Gianduia Cheesecake, a Springtime Delight

Remodeling and gardening projects around our house

Springtime is here, but it seems to have taken it's good sweet time about it this year. It's been unseasonable cold for awhile. Now the weather seems to frolic back and forth between warmth and bursting into blossoms and greenery and a shivering standing on one foot waiting for the warmth to return.  One minute we are rushing to the garden to lay out  new beds and the next rushing back indoors to keep moving on the remodeling of the downstairs space. It is a never ending dance around the building and property as times and circumstances change and we change along with the circumstances and times. Fabrizio has been steadily working on a giant remodel of our family garden trying to keep our neighborhood cinghale (wild boar) and Olympic leaping food crazed caprioli (small roe deer) from having their way with our much missed vegetable patch. When the rain suspends that action he then makes his way through the myriad projects of remodeling our building that houses our B&B and cooking classes that has been in great need of attention. It is never a dull minute. I am banished to keeping the grub going to keep him and our various helpers fueled up to keep the projects moving.  We're making progress and hopefully the weather will pass into a distant memory soon as the guests arrive and the season of visitors gets fully underway. 

In the meantime one of my ways to keep up our spirits is to keep making treats to keep everyone sweet. 

This light and simple northern Italian style cheesecake features the blessed union of chocolate and hazelnuts that Piedmont is so famous for. Hazelnuts are plentiful here, but if you find them difficult to source, this recipe would work well with almonds as well. I love dark chocolate and think it adds the punch that is needed, but of course you can use milk chocolate if you prefer. Whatever changes you make to make this dessert your own, it won't matter, because I think you will find you'll want to make this dessert over and over. Just ask your taste testers, I'm sure they will oblige.

Gianduia cheesecake

Gianduia/Gianduja Cheesecake 
Servings 8 generous

Ingredients:


50g/ 2 oz/1/4 c  butter
150g /1 c  dry cookies, your choice, graham, ginger, petit buerre, vanilla wafers, 
1 T / 12 g  brown sugar

200g /  7oz / 1 c  hazelnuts, whole or pieces. toasted

200-300g / 10 oz  chocolate bittersweet I like mine a bit more chocolatey
30ml rum, brandy, hazelnut or chocolate liquor I used a 1 T brandy and 2 T Hazelnut

250g / 8-9 oz mascarpone cheese
200g / 7-8oz  heavy cream for filling a little more to whip for garnish. 

Method:

Toast the hazelnuts lightly in the oven or on top of the stove in a cast iron pan in a single layer till the nuts are lightly golden and fragrant. If using the on top of the stove method. make sure to shake the pan frequently and don't wander off as the nuts can burn more easily and you need to pay attention to them.

Set aside to cool. When cool, either chop fine with a knife or pulse them in a food processor till they are fine but not a paste. Do make sure they are completely cooled so that when you chop them up they don't turn into a paste. Divide the nuts into two portions. Set aside.

Melt the butter. Crush the cookies into coarse crumbs. Mix the melted butter with the dry cookies crumbs.

Presse the mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a buttered 25cm or 10" pan with removable collar.  Chill the pan with the crumbs while preparing the other ingredients. 

Place the chocolate in a double boiler with the heavy cream and heat with out stirring, until the chocolate is melted. while still warm, gently whisk the cream and chocolate together, add the brandy or other alcohol and mix until smooth. Add half of the chopped hazelnuts to the chocolate mixture.

Cool until the mixture is no longer hot to the touch.  Whisk in the mascarpone cheese lightly until all is mixed and smooth, but no more than necessary to mix. Taste and add a little more alcohol if desired. Pour the mixture into the chilled crumb crust and smooth flat. Sprinkle the top with the other half of the crushed hazelnuts covering as much as possible. Chill for at least 3 hours and over night is even better. 

To serve, remove from pan and place on platter. Garnish the top with 8 rosettes of whipped cream and sprinkle chocolate shavings on the cream. I served mine for Easter, so I used small chocolate Easter eggs as garnish.  You could serve with a chocolate, fruit or carmel sauce if desired. 

