A heart of passion

Happy Valentine's Day to you'll !!!

 

 

Chocolate mousse:

11 ounces Bitter or semi-sweet chocolate
10 Egg yolks
2 Whole eggs
4 ounces Granulated sugar
16 fluid ounces Heavy cream, whipped
10 gelatin sheets, softened in cold water

 

Melt the chocolate and set aside.

Place the egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar in a mixer bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until the mixture reaches 158°F (70°C) and is thickened. Add the softened gelatin and let it melt.

Let this mixture cool down, whipping it into the mixer.

Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the warm chocolate. Using a balloon whisk gently fold in the remaining cream and whipped mixture.

Pour the mousse in a heart shaped ring. Freeze it.

 

Strawberry gelee

2 lb strawberry puree
8 oz sugar
10 gelatin sheets, softened in cold water

 

Combine the purée and sugar in a non-reactive saucepan and heat the mixture until it reaches 110°F (43°C).

Add the softened sheet gelatin to the purée. Stir until the gelatin dissolves completely. Let it cool slightly and Immediately pour half of the mixture on top of the frozen mousse. Chill or freeze until firm. slice the fresh strawberries very thin and make a layer on top of the frozen heart. cover with the remaining gelee (if in the meantime it has became too hard, reheat it). Put it in the freezer until firm.

 

 

This recipe participate to the sweet initiative of Zorra "A heart for Valentine". You'll find more information here.

Ciambella Sorrento

Everything I cooked in Italy (should I say baked, since I was only allowed to bake a long list of desserts, that my father gave me!!!) come from very simple ingredients, the ones that I've found in my mother's pantry  or in the garden that my father take care with such love and passion, or from familiar and friends that generously donated us products from their garden (the same way we do with them).

In a way, this lifestyle is still simple and "natural" as it was in the past. Here we don't find trendy and expensive ingredients or the wonder of the electric appliances.

Here prevail ingredients with good smells (I mean a lemon that smell like a lemon!!!), strong colors. Have you ever seen a egg orange like a sunset? Look at this picture: this is a egg from an hen in my parents' garden. I almost forgot the look of it and the result that it gives to everything you cook!!!!

That's why for this cake I've decided to use the best ingredients I could find in my family's garden: lemons, oranges, tangerines and olives, the best of the Mediterranean area and what makes Sorrento proud in the world.

 

Here it is my simple cake, made just for my cousin Rossella and her little angel Maria Rosaria. 

 

Procedure and ingredients:

In a food processor, grind finely the zest of 1 lemon, 1 orange and 1 tangerine (if you can, the citrus have to be just picked from the trees) with 200 gr of granulated sugar.

Add 3 eggs, 1 glass of milk, 1 glass of extra-virgin olive oil, 250 gr all purpose flour and 1 tablespoon of baking powder. Blend well and pour into a greased and floured bundt cake pan  and bake, in a preheated oven, at 350 F per 30-40 minutes, checking with a toothpick  to be sure is properly cooked.

Remove from oven and after few minutes from the baking pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and, if you like, serve it with hot chocolate!!!

Here I am... again!!!!

 

Hi everybody!!!

After a full month abroad the Continent I'm finally back. Even though, coming back is always sad and every time harder and harder. It is tough to leave behind the world I grew up in, not knowing when I'm going back.

And at the same time, when I'm there is like I'm an outsider: the children are grown up and they don't recognize me anymore; the adults have more white hair; the neighbors have a different face and  people I've known for long time  smile at me, but I barely remember their name. and still.. my heart is always there!

This time I really saw a lot of friends, I have partied a lot, I've met new friend and, since this blog is about cooking, I had to make big sacrifices and taste a lot of food (the more, the better!!!).

I've also made few new recipes, that I'll post soon, as soon I'll finish to adjourn myself about the news on Internet, on my friends' blogs and on the forum I read everyday.

Thank you for your comments, that I couldn't read by myself because in Italy I don't have Internet; but I have a special friend - Carmen - that has read for me, by phone, everything so I couldn't miss a word!!!!

Talk to you soon, then... with a lot of good recipes and, as usual, with more chatting!!!