Talent for food: What would you have prepared?

Dolci, Food Tours

For a foodie, what could be nicer than getting to know the products of an area? This is the purpose of Talent for Food, the event designed to put bloggers from all over Italy in contact with companies producing and processing food, wines, spirits and liqueurs from the provinces of Padua and Treviso, of which Valdobbiadene, recently recognised as an intangible heritage of Unesco, is the best known expression.

Talent for Food: discovering the products of an area

How can you say no to such an extraordinary opportunity? So, I too submitted my application to participate in the initiative and after a few weeks I received the Mystery Box containing the 18 products to choose from to make a recipe… mouth-watering!

You can imagine that every time I embark on these wonderful adventures, there is always the fear that I cannot use most of the ingredients because of the presence of gluten… so bated breath until the mysterious box arrives!

I must admit that the first impact was… shocking, do you know why? Because the box had been damaged in transit, causing a bag of Agugiaro&Figna Molini organic wholemeal flour (one of their mills is just a stone’s throw from my house!) to break, which, of course, covered everything like a fine snowfall. What to do? Panic in the ranks! In the end, I decided to separate the gluten free products and subject them to a nice bath in the garden to try to remove all the flour from the waterproof packaging to avoid contamination of their contents when opened.

Having overcome my fear, I was finally able to ‘see’ the gifts from the land of Padua that I could use. Are you curious? Drum roll and here are the products to choose from for my gluten free proposal:

Agricola Grains high oleic sunflower oil https://www.agricolagrains.it/

Bbovis granulated stock preparation https://www.bovis.it/

Dialcos rice and quinoa pasta https://www.dialcos.it/

Molino Favero lentil flour http://www.molinofavero.com/

Goppion Native Coffee http://www.goppioncaffe.it/

Italdroghe saffron powder https://www.italdroghe.it/

Lazzaris strawberry mostarda https://www.lazzaris.com/

Serbosco artichoke cream https://www.serbosco.it/

Well organic stock https://www.brodowell.it/

My first idea of making a pie with a lentil crust, rice and quinoa pasta topped with artichoke sauce and saffron cream vanished in front of the packet of Dialsì pasta, which I found damaged, thus contaminated by the broken bag of wheat flour. I had to find an alternative quickly.

What would you have made with these ingredients?

What would you have prepared with these ingredients considering that the regulation required at least 5 ingredients to be used amongst the ones provided? One of my favourite desserts immediately came to mind: saffron panna cotta! All that was left for me to do was to think about how to use at least four more ingredients in the preparation and, despite the somewhat daunting premise, it only took a moment to come up with my dessert!

Saffron panna cotta is a bit of a workhorse of mine and I usually serve it by simply accompanying it with crumbled amaretti biscuits (super quick version), so I simply had to replace the amaretti biscuits with something similar, but more interesting: a lentil flour crumble. For this crumble, pre-cooked lentil flour and sunflower oil were two perfect allies. In fact, pre-cooked flour allows for better workability and texture, as well as shorter cooking times, and the high oleic oil is a perfect substitute for butter, but allows you to use half the amount.

Another ingredient I chose was coffee. I love coffee and its aroma paces my days, generally associating it with moments of pleasure and tranquillity, so pairing it with a dessert, the quintessential expression of pleasure, was almost a must. A nice coffe pot on the stove and voilà: I could replace water with coffee in a chocolate icing to obtain a coffee-flavoured chocolate sauce for an unforgettable treat.

The unexpected touch to the dish is the spicy sweetness of the strawberry Mostarda: Lazzaris often accompanies my cheese-based desserts (of which, as a good daughter of Parmigiano Reggiano producers, I am very fond), but never before has it accompanied a classic dessert: I’d say it passed the test very well!

Before I unveil the recipe, I’ll give you a smile: I decided to prepare the panna cotta in single portions (whereas I usually prepare it in a large version to be sliced) because I wasn’t sure about the plating…coffee chocolate cream on top or underneath? crumble on top or on the side? and the strawberry? So, with all these doubts, I prepared 8 single portions and set the whole family to work, asking each person to serve their favourite version of this panna cotta. We had a lot of fun and, above all, we ate up all the panna cotta we had prepared as a test! Fortunately, I kept a few aside to photograph and our favourite version is the one I’m sharing with you!

