Itty Bitty Almond Amaretto Cookies

Yesterday was Ferragosto here in Italy and if you aren't familiar with that particular holiday, just let me tell you, it is a " the end is nigh" kind of summer holiday that Italians celebrate in some form or fashion without fail. Most picnic or go to the seaside, get together with friends and bar-b-que, or head for the mountains only to find yourself stuck in the traffic with everyone else heading off to do something for this day. Some of our guests had that experience as they trundled off to the higher mountains to walk high up with the wildflowers and others gave up and pulled off to visit with us as they couldn't bear the tedium of being stuck in the traffic. Fortunately I hade some hazelnut cake left over from the night before to offer with coffee, but I worried that if we had many more visitors dropping in due to the holiday, I just might find myself with out something tasty to offer. Horrors of horrors. Just not comfortable for me as a baker, not to have a little something baked up to tempt and delight or just take the edge off around the edges of one's ferragosto holiday traffic jam. so what to make in a short amount of time? Why, itty bitty almond cookies that fit on an espresso cup's saucer, of course. This is such a simple recipe that you will be wondering why you haven't run across it before and what other combinations might work well. I must admit that my hazelnut and hazelnut liquor combo is my favorite, as I am a fool for hazelnuts, but the almond ones are a close second. I had something like these served to me one day on the side of my Cafe Macchiato served up in the cosy coffee nook in Volare, my favorite bookstore in Pinerolo. I immediately went home and started working on reproducing that treat and have been making variations ever since. Give it a go, as I think you'll find it's a fast and tasty treat along side any cup of coffee or tea and stays perfectly fresh for quite a while. I dare say they probably won't last long enough for you to find out exactly how long before they go stale.
Anyway, try this out, stash the cooled cookies in a tin for when you need a little pick me up to go with your afternoon "cup of pick me up". You'll be glad you did.

Itty Bitty Almond Amaretto Cookies 

Yields about 80 mini cookies

115g (1/2c) butter, room temp

100g (½ c) sugar, raw cane is my preferred sugar
1 egg

2 T amaretto 

140g (1c) all purpose flour
100g (1c) almond, lightly toasted and chopped into small pieces

Toast your almonds in the oven on a sheet pan until lightly toasted or in a heavy cast iron type pan shaking occasionally until they are evenly toasted.

Chop into pieces when cooled down

Place your butter in a medium mixing bowl and whisk together with the sugar until smooth and fluffy.

Add the egg and mix till smooth and then the amaretto and mix thoroughly.

Mix in your flour and then almonds making sure all is incorporated.

Drop the mixture by using two teaspoons.

I did rows of 5 across and 6 down or about 30 cookies per sheet tray.

Bake at 180*C/ 325*F for about 8 minutes or till lightly brown. 

Cool thoroughly before storing in an airtight container.

Panna Cotta al Nocino

Happy Valentines Day!  
If you are looking for a simple but utterly divine dessert to make for your Valentine tonight, do make this   early enough today to serve tonight. It only takes a few minutes to pull together once you have some high quality cream and sheet gelatin. It doesn't need the hazenut liqueur as this traditional Piemontese delight is all about showcasing the ultra smooth creaminess of this sensuous delight. I have been asked for this dessert a number of times, so here you go. Just make sure you use the absolute highest quality of cream you can find, for dreamy dessert that literally melts in your mouth. I have found that oftentimes this dessert is made with far too much gelatin and it really doesn't do this dessert justice. It will be a wobbly quivering mass when you unmold it onto your plate, but be fearless. Don't let a little wobble scare you. I usually unmold it into my hand briefly on its way to the plate as it sometimes can be slightly stubborn releasing from its mold. It's well worth a moment or two of anxiety for the pleasure of this sumptuous silken grand finale that ensues.
Enjoy this with soft candlelight, music, Moscato wine and someone that you love!

Panna Cotta al Nocino

8 generous portions 

You can make these smaller portions as well

The recipe can be halved or even quartered with good results

Ingredients

850 g heavy cream, here we like to use Elena, a thick local brand
250 g milk
150 g sugar
7-8 g (2 ½ long sheets) sheet gelatin (fish gelatin/colla di pesce)
60 g Nocino, walnut liqueur, or hazelnut or chocolate

MethodSoften the gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water.
Meanwhile heat the cream, milk and sugar to just under the boiling point.
Use the highest quality of cream that you can find, as it is the main ingredient and inferior quality will make for a disappointing result. The higher the butter fat content the richer and creamier the panna cotta.
Remove the cream mixture from heat.
Drain the gelatin and squeeze excess water from the gelatin which will now be a jiggly mass.
Add the gelatin to the cream and stir until dissolved. If you have allowed the cream to cool too much, just put it on the heat again and stir till the gelatin dissolves.
You do not want it to boil at this point, just to insure the gelatin dissolves.
Add your walnut or desired flavoring to the mixture and stir to distribute.
Pour into metal panna cotta cups/cyclinders (ungreased, no preparation to the cups other than being clean) to cool to room temperature before putting them in the refrigerator to set up.
To serve, run a thin knife around the edges and turn onto your plate.
Garnish, or not, and enjoy every dreamy bite as you are  transported to a higher place.

