From my summer. A Peach Amaretti Cake recipe

End of August. The end of summer is behind the corner. And before the season ends, I share a recipe for a "good by chance" peach and macaroon cake. Now I'm telling you the genesis of this cake. Happy times to remember. Of the summer of the year that I will not -no one of us- forget, I…

ByMonica31 August 20200Comments

COURSES Fruits INGREDIENTS Preserves RECIPES

Cherry and walnut jam and a day at the market

Cherry and walnut jam. One spring-summer fruit and one of the autumn. Fresh fruit and "shell fruit". Together they make a perfect pair. At the market. The fruits of the first spring month, the month of may, bring the promise of summer in their colors. Strawberries and cherries dye the market stalls red, anticipating the juicy freshness and bright…

ByMonica18 June 20200Comments

COURSES Desserts Eggs Fruits Gluten-free INGREDIENTS RECIPES

Strawberry and Blueberry Clafoutis, Gluten-Free Recipe

Claf-who? Clafoutis! Spring and delicious with fresh strawberry and blueberry. Fruit Dessert. Who loves them? I love all of them. Crumble, apple pie, apple strudel, Black Forest (preserved cherries are still fruit!). But now, please, give me your attention. I have a good new for those who are looking for to use seasonal, local fruit! Clafoutis is an easy-to-make French dessert…

ByMonica20 May 20200Comments

Breads and Pizza Breakfast and Merenda COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

Cooked Ham Swirl Brioche Rolls Recipe

Savory or Sweet Breakfast? No sweets for me. And breakfast at the bar. Savory swirled brioche roll (girella salata) and macchiato freddo double espresso. Although in these weeks of Covid-19 quarantine, everything has changed. All bars are closed and it means breakfast at home. Like everyone else, I, too, gave up some little things that marked my daily…

ByMonica23 March 20200Comments

Breakfast and Merenda Cakes and Cookies COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

Italian Frollini Cookies And My Food Rituals

In your own cookbook can't miss a honest and rustic cookies recipe for breakfast. Frollini cookies are a classic among Italian sweet recipes for breakfast or merenda. So take pen and paper, write down the recipe and put it in your home cookbook. From today it will have a new page and flavor. The one for frollini…

ByMonica10 February 20200Comments

Breakfast and Merenda Chocolate Drinks Gluten-free INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix (Gluten Free Recipe)

In season? Hot chocolate mix! Here's something that, in winter, can't miss in my kitchen pantry. The hot chocolate mix seems to be a family traditions. Among the pages of an old family cookbook, where my grandmother Sara used to write her recipes, I found her recipe for homemade hot chocolate mix. It isn't that. What…

ByMonica17 December 20190Comments

Buckwheat pumpkin cake with almonds. A simple pantry cake

Breakfast and Merenda Cakes and Cookies Chocolate COURSES Gluten-free INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES

Buckwheat pumpkin cake with almonds. An Italian simple pantry cake

How do you like your cakes? The answer also depends on the occasion but, usually, absurdly sumptuous cakes for parties or simple cakes. I prefer simple cakes with a short list of ingredients and recipes I can make using a couple of bowls and essential kitchen tools. In other words, my favorite cakes are those, in Italy,…

ByMonica19 October 20190Comments

Aperitivo Breads and Pizza OCCASIONS RECIPES

Ficattola, the Tuscan-Romagnolo fried bread

Ficattola is a kind of Tuscan-Romagnolo fried bread. The dough is neutral and goes well with both cured meats and jams. The fried bread called ficattola originated in the Mugello area bordering Romagna and its name seems to refer to the figs that once were mixed into the dough. My father's family originates from those villages in the…

ByMonica18 October 20194Comments

Aperitivo Breads and Pizza Breakfast and Merenda Fruits INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES

Grape focaccia from Romagna recipe

When the black grapes are ripe, it is time for grape cake, a rustic, savory, and fall preparation. Among the sweets-not-sweets typical of this period in Romagna is the black grape cake, almost a focaccia. It is an end-of-meal dessert that you can use to accompany also a Bolognese cutting board at aperitif time. Italian recipes Many traditional Italian…

ByMonica3 September 20190Comments

COURSES Desserts Fruits Gluten-free INGREDIENTS RECIPES

Homemade fruit gelati recipe (without ice-cream maker)

Spring and summer are full of juicy and fragrant fruits. Perfect for eating fresh or turning into desserts, jams, juices, and gelati. When there was not yet the habit of buying ready-made gelati to store into the freezer, grandma used to make homemade fruit gelati. In the glass beaker of the blender, she combined fresh fruit, a…

ByMonica24 July 20190Comments