These are the official hashtags for Talent For Food: #talentforfood, #t4f, #aifbt4f, #aifb and this is anoter Panna cotta if you like this type of dessert.

Saffron Panna cotta with lentil crumble and strawberry mostarda

Panna cotta 20.22g carbohydrates per 100g

Crumble 46.83g carbohydrates per 100g

Coffee flavoured chocolate sauce 31g carbohydrates per 100g

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Cooking times: 30 minutes

Rest time: 6 hours

Ingredients for 8 servings

500g fresh cream
250g milk
150g sugar
2 sachets of saffron powder
15g gelatine sheets* (3 sheets)

Ingredients for the crumble (you will have some left over to use as granola for breakfast)

55g red lentil flour Bio Miks*
40g almonds
40g Demerara dark sugar
30g wholemeal rice flour*
20g organic high oleic sunflower oil Agricola Grains
1 egg
15g pine nuts

Ingredients for the coffee flavoured chocolate sauce

150g fresh cream
100g Goppion Coffee
100g sugar
75g dark chocolate*
50g bitter cocoa powder*

Ingredients to complete

Lazzaris strawberry mostarda*

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Soak the gelatine in cold water.
Mix cream, milk and sugar and put them on the stove in a saucepan. Stir to melt the sugar and when the mixture is hot, add the saffron and squeezed gelatine; stir until the gelatine is completely dissolved.
Leave to cool and pour the mixture into 8 single-portion moulds of the desired shape. Put the moulds in the refrigerator for Panna cotta to solidify and cool for at least 6 hours.
Prepare the crumble. Coarsely chop the almonds, leaving some whole, and mix them with the lentil flour, rice flour, pine nuts and sugar; then add the oil and egg to moisten the mixture and when it forms large crumbs, spread them out on a sheet of parchment paper and bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 15 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Prepare the chocolate sauce. Prepare 100g of coffee; put the cocoa powder in a small pan, pour in the coffee and stir with a whisk to obtain a lump-free cream, then add the cream and sugar and put on the heat for 5 minutes, stirring well with the whisk (if you have a thermometer, the temperature should be between 70 and 80 degrees, if you do not have a thermometer, keep the mixture just below the boiling point).
Turn off the stove and add the lightly chopped chocolate, stirring with a whisk so that it melts completely, then leave to cool, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce has cooled, keep it in the refrigerator until it is time to serve the Panna cotta.
To complete the Panna cotta, unmould each single-portion on the serving platter, top with the coffee chocolate sauce, sprinkle with crumble and complete with a Lazzaris strawberry.

Gli ingredienti della mia ricetta per Talent for Food

The ingredients of my recipe for Talent for Food

Version with gluten of Saffron Panna cotta with lentil crumble and strawberry mostarda

The recipe contains only naturally gluten-free ingredients or ingredients bearing the gluten free wording, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

September 26, 2019/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Gluten-free sweets: Coconut puddings with liquorice flavoured chocolate cream

Dolci

On these summer days, people look for something cool to quench the feeling of excessive heat, but taste always comes first. Our idea is an alternative to ice cream, a mouth-watering soft dessert with contrasting flavours to savour: Coconut puddings with liquorice flavoured chocolate cream.

If you like cold desserts, try these Mini cheesecakes.

Coconut puddings with liquorice flavoured chocolate cream

19.57g carbohydrates per 100g coconut puddings without cream

Chocolate flavoured liquorice cream

30.31g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 6 servings

200g milk
200g coconut milk
150g fresh cream
3 egg yolks
50g sugar
50g brown sugar
45g grated coconut*
25g wholemeal rice flour*
1 organic orange
almond or hazelnut oil

Ingredients for the liquorice flavoured chocolate cream

50g fresh cream
35g water
30g sugar
25g dark chocolate*
15g bitter cocoa powder*
1 teaspoon powdered liquorice*
6 raspberries

