The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

In my ongoing and valiant efforts to catch up on all The Daring Kitchen challenges I’ve missed over the past year, I now bring you the February 2010 challenge presented by Aparna and Deeba, two most enthusiastic Daring Bakers. They chose the Italian dessert Tiramisu as the challenge.

Tiramisu, literally translated, means pick-me-up and in theory, it isn’t the most complex of desserts. However, when your hostesses challenge you to make all the components from scratch, including the mascarpone, well, let’s just say it changes things.

Yes. You read that correctly. The Daring Bakers are now also cheesemakers, among other things.

Even though my background is Italian, tiramisu is not my favourite. It’s not that I don’t like it - how could one not possibly like such a creamy, boozy dessert that packs a coffee-kick to boot?

It’s just that growing up, tiramisu became the ubiquitous dessert. Every birthday, every family dinner, every baptism, every confirmation, every wedding party dinner and just about everything else inevitably showcased a tiramisu.

To make matters worse, in the 80s and early 90s, mascarpone was not the easiest ingredient to find in Toronto. And even when you did find it, it was ridiculously expensive, moreso than it is even today. As a result, people (and I’m ashamed to admit some of my own family members) resorted to some very strange mascarpone substitutions the worst of which was fake “whipped cream”.

Ugh.

I prefer not to think of those horrible days! Happily, we have all seemed to move on and on the few occasions when we do make Tiramisu, it’s mascarpone all the way.

Over the years, I have shared my family’s Tiramisu recipe with numerous people and it remains my standard for the dessert.

However, Aparna and Deeba laid down the gauntlet and in the spirit of the Daring Bakers, I accepted the challenge.

There were two elements to this challenge that really intrigued me and that I enjoyed tremendously, even though I wasn’t all that successful with them.

The first element was the recipe for homemade mascarpone. I would have never attempted this on my own but Aparna and Deeba pointed everyone to a post on the blog Baking Obsession that belongs to Vera, a most talented baker. Even if you don’t make the mascarpone, you have to visit her site to see how beautiful her creations are!

The making of homemade mascarpone involves heavy cream, heated to a certain temperature, and the addition of lemon juice. The mixture is then allowed to drain in the refrigerator for a period of time after which you should end up with a thickened cream that is, in essence, a form of mascarpone.

My lack of patience reared its ugly head again and I did not allow my cream to heat to the right temperature before I added the lemon juice. I’m not sure what the issue was but after more than 40 minutes in the double boiler, my cream seemed to stop heating up. Finally I got so tired I mixed in the lemon juice and proceeded with the recipe.

My end product was delicious, but not nearly as thick as it should have been. Still, though, I wasn’t complaining. It was so good that we could all just imagine eating it in the summer over fresh berries. I cannot wait to try it again!

The second element of the challenge that I found most intriguing was the making of the savoiardi biscuits. Savoiardi (often referred to as Ladyfinger cookies) are an Italian biscuit that form the base of Tiramisu. However, savoiardi are quite popular beyond this dessert and are used for many other sweets and are also enjoyed on their own.

I have never actually made savoiardi so I was more than pleased to try them.

Like the mascarpone, things didn’t go perfectly for me. I’m not sure if I didn’t whip my egg whites enough but the biscuits didn’t quite rise as much as they should have. Still, though, the cookies were delicious and I can’t wait to try them again.

The rest of the challenge was quite involved. We had to make a zabaglione and a pastry cream, as well as prepare the espresso and whip up some cream to finish off the filling.

The end result was a very detailed dessert with lots of components. It was delicious, but also a lot of work. In Tiramisu’ world, this to me was the equivalent of a “supermodel” Tiramisu. For a very special event, I would consider trying it again, but for a Tiramisu’ fix, I’d probably stick with my family’s recipe.

For me, what distinguished this challenge was the unabashed enthusiasm displayed by Aparna and Deeba. They were the very embodiment of the spirit of The Daring Bakers. They cut no corners and pushed everyone. I have to admit sometimes I get a little lazy with these challenges, but not this time. Faced with the efforts that Aparna and Deeba displayed I could not, in good conscience, do anything but my very best.

Ladies, I thank you for being an example to us all and picking me up for an awesome challenge!

Ciao!

For a copy of the challenge recipe, click here.

I sometimes find myself looking at the calendar in astonishment after I realize how quickly the months slip by. Is it really two months until Christmas?

And is October really almost over (already) without my having written once about my Flavour of the Month, Father Giuseppe Orsini’s Italian Baking Secrets?

Of course I’ve mentioned this cookbook a few times already, but I have yet to actually tell you about it.