Easter table with Gianduia cheesecake primroses and Easter eggs in hankies 

Fresh Orange Tart- adding a bit of sun to winter

Enrico,  our favorite citrus vendor

This winter the snow has been slow to arrive after a very early appearance around the 26 October when all was green and the leaves were still on the trees. Now that the white blanket of snow has covered up the unrelenting brown of the winter, it's time for a splash of color. My favorite winter remedy would be the luscious citrus fruits from the south of Italy. Our Sicilian citrus farmers send up some of the tastiest oranges, clementines, and mandarins found anywhere. I always look forward to late autumn when the road side trucks laden with oranges begin to reappear randomly and in regular pull off points where they beckon you to buy a case or two of sunshine and sweetness. Drawn to pull over and inspect the vendors goods, unable to resist the siren song of oranges, we come away with a case of oranges and mandarins. Orange indulgences to follow. We've peeled and juiced these globes of desire until I finally begin to use them up in other ways that requires a tad more effort. 

Tarocco or "Tarot" oranges which are called red oranges here never called blood oranges

I made this orange tart to try and replicate it after having enjoyed a fabulous slice at Caffe' Roma, which is one of our favorite bars in Pinerolo,  The cafe is located at the corner of Piazza Roma, where the daily Farmers market usually draws us in on our market visits. Caffe'Roma is owned and run by 3 brothers, of which 2 work in the  bar and one brother, Francesco, runs the kitchen. I frequently run into the chef shopping at this market and that always puts a smile on my face. I actually see a number of local restauranteurs shopping here and that is so encouraging. Caffe' Roma is a popular lunch time choice, as they serve deliciously genuine and reasonably priced food. You can choose to dine inside or al fresco at one of the curbside tables. I love Franceso's orange tart as it is not one that I have made or enjoyed much before coming to live in Italy. His selection of desserts are always enticing. He has shared his talent, teaching workshops at the restaurant, and at Frossasco's Mueso del Gusto. Unfortunately, I have not been able to attend, so I am left to my own resources. My recipe for this tart is pretty simple as he told it should be. Perhaps not the perfection that I found in his balance of flavor and technique, but tasty and worth making when you want to bring a little sunshine into your day.

Crostat di Arance---Fresh Orange Tart

Fresh Orange Tart or Crostata di Arance

Yields: 1-10 inch or 1-25 cm  crust
Oven Temp 200*C /375*F to blind bake the crust then later to 190*C / 350*F

Pasta Frolla

Ingredients:

200g flour, plain flour or Italian 00 (1 1/2 c / 7 oz flour**) 
125g butter, chilled, but not soft or too hard (1/2c / 4.4 oz)

75 g sugar, granulated or castor (6 T / 2.6 oz)

2 egg yolks

Add sugar to the flour and mix.

Cut the butter into smallish pieces and rub the butter into the flour with your fingers.

Make a well in the middle of the dough.

Add the egg yolks, and stir or mix well with your hands till it comes together in a soft dough.

Knead lightly and briefly to get a smooth dough, being careful not to work the dough too much

Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, as it makes it easier to handle.

Roll out on floured surface or between lightly floured parchment paper for ease.

**Cooks notes: I have found the dough might require more flour as weight to volume flour conversions can vary greatly. Add a little flour at a time if you think the dough is too sticky to get it to be a manageable dough and if necessary, be generous with the flour when rolling the dough out.

For the filling:

Orange peel (organic is best) 

1/2 c sugar 

1/2 c  water

500g oranges slices, peeled  (a little over a pound of oranges, after peeled, maybe 4)

Apricot preserves or Orange marmalade,  a goodly amount as needed for covering the crust and glazing the top,

Brandy or rum

Directions:

Mix up the pasta frolla and refrigerate.

While waiting for the dough to chill, prepare your filling.

Wash the whole oranges and wipe dry.

Before removing the peel from the orange, I either zest or use a channel knife to remove the orange peel zest or strips before actually removing it from the orange itself. 

If you hve neither tool, remove the peel form the oranges, making sure to remove the white pith from the orange. If the white pith is too plentiful scrape some off with a small paring knife. 

Julienne (cutting the peel into thin slivers) the peel.

 In a small sauce pan add the water and sugar and heat to boil. 

When the sugar is dissolved add some or all of the peel. You might need to increase the amount of equal parts of sugar/ water if you have a lot of peels. 

Simmer the peels in the sugar water till softened and translucent. Remove from the syrup and lay flat on a plate or waxed paper when cooled to dry slightly. 

Set aside.

Slice your peeled oranges into rounds and set aside also.