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Bring milk, coconut milk and grated coconut to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave until the mixture has cooled.
Beat the egg yolks well with the sugars, then add the rice flour while continuing to stir and the coconut-flavoured milk through a sieve (so that the grated coconut is removed). Place everything in a saucepan and over low heat, stirring until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat, flavour with grated orange peel and leave to cool, stirring occasionally.
Whip the cream and finally fold it into the coconut mixture so that it does not lose airiness.
Brush 6 single-portion moulds with almond or hazelnut oil and fill them with the cream. Place in the freezer for about 6 hours.
Prepare a chocolate cream. Dissolve the cocoa in the water, then add cream and sugar and cook over medium heat, simmering for 5 minutes, stirring well with a whisk (the temperature should be between 70 and 80 degrees). Turn off the heat and add the dark chocolate, stirring until completely melted; continue stirring until the temperature has dropped well, then add 1 teaspoon of liquorice powder, stir well and store in the refrigerator.
Take the puddings out of the freezer, remove them from the moulds, place them on a serving plate and wait 30 minutes before serving. When serving, top them with 1 spoonful of liquorice flavoured chocolate cream and garnish with 1 raspberry.

Budino-cocco-crema-cioccolato-liquirizia-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Coconut pudding with liquorice flavoured chocolate cream

Version with gluten of Coconut puddings with liquorice flavoured chocolate cream

The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients or ingredients bearing the gluten free wording, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

If you like creamy desserts, also try Mahalabiya a journey through flavours.

June 25, 2019/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Buckwheat drip cake

Dolci

The Buckwheat drip cake is one of my favourite cakes because every time I bake it, it allows me to perfectly express my mood in both the filling and the decorations. For this reason, I often end up choosing it as a gift for people I love on special occasions.

So I decided to bake this cake, which I had prepared for my granddaughter Bianca’s first birthday, also for my family on Valentine’s Day. A way of shouting out loud all the love I have for them!

Enjoy this sweet cuddle and for more Valentine’s Day’s ideas, have a look at these chocolate treats !

Buckwheat drip cake

27g carbohydrates per 100g of filled cake, without decorations

Ingredients for 2 cakes of 20cm diameter

170g almonds, peeled
135g sugar
135 g butter
100g buckwheat flour mix, brand Petra 5**
70g corn starch*
4 eggs
15g sprouted buckwheat flour*
16g baking powder*
a bit of vanilla from the pod

Ingredients for filling and coating

450g sheep’s milk ricotta cheese
150g icing sugar* or sweetener*
a bit of vanilla from the pod
400ml fresh cream

Ingredients for the chocolate coating

100g dark chocolate*
75ml fresh cream

Ingredients for decorating

125g berries
50g currants
chocolate decorations*, sugared almonds*, flowers and other decorations made of fabric or sugar etc.

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation of cakes

Prepare the cakes. Grind the peeled almonds in a food processor until you obtain a flour; place it in a bowl with the Petra buckwheat flour, corn starch, sprouted buckwheat flour, vanilla and baking powder, gradually adding the soft butter.
In a food processor, blend the 6 egg yolks with the sugar until frothy, incorporate the flour and butter mixture and mix well, gradually adding the beaten egg whites.
Pour the mixture into 2 baking tins of 20cm diameter covered with wet and squeezed parchment paper and bake in a static oven preheated to 170°C for about 30 minutes. If you do not like buckwheat, follow this recipe for the cakes Grandma’s doughnut.

Preparation of creams and drip cake assembly

Meanwhile, prepare the cream for the filling by stirring ricotta cheese, icing sugar and a bit of vanilla. Separately, whip the cream until frothy. Then add it to the ricotta mixture and fold it in gently.
When the two cakes are completely cold, cut each horizontally into two discs. Transfer the first disc to the serving dish and cover it with plenty of cream. Then lay in a second disc and another layer of cream, applying light pressure on each. Use the same cream, in abundance, for covering top and sides. Put the cake in the refrigerator.
Prepare the chocolate coating. Coarsely chop the chocolate. Put the cream in the saucepan, and when about to boil, remove from the heat and pour the chocolate in it. Stir until smooth. Once the chocolate has cooled, take the cake out of the fridge.
Using a teaspoon, spread the chocolate coating over the edges of the cake so that the chocolate drips. Start with a small piece of cake to check the texture of the coating (if it drips too quickly, let it cool for a few more minutes, if it is too thick, warm it up slightly). Once the desired degree of dripping is achieved, spread the icing over the surface of the disc.
Wash and dry the berries, dip the tips of the strawberries (if you have them) in the chocolate, then lay the fruit on the cake using your imagination to decorate it. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Gluten-free Buckwheat drip cake

