La Festa di San Giuseppe, or St. Joseph’s Day, is commonly celebrated in Italian communities throughout the world. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is a feast day to honor St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus and husband of Mary
INGREDIENTS
5 Whole Eggs
250 gr. (8.81 oz.) 00 Flour
250 ml. (8.5 fl. oz.) Water, room temperature
75 gr. (2.54 oz.) Butter
5 gr. (o.17 oz.) Salt
To Garnish
Pastry cream
Sour cherries
Maraschino cherrieS
PREPARATION:
Pour the water into a large saucepan, add butter, salt and bring to simmer
When it begins to boil low the heat, add flour and whisk constantly
until a dough ball is formed, it must be soft and smooth to touch
Now put the dough into a mixing bowl and when the dough is cool
slowly pour the eggs, whisk well until well combined
Once Zeppole batter is ready fill the pastry bag
Take a baking tin covered with oven paper and make some doughnut ring
Place the baking tin into the oven, preheated at 210° - 225° C (410 - 437 F) and cook for about 15 minutes
Remove Zeppole from oven, cut in half, place half doughnut ring into a plate, fill with pastry cream, cover with remaining part, top with pastry cream, add a sour cherry and syrup, and a maraschino cherry.
Basic Sponge Cake
This is a classic recipe of italian pastry. It's a base of a lot of cakes.
INGREDIENTS for 6 persons - Difficulty (EASY)
100 gr (3.52 oz) 00 Flour, sieved
125 gr (4.40 oz) Refined Sugar
25 gr (0.88 oz) Potato starch (or Flour)
5 Whole Eggs
1 Vanilla Pod
1 Orange Zest finely grated
PREPARATION: Time 45 minutes
Crack the eggs and pour them into a mixing bowl, add sugar, the grated orange zest and vanilla seeds
Stir all ingredients together before whisking
Mix them on a high speed until your batter reaches a smooth consistency then turn off the machine*.
Combine the potato starch and the 00 flour together, stir them well, gradually transfer to the mixing bowl and stir gently from bottom to top using a spatula
Add the flour little by little to avoid lumps from forming and stir continuously until creamy
Transfer the batter to the floured mould filling the lower half of it
Place the mould in pre-heated oven and bake at 190 C (374 F)
for 20 to 25 minutes
After 25 minutes your sponge cake is ready remove it immediately from mould
Your sponge cake can be used as a base for different kinds of cakes and desserts
Vanilla Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce
The Panna Cotta is, along with the Tiramisú, the most important dessert prepared in restaurants around the world. It is generally from the Northern Italian region of Piemonte (which capital is Turin)
INGREDIENTS - Difficult (EASY)
500 ml.(16.9 fl. oz.) Fresh Cream
100 gr. (3.5 oz.) Refined Sugar
¼ Vanilla pod (split lengthwise, seeds scraped)
10 gr. (0.35 oz.) Unflavoured Gelatine
Garnish
Strawberry Sauce or wood fruits
PREPARATION: Time 25 minutes
Pour cream into the saucepan, add sugar, split the pod down its length scrape out the seeds and put them into the saucepan adding Vanilla pod
Place the saucepan over a medium heat stirring continuously
Put the gelatine leaves into a bowl of cold water for about 2 minutes
Once the cream reaches a simmer, take the saucepan off the heat and remove the Vanilla pod
Gently squeeze the gelatine leaves and put them into the saucepan
Once the gelatine is completely dissolved, pour the cream into some small moulds
Let it cool, and put into the fridge for at least 2 hours until it reaches the right consistency
Once the Panna Cotta is ready, remove from moulds, transfer to a serving plate, top with strawberry sauce
and garnish with a little sugar decoration
Tiramisú
INGREDIENTS for 8 persons
INGREDIENTS
5 Whole Eggs
250 gr. (8.81 oz.) 00 Flour
250 ml. (8.5 fl. oz.) Water, room temperature
75 gr. (2.54 oz.) Butter
5 gr. (o.17 oz.) Salt
To Garnish
Pastry cream
Sour cherries
Maraschino cherrieS
PREPARATION:
Pour the water into a large saucepan, add butter, salt and bring to simmer
When it begins to boil low the heat, add flour and whisk constantly
until a dough ball is formed, it must be soft and smooth to touch
Now put the dough into a mixing bowl and when the dough is cool
slowly pour the eggs, whisk well until well combined
Once Zeppole batter is ready fill the pastry bag
Take a baking tin covered with oven paper and make some doughnut ring
Place the baking tin into the oven, preheated at 210° - 225° C (410 - 437 F) and cook for about 15 minutes
Remove Zeppole from oven, cut in half, place half doughnut ring into a plate, fill with pastry cream, cover with remaining part, top with pastry cream, add a sour cherry and syrup, and a maraschino cherry.