Roll your pastry out to fit a 10" or 25 cm removable bottom tart tin.

Place your pasta frolla in the pan and trim as needed.

Prick the bottom of the pastry generously with a fork.

Line the pastry with baking paper and weigh down with beans or another pan that fits inside. 

Blind bake at 200* C / 375*F for about 20-25 minutes, removing the pan partway though the baking so the middle bakes more thoroughly. With beans or weights, i would bake with them on top the whole time. 

Cool slightly.

Mix your preferred preserves with a few drop of brandy or rum to thin slightly. Warm up on the stove top to make it easier to spread. 

Cover the bottom with a thinnish layer of preserves. I used marmalade as I have quite a bit on hand that I make. 

Now cover the bottom with your jam and crust with the orange slices in a decorative circle, slightly overlapping the edges, till all is covered.

Lower the temperature of your oven to 190*C/350*F

Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes to cook through. 

Thin more marmalade with liquor to make a thin glaze and light glaze the whole tart while warm. Let cool at least 15 minutes before trying to cut it. It will be hard to resist the urge to devour it right out of the oven, but do wait or the crust will crumble. 

Great served at room temperature and is just as tasty the next day or so. 

Let the sun shine through!

Time to make a Crostata

I don't know about you but, it's been a hectic time around our house these days, with all of the small  fruits starting to coming in full force and the weeds in the garden holding their own too. No shortage of jams to make and weeds to pull. I happened to have some ricotta the other day that seem destined to become something sweet to eat instead of its customary roles as a savory offering.   This a versatile easy recipe that works well with cherries and pears as well. I used pecora ricotta as it gives a bit more depth to the flavor, but regular cows ricotta will do fine. Make this soon and enjoy yet another way to get all that fruity goodness into a treat the whole family will love.

Apricot and Ricotta Crostata/ Crostata di Albicoche e Ricotta

Prepare your fruit first and set aside. 
Prepare your pasta frolla and refrigerate.
Finish your filling, roll out your pastry and assemble

Apricot and Ricotta Filling (Cherry or Pear is nice as well)

250 g ricotta

400 g. 3/4 lb of apricots, wash and pit

60 g/ 1/2 c. sugar

juice from 1/2 lemon,  just a touch of the grated peel or orange if preferred

2 T or a healthy splash amaretto if desired

pinch salt

Cut your apricots into small pieces. My apricots were small so I quartered them 

Add the sugarm lemon peel and amaretto

Set aside to absorb flavors. 

Adjust the amounts of sugar and lemon according to the tartness of your apricots or desired sweetness you prefer.

Once you have rolled out your pastry and placed in your prepared pan, add the ricotta to the fruit mixture and stir well. Add a pinch of salt to pull all the flavors together.

Fill your crust with the ricotta and fruit filling before placing pastry strips on top.

Pasta Frolla 
(also known as sweet short paste or cookie crust dough)
1-10" or 25 cm  crust with lattice 
Serves 8

For the pastry

300 g (approx 2 1/4c) flour, pastry or plain 

200 g (7 oz)butter, softened

100 g (2/3 c approx.) sugar, granulated

1 egg

1 egg yolk

Add sugar to the flour and mix .

Cut the butter into small is pieces and mix  together, lightly

Make a well in the middle of the dough.

Add eggs, and stir or mix well with your hands till it comes together in a dough and gingerly pull together into a smooth dough.

Divide into 2 flat disks, one larger than the other. 

Refrigerate for 15 minutes or so, especially if your butter is very soft, to make it easier to handle.

Roll out between lightly floured parchment paper for ease. 

Can be rolled with out paper, just make sure you keep lightly flouring and lifting and don’t let the dough get too warm.

Prepare a removable bottom tart or cake pan by greasing and flouring. 

Roll the larger disk out to beyond he edges of the bottom of the pan. Carefully lift and place in the tart pan allowing the edges to fall over the edges. 

Roll out the top portion in a slightly oblong fashion again about 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the pan. 

Cut into wide strips and lay across the top of the filled bottom crust, in a criss cross pattern, one direction and then the other, or weave the strips as you go from the center with and over and under method finishing on the outer edges. 

Trim and excess dough the might be hanging over and crimp edges of the strips to bottom crust, if necessary.

Brush top with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse sugar for a bit of sparkle and bake at 190*C / 350*F for about 25 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Let cool till warm before cutting and serving.