Cooks notes*
I must confess, that I haven’t found or bought proper panna cotta cups, as they are either too tall, too large a serving or whatever, so my little secret is I use a heavy plastic reused container, like individual yogurt cups. We use to use small plastic drinking glasses when we use to do large catering functions and needed hundreds of cups. They work great.
The panna cotta needs to chill for a good while. It will vary with the temperature of your refrigerator and the thickness of your cream, etc. It can be 4 hours or over night and will hold for several days in the refrigerator to serve as needed.
When serving, make sure to unmold just before serving because it is a bit wobbly and you don’t want it to melt. The wobble is a good thing.

Also, if you use any sauce, even though it really doesn’t need anything,  as it is quite rich and creamy dreamy melt in your mouth. You don’t want to detract from the simplicity and subtle flavor of this dessert, but if you do add a sauce  for a lovely presentation or contrast in flavor, make sure you do not pour it over the top of the desert, as it will split the cream in two.

Eat a Peach or two and maybe a Crostata

It seems like berry season was far too short before it went straight into apricot and peach season. The peaches have been luscious and tasty of late and I can't seem to get enough of them. I have been making a variety of peach deserts like "pesche ripiene", which is a local Piemontese favorite. Peach halves scooped out and refilled with the fruit combined with ameretti cookies and a bit of this and that and baked soft. Also I have poached peaches and blackberries with a sprig of fresh rosemary added to the pot to add an intriguing "je ne sequoi" before ladling over fresh made vanilla bean gelato. Or one of my favorite standards, Crostata. Crostata is one Italian dessert that seems to unite the regional cuisines into a standard all time favorite. Most commercially made ones have a thick crumbly cooky crust, called Pasta Frolla, filled with a generous layer of apricot, plum or strawberry jam and topped off with a lovely wide criss cross top crust. Often the family Sunday lunches are graced by these homely tarts brought and made by one or more of the guests . I decided that since I needed to have the oven on to bake bread the other day, I might as well have a fresh peach crostata to complement our dinner.I have a couple of different versions of Pasta Frolla that I have collected from a few sources along the way. I've been asked what frolla means and as best as I can translate it seems to mean tender. So a tender dough, which is fitting for this particular version.
You generally find that pasta frolla dough can elicit a long winded discussion with all ladies present claiming to have the best version. We went to our annual Scopri Piemonte Bed & Breakfast Association Potluck meeting recently and the strawberry rhubarb version brought by our president of the association, was quite a good one and I was told that the crust was an "Artusi." For those of you not familiar with Pellegrino Artusi, he was a retired silk merchant that around the turn of the 20th century, at the ripe age of 71, wrote the first entirely Italian language cookbook that has become the standard by which all others are measured. (A bit like Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking, although they arrived later on the food scene) He called it the "La Scienza in Cucina e L'Arte di Mangiar Bene" (The Science of cookery and the Art of Eating Well). It is still the standard by which recipes are held up against in Italy. Check out the link to Kyle Philips of About.com/Italian Food for a wealth of information, stories and recipes all about Italian cuisine and wine. He's an American who grew up and settled in Tuscany and took on the challenge of translating the book into English. His translation is called the "Art of Eating Well".
Anyway, this frolla dough is quick and easy. My version can be quite fast when using some of my home made jam as a base, topped with thinly sliced fresh fruit, a sprinkle of sugar on top, a pat or two of butter or not, criss cross some wide strips of frolla or indulge your whimsical side with some cookie cut out shapes. Egg wash strips or cut outs and bake till brown and bubbly. Sits well overnight unlike flaky crusts and most Italians have it for breakfast with their cappuccinos if they didn't finish it all the day before.

This crust is from Kyle Philips translated "Artusi" version.

Artusi Pasta Frolla

• 2 cups flour(200 g)
• 1/2 cup sugar(95 g)
• 2/3 cup (150 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg and 1 yolk
• The grated zest of a half a lemon or a quarter of an orange

Mix the flour and sugar. Cream the butter, then add the egg and yolk before gingerly adding the four sugar mixture. Handle the dough as little as possible to keep the butter from melting. You can make the dough a day ahead, as it will improve with age, other wise refrigerate the dough for about an hour.
Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C). Choose a 9-10 inch tart pan with removable bottom, or pie pan if you don't have a tart pan. You can use a cake pan as well and perhaps line it with some parchment paper to make it easier to remove if you would like to serve it without the pan. Otherwise grease and flour your pan or use a nonstick spray.

Divide your dough into two parts with one part being about twice the size of the other, using the larger part for your bottom. You can roll your dough between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap if you don't feel confident, making sure to work quickly without warming the dough too much so that the dough gets soft and sticks. Roll the dough out about a half inch thick circle. If it does stick, just pop it into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes and you're ready to roll again or to place the rolled out dough into your desired tart or decorative pie pan. Fill the tart shell with a thick coating of jam.

I used my home made plum and then added thinly sliced peaches. I also like apricot with apple slices and if you want your very own home made fig newtons, this crust is perfect for that as well. I love it with pretty much any of my home made jams. Italians tend to just use straight jam and make sure the jam is about 1/2 inch thick before adding your top. I generally prefer a thinner amount of jam and sliced fresh fruit to cover.

Roll the second round of chilled dough into more of an oblong round, slightly longer that your pan and cut into wide strips with a fluted pastry wheel if you have one. Make wide criss cross lattices on your tart. or use decorative cookie cutter shapes to finish off your top. Brush with a bit of egg white thinned with a splash of water for added shine and sparkle. I didn't do that in the tart pictured here, so it will turn out fine without the wash also.

Bake the crostata for about 20 minutes, or until the dough begins to brown, being careful not to over bake. You want it to just start to bubble and brown lightly. Enjoy day or night.