the mascarpone. The result is feathery light with a good balance between the pumpkin flavor … Continue reading Pumpkin Mousse
Yes, you’ve read it correctly, a cake that contains beets (also known as beetroot). When I saw this recipe on Polianthus’ blog, I was intrigued and knew I had to try it. I am glad that I did, because the … Continue reading Hazelnut and Beet Cake
Rosenmuskateller is a rare dessert wine from Alto Adige/Südtirol, the German speaking north-east of Italy. It is made from the rare grape of the same name, related to other muscat grapes but with the distinctive quality that it smells of … Continue reading Blackberry Rose Water Sorbet
Summer has finally started (not just on the calendar but also the weather) and that means that cakes for which you don’t have to turn on the oven are the preferred solution for dessert. Although this recipe is tagged “baking”, … Continue reading Quark Cake with Cherries (Kwarktaart met Kersen)
Strawberries with pastry cream on a sweet shortcrust pastry crust are a classic. You could make a large tart, but it looks much better and is easier to serve when you make individual tartlets. There are some special techniques used … Continue reading Strawberry Tartlets
When I posted my recipe for crème brûlée, I got suggestions to try white chocolate creme brulee (which I did and liked) and passion fruit creme brulee as well. Blogging is a continuing source of inspiration for my cooking, and … Continue reading Passion Fruit Crème Brûlée
