Most Italians have a go-to coffee bar for their breakfast: usually an espresso or cappuccino and a cornetto (a croissant). If you get to the bar on the late side you might find you're out of luck on the pastry side. You’ll almost always find the bar’s homemade ciambellone, which is quite similar to a...
Dessert
Red Wine Cookies (Ciambelline al Vino Rosso)
Red Wine Cookies (Ciambelline al Vino Rosso) They make a nice gift, along with other biscotti, for almost any occasion: Red Wine Cookies (Ciambelline al Vino Rosso) are the best way to use up leftover red wine. How many times have you had a party or dinner guests and you find a few bottles with...
Ginger Cake with a Maple Glaze
What makes this Ginger Cake with a Maple Glaze so fabulous is the fresh and candied ginger in the cake! The maple glaze is a great addition to the flavors, lathered and drizzled on top of the cake. I often use ginger in stir fry dishes, or blended with olive oil and soy sauce as a salad...
Panettone French Toast
It happens to be the last holiday of the season here in Italy...the Befana...so I feel compelled to add a little festivity to the day and that usually means a food treat. So we're starting the day off with some Panettone French toast which, as they say in Italian, è la morte sua (its best...
Gianduia Peanut Butter Cookies
“Most of life's problems can be solved with a good cookie.” Ina Garten We all know that peanut butter and chocolate are a marriage made in heaven. If the chocolate is [amazon_textlink asin='B01N5XOSUR' text='gianduia' template='ProductLink' store='flavorofita02-20' marketplace='US' link_id='6f1f2bb3-e4a5-11e7-9990-97bab86add51'] chocolate then the marriage is nirvana. Gianduia chocolates are Italy's best: a Piedmontese mixture of creamy chocolate...
Panettone
Christmas is around the corner and once again it's time to make panettone, the Italian classic sweet bread loaf that you find on every Italian table during the holidays. Panettone requires a full day including three risings, so if you decide to make your own panettone be sure to allot the necessary time to bake...
Apple Pie
Apple Pie Apple pie is at the very top of my comfort food list. Add a scoop of ice cream or, better yet, a drizzling of fresh cream and it moves a step higher into culinary nirvana. Apple pie is delicious year-round and is dead easy to make. Have a question or want to leave...
Banana Nutella Bread
If you love rich banana flavor and a dessert that's full of chocolatey flavor then Banana Nutella Bread is the dessert for you! And you can also make Banana Nutella Muffins, just reduce the baking time. It just so happens that chocolate and banana are a heavenly match; the addition of Nutella takes this banana...
Tiramisù!
I've come to love tiramisù now that I've fine tuned my recipe to exactly suit my taste. The key to great tiramisù is to use mascarpone, and to beat the eggs until they're cloud-fluffy. Of course good espresso and high quality Marsala wine are a given! You can chill tiramisù in a large serving dish...
Caramel Walnut Torte
This gooey and delicious torte recipe explodes with fresh Italian walnuts! Italian walnuts are in their prime right now; tender and delicious. And it just so happens that we have a huge walnut tree growing right on our property. We pick some underripe walnuts in June to make nocino, an Italian liqueur usually served at Christmas. We pick the...
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Fresh Berries
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes! Pancakes, even when they're as fluffy as can be, take a back seat to these lemon ricotta pancakes. Fluffy isn't even the word I'd use; these are delightfully creamy. The lemon zest shines through beautifully, and of course you can't go wrong smothering these masterpieces with honey and fresh berries. They're sinfully...
Cranberry Hazelnut Biscotti
Cranberry Hazelnut Biscotti are something I make year round; a great dessert to have on hand...especially for dipping in sweet dessert wines! When I think of Christmas dishes in America I think of cranberries...they appear in sauces, breads, stuffings. And in Italy hazelnuts are a common Christmas dessert ingredient: nougat torrone, chocolate torrone and many...