Who is Father Giuseppe Orsini? Based on what I can gather from the biographical information in the book, he’s a Roman Catholic priest who has an enormous passion for baking and in particular for Italian baking.

Italian Baking Secrets is a collection of all those handwritten recipes you find stashed away in tins or tucked into books. The book is straightforward and charming in its simplicity. While there are some bread recipes towards the beginning of the book that required multiple steps, most of the recipes are ones that I could imagine my grandmothers making. Just a few ingredients and there you go, the perfect cake or the perfect cookie to dunk in your coffee.

I bought the book after seeing it on a shelf at Toronto’s The Cookbook Store. I didn’t take any time to read through it I just picked it up and walked immediately to the cash register.

Had I actually spent some time looking through the book, I would have noticed a few inconsistencies. For some reason there are a few recipes that are repeated in different sections of the book. And the measurement units used for ingredients are not always consistent. But these minor peculiarities somehow add to the book’s overall effect. It really is like those handwritten recipes scribbled onto bits of paper!

One of the recipes in the book that caught my eye was a recipe for cookies called crumiri. If I close my eyes, I can almost see my little self sitting at a table at my aunt’s house in Italy having breakfast. Our breakfasts in Italy, especially as children, didn’t consist of oatmeal or cereal, but rather huge mugs of hot milk coloured with espresso. Those mugs were accompanied by cookies or bread onto which we would spread butter and homemade jam.

That was breakfast.

My favourite, of course, were the cookies. I remember they’d come in these colourful bags and I would love to read the story of the cookies printed on each package. For some reason, the ones I remember the most are the crumiri.

In my memory, they are golden and crumbly with a not-too-sweet flavour. They taste of vanilla too. But most of all, I remember their shape and texture. The adults around me would say that they are shaped like horseshoes but to me they look like little boomerangs with ridges on them.

In my memory, I wonder what would happen if I actually threw one across the room. Would it boomerang back? But of course I would never do this as I can just imagine the stern look on the face of my aunt …

Memory is an incredible thing. In the wake of my 34th birthday, I laugh at how often my friends and I will joke that our memories are “going”. I will forget grocery lists, what I told my brother yesterday, that 10:00 meeting and my keys.

And yet, I will see a recipe for a cookie and remember the exact texture of that very same cookie when I ate one years and years ago.

I can still remember the taste.

Hard on the heels of that memory, is the realization that I suppose it doesn’t really matter that I sometimes forget the grocery list.

But to forget the memory of my little self eating cookies and slurping warm milk under my aunt’s watchful eye, somehow, that would be unbearable.

Ciao!

Crumiri
From Italian Baking Secrets by Father Giuseppe Orsini.

1-3/4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar (I like to use vanilla sugar)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla or almond extract (if you’re not using vanilla sugar)
2/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes. The mixture should be very light in colour.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition.

Mix together the flour, salt and cornmeal and add slowly to the butter mixture, with the motor running on low speed. As soon as the flour mixture is added, add the extract (if using).

The cookie dough will be thick. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped tip (3/4 of an inch to an inch in width).

Pipe the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets in whatever design you like. The cookies shouldn’t be longer than 3 or 4 inches and should be spaced 2 inches apart.

Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, anywhere from 12 to 14 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: crumiri

In deep summer, I go to bed at night dreaming of the dish that I know my mother will soon prepare. Once locally harvested eggplant, red peppers and tomatoes are available, it’s only a matter of time before my mother takes those simple ingredients and turns them into a creamy, colourful dish that to me is summer at its very best: Peperonata.

This brilliant dish is, for me, Italian soul food at its best. All you need is a fork, some crusty bread and a glass of cool wine.

And of course, in my humble opinion, no one makes a better Peperonata than Mama Cream Puff. As a reminder to everyone that the deadline for La Festa al Fresco is this Monday, September 3rd, I give you one of my mother’s best summer dishes.

It is the essence of summer.

Ciao!

La Peperonata
Treasured family recipe.

4 red peppers (we use a type of pepper called Shepperd pepper which is long and narrow - if you can’t find these, use bell peppers)
1 small eggplant
1-1/4 cups crushed tomatoes
4 basil leaves
3 to 4 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tbsp. salt

Cut peppers into 1-inch strips. (If using bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch strips). Cut eggplant into 1/2-inch strips.

Heat 3 tbsp. olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and add peppers. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes. (Bell peppers will take a bit longer.) Be sure to stir occasionally.

Add eggplant to cooking peppers. The eggplant will absorb a lot of the oil so add more if you notice that the mixture is too dry.

Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add half the salt and stir.