February 13, 2019/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Sweet Tortelli with Venere rice and blue corn flour

Dolci

As is often the case, the best recipes result from mixing experience and pure chance. The recipe for gluten-free sweet Tortelli with Venere rice and blue corn flour is an example! Having to prepare a cake for Gaia for a snack with friends, I realised, when I had already started weighing the ingredients, that I had run out of traditional rice flour.

In the pantry, however, I had two alternatives that I had tried in other preparations with great satisfaction, namely blue corn and Venere rice flour and I decided to use them to replace common rice flour. The result is a crispy, aromatic and tasty shortbread! After making the cake for Gaia, the leftover shortbread was used to prepare our beloved sweet Tortelli with the apricot jam my husband Stefano had made with the apricots from our garden.

Sweet Tortelli with Venere rice and blue corn flour

64.78g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

200 g butter
190g sugar
170g wholemeal rice flour*
175g apricot jam*
150g multi-purpose flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
100g flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
50g blue corn flour*
30g Venere rice flour*
3 eggs (2 whole + 1 yolk)
8g baking powder*
a bit of vanilla from the pod
grated rind of 1 lemon

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Mix all the ingredients, except for the jam, to make the shortcrust pastry. Let it rest for 15 minutes wrapped in cling film.
With a rolling pin, roll out the short pastry into a strip about 15cm wide, place the apricot jam in the centre, fold the shortcrust pastry over and cut out the Tortelli using the specific mould.
Bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Super simple!

tortelli-dolci-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Sweet Tortelli with Venere rice and blue corn flour

Version with gluten of Sweet Tortelli with Venere rice and blue corn flour

Replace the gluten-free Massimo Zero and BiAglut flours (400g) with equal amounts of wheat flour using 2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg.

January 9, 2019/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Gluten-free and ‘sugar light’ Spongata

Dolci

Spongata is a typical Christmas cake whose preparation evokes sweet memories of family gatherings around the kitchen table and that is part of the Advent calendar of the Italian Food Blogger Association, which gives us a typical family recipe in every box.

For years, ever since diabetes and celiac disease have joined our family, I haven’t prepared it because of the challenge the traditional recipe poses in terms of sugar: so here is my gluten free and ‘sugar light’ Spongata.

Spongata: a sugary challenge

This year, for the first time, my daughter Gaia asked me: “Mum, what does Spongata taste like?” I was speechless, not because I couldn’t describe the taste of this sort of tart filled with nuts and spices, but because I had never thought of preparing it in a gluten free and, above all, low-sugar version… probably too busy trying to make a Panettone and Pandoro worthy of the name!

Well, since we can finally find gluten free Panettone and Pandoro on the market today that are much better than a few years ago, the focus has shifted to this humble, but fantastic Christmas preparation (as an alternative idea for the holiday season, try my Celebration Sacher).

My family tradition

When I was a child, the preparation of Spongata was a kind of ritual because these cakes were cooked in large quantities to enrich the baskets of food products to give as gifts to employees, collaborators, relatives and friends.

Spongatas were prepared long before Christmas. Once cooked and perfectly cooled, they were first wrapped in a sheet of parchment paper to protect them, then in an airtight bag (and maybe even in gift wrap to give them prestige) to allow all the flavours to mix well and achieve the perfect dough texture for consumption.

The preparation of the filling started a few days before the planned date of the big bake because ‘the longer the filling is left to macerate, the better the taste’. However, this filling is generally very rich in simple carbohydrates due to the presence of plenty of honey and sugar, even icing sugar to cover the surface once cooked.

So here is my ‘sugar light’ version, which remains however very high in calories!

