Just before
the Christmas holidays we had our usual gathering near Doncaster where
Valentina, my autistic daughter, lives. We indulged in delicious Italian food
at Trattoria Toscana: penne alla romana, pasta Vincenza, mozzarella fiorentina,
pizza Quattro stagioni, filetto Toscana, pollo Sorrento and bolognese.
Valentina loved it.
Valentina
and I painted wooden decorations with glitter paint and hanged them in her room.
We also built a Christmas tree and cut and glued together a paper nativity. She
wore the party clothes we brought, a new hat, furry gloves and soft snood from
my youngest son, and cuddled the new teddy
I managed to
make a Christmas cake before leaving and some gorgeous biscuits with new
biscuit cutters I bought for the occasion. I am going to wrap them in clear
film or put them in boxes to give as a present. They look so enticing and
mouth-watering.
Here are the
recipes you can enjoy experimenting during Christmas time. Have a binge on
them, it’s now or never.
Torta savoiarda (cake of Savoy, sponge cake)
This is a
sponge cake that recalls savoiardi biscuits, sponge sweet biscuits usually used
in tiramisu recipe. You can fill and cover the cake with cream or custard. I
suggest two kinds of cream, one is a chocolate cream, the other one is Chantilly
cream.
For the cake
you need: six eggs, 200 g of white caster sugar, 90 g of flour, 90 g of potato
flour, some vanilla drops, a pinch of salt, one tsp of baking powder, half a
tsp of bicarbonate of soda.
For the
chocolate cream you need: 250 g of milk, 100 g of sugar, 50 g of cocoa, 30 g of
flour, a pinch of salt, 20 g of soft butter.
For
Chantilly cream you need: 250 g of milk, 50 g of sugar, 2 yolks of eggs, 30 g
of flour, a pinch of salt, 2 tbsp. of liquor. You also need 200 g of whipping
cream and a tbsp. of sugar.
Separate the
eggs. Beat the yolks with the sugar until you have a foamy and smooth mixture.
Whip the whites until stiff and add it to the yolks. Add all the other
ingredients and mix well. Pour it in a greased cake tin and bake at 180° C for 30-45 minutes.
For the
chocolate cream, mix all the ingredients in a pan and cook on a hob until the
mixture comes to boil and thickens.
For
Chantilly cream, mix all the ingredients for the custard cream, cook it until
it comes to boil and thickens, then let it cool. Whip the whipping cream plus
sugar and finally mix the two creams together obtaining a smooth texture.
Cut the cake
in half and damp the two parts with liquor mixed with sugared water, or with
milk and sugared water if you don’t like liquor. Fill it with one of the creams
and cover the top of the cake with it as well. You can also decorate the top as
you wish with coloured fondant icing cut in patterns, berries, sprinkles, or
chocolate chips. Be creative!
Here are
some biscuits from traditional recipes I slightly tweaked. The result was
brilliant and I loved decorating them with icing.
Gingerbread
You need:
350 g of flour, two eggs, five tbsp. of honey, two tsp of ground ginger, half a
tsp of sweet cinnamon, a pinch of salt, half a tsp of nutmeg, half a tsp of
ground cloves, half a tsp of baking powder and the tip of a tsp of bicarbonate
of soda.
Mix all the
ingredients starting with the flour and eggs and adding all the rest little by
little. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour then roll it out and
cut the shapes. Bake the biscuits on a greased oven tray at 180° C for 15 minutes.
Vanilla biscuits
You need:
300 g of flour, two eggs, 100 of white granulated sugar, 50 g of melted butter,
some vanilla seeds, some drops of Madagascan vanilla extract, half a tsp of
baking powder and the tip of a tsp of bicarbonate of soda.
Mix all the
ingredients starting with the flour and eggs and adding all the rest little by
little. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour then roll it out and
cut the shapes. Bake the biscuits on a greased oven tray at 180° C for 15 minutes.
Almond biscuits
You need:
180 g of white flour, two eggs, 70 g of melted butter, the grated zest of a
lemon, 100 g of golden caster sugar, 100 g of ground almonds.
Mix all the
ingredients starting with the flour and eggs and adding all the rest little by
little. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour then roll it out and
cut the shapes. Bake the biscuits on a greased oven tray at 180° C for 15 minutes.
Chocolate biscuits
You need:
250 g of flour, 100 g of cocoa powder (100% cocoa), 80 g of melted butter, a
pinch of salt, three eggs, a tbsp. of liquor, 100 g of muscovado sugar or dark
brown soft cane sugar.
Mix all the
ingredients starting with the flour and eggs and adding all the rest little by
little. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour then roll it out and
cut the shapes. Bake the biscuits on a greased oven tray at 180° C for 15 minutes.
Have a great Christmas time!🎄