Move the pepper and eggplant mixture to one side of the pan so that it is covering about three-quarters of the pan.

To the remaining quarter of the pan, add the crushed tomatoes, the basil and remaining salt. Heat for about 2 minutes and then blend the entire contents of the pan together.

Continue to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature with lots of bread!

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: peperonata, la festa al fresco

As many of you who stop by here regularly know, a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of telling you about Faith Heller Willinger’s newest book, Adventures of an Italian Food Lover.

Part cookbook, part memoir, part travelogue, the book is an homage to all of the friends that Faith has made throughout her years living in Italy. (Note: She’s made a lot of friends!) The recipes are contributions from these friends. They are unique in the way that a special recipe from a special friend is unique.

I was able to take a sneak peek at Faith’s book thanks to Cath of A Blithe Palate who invited me to co-host an event with her based on Faith’s new book.

Rather than a typical book review, Cath and I decided to try something different with this book. We each chose a set of participants and asked them to read the book and choose a recipe they’d like to prepare. After having made the recipe, we asked them to write about it and in particular, to write about who they would share their dish with and why.

The response has been tremendous! While there are still a few more people who have yet to post their adventure with this book, I’d like to present to you a round up of (most of) the participants that I asked to take part.

I will start with the first person that I asked to take part, that being Lis of La Mia Cucina. Lis is a soul sister so it only makes sense that I would ask her first since we are practically related! Lis wrote a very humourous and touching post that explains how her family has a very special meatball recipe that has been passed down for several generations (I think all Italian families have a special meatball recipe … ). Understandably, she would have shared her dish with her beloved dad. Mille grazie, Lis!

As I thought about who else I wanted to invite to take part in this event, I immediately thought of my friends Rob and Rachel of Hungry in Hogtown. Not only are they fellow Torontonians, but they’re avid travellers who have fallen in love with Italy. (I understand Rob speaks some mean Italian …). Their post is about the beauty of real balsamic vinegar and how it transforms what it touches. They went all out by preparing stewed peppers with balsamic vinegar (pictured here), spaghetti with olive oil and parmesan and homemade ricotta with a variety of toppings. They chose to share their dish with a close friend. Mille grazie, Rob and Rachel!

I have often said that I try to visit Ilva’s blog, Lucullian Delights, as often as possible because her enlightening photography is a reminder that beauty is everywhere. I knew that she would bring a very special perspective to this event as Italy is her adopted home, having married and settled there. I thought that we would be able to see Faith’s book from the unique point of view of someone who moved to Italy from somewhere else. I was right! Ilva wrote a beautiful post about preparing gnocco fritto and how she would have loved to share it with her cousin Ulrik, who unfortunately passed away at a very young age. It’s a touching post about how a dish can invoke so many beautiful memories. Mille grazie, Ilva!

From my friend Ilva in Tuscany I moved to my friend Angelika in Austria. Has it already been six months since I spent a wonderful evening in her company? Time flies! Although Austrian through-and-through, Angelika has an Italian heart. I just knew I had to include her in this event. Even though she’s supremely busy with her restaurant endeavour, she took the time to read the book and write about it. On her blog The Flying Apple, Angelika wrote about a very unique spaghetti tart from Willinger’s book. Angelika chose to share her dish with a very special person to her whom she met via her blog - more proof that blogging can often lead to the most special of bonds. Grazie mille, Angelika!

I am constantly amazed by Lydia of The Perfect Pantry. She is so knowledgeable and does such a wonderful job of sharing her food knowledge! We’re lucky to have her in blog world. Happily, she agreed to take part in this event and she choose to prepare a variety of dishes from the book. Lydia, and her dear friend Cindy with whom she shared the dishes, were busy bees as they prepared Brick-Grilled Chicken Breasts, Ricotta-stuffed Zucchin Flowers and Ginger Apricot Biscotti. Lydia’s post exemplifies perfectly the spirit of sharing that is so clearly outlined in Faith’s book. Mille grazie, Lydia!

I have not known Mia of the blog Nosh for very long, but the moment I first set eyes on her blog, I knew a kindred spirit! Mia’s Italian heritage shines through and I just knew I had to ask her to be part of this event. Mia’s post was so touching as she wrote about her sister’s visit and how she decided to share her dish with her sister. After spending time together in Verona, Italy, they returned to Mia’s home where together they prepared the stewed peppers with balsamic vinegar. Mille grazie, Mia!