Basic Sponge Cake
This is a classic recipe of italian pastry. It's a base of a lot of cakes.INGREDIENTS for 6 persons - Difficulty (EASY)
100 gr (3.52 oz) 00 Flour, sieved
125 gr (4.40 oz) Refined Sugar
25 gr (0.88 oz) Potato starch (or Flour)
5 Whole Eggs
1 Vanilla Pod
1 Orange Zest finely grated
PREPARATION: Time 45 minutes
Crack the eggs and pour them into a mixing bowl, add sugar, the grated orange zest and vanilla seeds
Stir all ingredients together before whisking
Mix them on a high speed until your batter reaches a smooth consistency then turn off the machine*.
Combine the potato starch and the 00 flour together, stir them well, gradually transfer to the mixing bowl and stir gently from bottom to top using a spatula
Add the flour little by little to avoid lumps from forming and stir continuously until creamy
Transfer the batter to the floured mould filling the lower half of it
Place the mould in pre-heated oven and bake at 190 C (374 F)
for 20 to 25 minutes
After 25 minutes your sponge cake is ready remove it immediately from mould
Your sponge cake can be used as a base for different kinds of cakes and desserts
Vanilla Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce
INGREDIENTS - Difficult (EASY)
500 ml.(16.9 fl. oz.) Fresh Cream
100 gr. (3.5 oz.) Refined Sugar
¼ Vanilla pod (split lengthwise, seeds scraped)
10 gr. (0.35 oz.) Unflavoured Gelatine
Garnish
Strawberry Sauce or wood fruits
PREPARATION: Time 25 minutes
Pour cream into the saucepan, add sugar, split the pod down its length scrape out the seeds and put them into the saucepan adding Vanilla pod
Place the saucepan over a medium heat stirring continuously
Put the gelatine leaves into a bowl of cold water for about 2 minutes
Once the cream reaches a simmer, take the saucepan off the heat and remove the Vanilla pod
Gently squeeze the gelatine leaves and put them into the saucepan
Once the gelatine is completely dissolved, pour the cream into some small moulds
Let it cool, and put into the fridge for at least 2 hours until it reaches the right consistency
Once the Panna Cotta is ready, remove from moulds, transfer to a serving plate, top with strawberry sauce
and garnish with a little sugar decoration
Tiramisú
INGREDIENTS for 8 persons 400 gr. (14.10 oz.) Sponge Cake sliced
500 gr. (17.63 oz.) Mascarpone cheese
250 ml. (6.7 fl. oz.) Whipping Cream
200 ml. (6.7 fl. oz.) Sugar syrup*
150 gr. (5.29 oz.) Icing sugar sieved
3 Small-cups (5.07 fl. oz.) Espresso coffee
1 Teaspoon Sambuca liqueur
PREPARATION:
Put Mascarpone into a large mixing bowl, add Icing sugar, and half cream
Stir all ingredients and whip
When Mascarpone begins to thicken, slowly pour the rest of the cream and Sambuca liqueur
Once Mascarpone cream is ready, pour Espresso coffee into a bowl, add sugar syrup and stir
Line 2 Sponge cake slices into a plate and soak with coffee syrup
Fill a pastry bag with Mascarpone and spread it over the Sponge cake slices, make another layer of Sponge cake, soak with coffee syrup
Garnish the top with Mascarpone cream, sprinkle with bitter cocoa powder, add a little chocolate decoration and a sliced strawberry
*Sugar syrup: made by stirring 100 gr. (3.52 oz.) sugar into 100 ml (3.4 fl. oz.) of boiling water for 15 minutes
You can make this recipe with Ladyfingers (Savoiardi) or Pavesini biscuits as well
Molten Chocolate Cake
INGREDIENTS for 6 persons
5 Whole eggs 250 gr. (8.81 oz.)
150 gr. (5.29 oz.) Bitter cocoa powder sieved
250 gr. (8.81 oz.) Sugar
140 gr. (4.93 oz.) 0 Flour
130 gr. (4.58 oz.) Butter
PREPARATION:
Butter 6 little cake moulds, lightly flour them and tap out the excess flour
In a mixing bowl, put the butter at room temperature, add sugar whisk it and slowly pour the eggs
Now It's time to add half flour previously sieved, and begin to stir
When the flour is amalgamated add half cocoa powder, stir always from bottom to top
When the cocoa powder is well amalgamated, add remaining flour, finally add remaining cocoa powder
Once batter reaches the right consistency transfer the chocolate batter to a pastry bag and fill the moulds
It's very important to freeze the batter before baking, in this way you will have the chocolate melted heart
When the chocolate cake is frozen and oven ready, put it into preheated oven at 220 degrees C (428 F.) for 8-10 minutes
Remove the cake from the mould, dust with cocoa powder, put into a plate and serve