And now to my sweet Tartelette! That’s right, my dearest Helene was also part of this event and I am so thrilled. It’s funny because I was thinking about asking Helene, and finally did, only to find out that she had already asked Cath to take part. Clearly it was meant to be! Helene chose to prepare a cookie that is very near and dear to my heart: amaretti. Helene has some very interesting thoughts about how Faith’s book represents the sort of emotional bonds people have to dishes. Helene chose to make amaretti after recalling the first time she tried them on a trip to Italy with her family. Mille grazie, Helene!

To put it very simply, I adore Rowena of Rubber Slippers in Italy. She is so funny and sweet, and her blog is one of the very first that I fell in love with. You can always trust Rowena to come up with something very unique. An American married to an Italian, I knew that Rowena would approach Faith’s book from an interesting point of view. Rowena shared her dish with her husband and let him choose it. He chose Risotto with Almonds and Broccoli. My mouth is watering. Mille grazie, Rowena!

Do you love The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz? I certainly do! And I especially love Chef Paz and her spirit for cooking (also really love her New York Mondays). I wrote to Paz asking if she’d like a chance to take part in this event and she readily agreed. After receiving her copy of the book, Paz decided to try penne with fish sauce. She explained that she would share it with her friend Francine who has been an inspirational force for Paz in the area of cooking. Mille grazie, Paz!

I have been blessed with many wonderful aunts, on both my mother’s and father’s sides of the family. But after reading Tea’s post on her blog Tea and Cookies, I also want an Aunt Angela. Or as we would say in Italian, Zia Angela! While Tea often thrills her readers with her story of how she discovered blogging, the truth is that we discovered her just the same. I have always felt so drawn to the elegance of her writing. I sometimes feel that reading her posts is like reading honey … so smooth and clear. Tea wrote a lovely post about the effect of meeting and spending time with an Italian woman known as Aunt Angela. To honour her, Tea chose to make the walnut cake from Faith’s book. (Don’t miss reading about her beloved lasagna as well!) Mille grazie, Tea!

Thank you to everyone who took part in this incredible event!

Ciao!

Note: I will add a link to Cath’s round up once she has hers up!

Technorati tags: faith heller willinger, adventures of an italian food lover

Have you ever looked at a plate of pasta, your very favourite pasta, and thought back to the first moment that you tried it? Or how about the first time you tasted the richness of a tiramisu’ or the crisp bite of a biscotto?

Being born in an Italian family means that I actually have few recollections of the first time I tasted most dishes. I was probably eating pastina (soup with pasta), polpette (meatballs) and amaretti (almond cookies) before I could even talk! Still, though, I do have some memories of the first time I tried a dish. I still remember the first time I tried a pizza baked in a wood-burning oven and I can still taste the crispness of that crust!

Food and memory feature prominently in this post and its thanks to my dear Cath of beautiful blog A Blithe Palate. Several months ago, Cath approached me the opportunity to have a sneak peek at Faith Heller Willinger’s soon-to-be published book, Adventures of an Italian Food Lover.

Faith Heller Willinger is a food writer based in Florence, Italy. American by birth, Willinger married a Tuscan man and settled in Italy, although “settled” isn’t probably quite the right term. Fueled by a burgeoning love of food and wine, Willinger began exploring Italian food with a passion that is to be admired. And she saw Italian food in the unique way that only someone who is new to it can see it. Her experiences are documented in a number of books, most notably Eating in Italy.

Adventures of an Italian Food Lover is a difficult book to describe. When I first received a galley copy, I was deeply curious especially after a conversation with Cath who described it as unlike any cookbook she’d ever seen. In fact, to simply call it a cookbook is grossly unfair.

Willinger’s latest work truly is an adventure. Memory-filled narratives introduce each recipe. The pages of the book are graced with the artwork of Willinger’s sister, Suzanne. And the recipes themselves are both recipe and introduction to a new set of friends for the recipes all originate from people that Willinger has met during her food travels.

Imagine that. Imagine compiling a set of recipes from your friends and your family. How special would that be?

This book is so engaging. I read it from cover to cover in three days, something I’ve never done before with a “cookbook”. I have a feeling that if you could see it, you’d probably do the same!

The main reason behind receiving a copy was preparation for a very exciting event that Cath and I will be hosting based on Adventures of an Italian Food Lover. Within the next month or so, a number of bloggers in this community of ours will be receiving a copy of Willinger’s book and they’ll be charged with the task of choosing a recipe and preparing it for whomever they wish. They’re posts on the book will not be a book review, but rather an account of their experience sharing the dish they made.

For myself, as soon as I saw the recipe for Lucia’s Walnut Cake, I was incredibly drawn to it. First of all because it is so unique and unusual in the way that many Italian sweets are. It’s a “cake” made of egg whites, sugar and walnuts. No flour.

But I was also drawn to the recipe because I could imagine sharing it with my paternal grandmother, Pia. I don’t think I’ve ever really spoken much about my Nonna Pia. I met her only a few times in my life although I was fortunate enough to spend several months with her each time. She was the sort of woman that would put us “modern women” to shame.

She had six children, she was a farmer, she cooked over a fire, she had hands that were stronger than any man’s, she could hike into the hills forever and never get tired, she was intelligent and kind, she could protect her family and find a way to survive with next-to-nothing … she was formidable!

But there are two things that I remember most about my grandmother. I remember her beautiful, long grey hair that she would plait and then tie in a knot. And I remember the simple but delicious food she made. In particular I remember her plum jam and the simple cakes that she baked for us to enjoy with our morning coffee. Nothing fancy, just simple, wholesome food.

And for some reason when I saw the recipe for Lucia’s Walnut Cake, I knew that it would be the sort of cake I could share with my Nonna Pia. It’s something delicious out of almost nothing.

I hope that when Adventures of An Italian Food Lover is published in July, you’ll pick up a copy and meet all of Willinger’s charming friends. And I also hope that you’ll stay tuned for the blog event based on the book.

In the meantime, I hope you find a new food adventure every day!

Ciao!

You can read Cath’s post here.

Technorati tags: faith heller willinger, italy, italian food, lucia’s walnut cake

When I was a very little girl, I had a fascination with the airport. My parents would take me to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and park on the top level so that I could watch the planes take off. Maybe it’s because our house is so close to the airport, but I always loved looking up into the sky and watching the planes fly by.

Now that I’m older, airports still have a strange pull. I love the idea of departing; going somewhere else. Somewhere new. And yet it’s always a bit sad and not just when you return from a vacation. There’s an inherenet loneliness to airports. So many people, so many faces that you’ll rush by in a second and never see again.

It’s bittersweet.

On Tuesday, I brought my mother to the airport for her flight to Italy and as soon as I set foot in the terminal, that feeling of wanting to be somewhere else washed over me.

As we stood in the slowly moving line, amongst so many people getting ready to visit Italy, I kept hearing snippets of conversations. People talked about how long they’d been in Canada and who they were going back to visit. People talked about what part of Italy they were from and where they were born. They talked about how long it had been since their last visit and how long they would stay.

And for most of them, I could tell that there was a sense of eagerness not just for travel, but to return to what is their spiritual home, if not their real home.

For my mother, it’s a return to my father. My mother’s family is all in Canada yet my father’s family is all in Italy. So she goes there to stay with her sisters-in-law and her brothers-in-law. She goes there to soak in the place where my father was born. She goes to our little itty bitty house there that has been slowly and painstakingly repaired.

When my mother had finally checked in, I walked her to the Gate and saw her off. Her last words to me were, “Take care of my little tomato plants.”

In the middle of an airport, it all comes back to what really counts … tomato plants and a trip to somewhere else.

Safe passage to travellers everywhere.

Ciao!

Rose Meringues
Adapted from Tea Party by Tracy Stern.

Note: I’ve never made pavlova before so I consider this to be the first step on my way to that most noble of desserts. Basically you’re looking at a 1/4 of sugar per egg white. It sounds like a lot but surprisingly the meringues do not end up overly sweet. If you don’t have rosewater, use another flavouring like vanilla extract. You can bake the meringues several days ahead and store them in an airtight container. It’s best to make the strawberry cream the same day that you serve these. Don’t assemble these until just before serving.

I made these because they reminded me of being in a plane looking at the clouds.

For the meringues:

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. rosewater (optional)

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and the rosewater together gradually adding the sugar until you have a very stiff mixture. The egg whites should hold stiff peaks when you pull the whisk out.

With a tablespoon, drop the mixture onto the baking sheets in large mounds (about 2 inches in size). Be careful not to crowd the mounds together. (You can also use a piping bag to do this).

Bake for an hour, or until the meringues have dried and are not sticky to the touch. They will be slightly golden on top and around the edges. Be careful not to burn them.

Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.

For the strawberry cream:

1 cup heavy cream
1 pint strawberries or other berries
1 tbsp. icing sugar
1 tsp. rosewater

In a blender, combine one third of the strawberries with the icing sugar and rosewater. Blend until smooth.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the whipping cream until very thick and stiff.

Fold the strawberry mixture into the whipped cream.

To assemble:

Once the meringues have cooled, spoon a generous dollop of the strawberry cream onto each meringue. Top with the remaining sliced strawberries and serve.

Technorati tags: meringues, rosewater, strawberries