My ‘sugar light’ recipe

The pastry I used is a gluten free adaptation of my friend and course assistant Lucia’s family recipe because in her version the sugar was really already reduced to a minimum. The filling, on the other hand, is an adaptation of my family’s recipe where 150g of honey and 2 heaped tablespoons of brown sugar in the filling have been replaced by 150g of jam: in this way, the filling manages to stay together a little despite the absence of the definitely stickier honey.

Another small note concerns breadcrumbs: in many recipes from the province of Parma they are added in the filling, but this ingredient has never appeared in my home version, so you won’t find it in this Spongata!

Finally, the surface. It is traditional to sprinkle the baked cake with a lot of icing sugar because the surface is hardly homogeneous: the name Spongata derives from the Latin word ‘spongia’, meaning sponge, precisely because of the irregular appearance reminiscent of a sponge. In keeping with tradition, I wanted to top one of my Spongatas with icing sugar to take the photo, but I kept the second one ‘au naturel’ and, I confess, I like it even better.

Spongata

38.11g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the crust for 2 Spongatas of 18cm in diameter

250g flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
125g butter
50g sugar
40g white wine
1 tsp baking powder*
a pinch of salt
water as needed
Ingredients for the filling
150g fruit Mostarda*
150g coarsely chopped walnuts
150g jam without added sugar (your favourite flavour)*
100g coarsely chopped almonds
25g pine nuts
25g raisins
a small glass of liqueur*
cinnamon powder*, cloves and nutmeg

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Soak the raisins in liqueur.
In a bowl, place the chopped fruit Mostarda with the aid of a rocking chopper or knife, then add all the other ingredients, including the soaked raisins and liqueur. Adjust the flavouring to your liking, cover the bowl with cling film and let the filling rest for at least a day.
The next day, prepare the crust. Combine all the ingredients for the crust and knead adding the necessary water to obtain a smooth, homogeneous and rather soft dough. Cover the dough with cling film and place it in the refrigerator to rest for about 15 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll them out with a rolling pin. Line a mould with one part and fill it with half of the filling, distributing it evenly. Then close with a second disc. Prick the surface with a fork and bake in a convection oven preheated to 200°C for about 30 minutes. Bake and allow to cool completely, then dust with icing sugar if desired.
At this point, seal your Spongatas tightly with a sheet of parchment paper and place them in a closed bag or cake tin until ready to use… which could be several days later!

My sugar-light Spongata

Version with gluten of Spongata

Replace the gluten-free flour with equal amounts of wheat flour, adjusting the amount of water.

December 20, 2018/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Vegan muffins with almond butter

Dolci

An alternative breakfast: Vegan muffins with almond butter.

For some of the ingredients I use in my recipes, I now have my absolute trusted suppliers and one of these is Andrea, the greengrocer who patiently accommodates my requests, including the most unusual ones!

Having now made my passion for cooking his own, Andrea often sources products that he brings from his wonderful homeland, Sicily. So I manage to have wonderful sheep’s ricotta for preparing Cassata my own way and other wonderful sweet and savoury preparations, fresh and mature Caciocavallo, oregano, cherry tomatoes, anchovies and a little gem produced by his cousin in Agrigento, the Mennulataa butter made from 100% almonds.

I must admit that I have used it in many preparations, but always around lunch or dinner time so I never managed to take a photo before my family had eaten everything up!

This time I am finally able to share a recipe that is a little unusual for me because it is vegan, but very interesting and tasty for those who do not want to give up a sweet breakfast while avoiding butter and eggs.

Vegan muffins with almond butter

36.30g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 9 muffins

120g almond and rice milk* (or another type of plant milk)
75g plant yoghurt*
50g fine corn flour*
50g dark chocolate*
45g buckwheat flour*
40g Mennulata almond butter*
35g rice oil
30g brown sugar
27g corn starch*
25g finely grated coconut*
25g coconut sugar
8g baking powder*
a pinch of salt

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Pour the yoghurt into a bowl and mix it with the sugars and almond butter. Gradually add the flours, continuing to stir so that no lumps form, and when the mixture starts to feel rather thick, add the rice oil and the almond and rice milk; finally, add a pinch of salt, baking powder and the dark chocolate pulverised in a food processor.
Place the paper cups inside a silicone or metal muffin tin, fill them ¾ full, then bake the muffins in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
They are a great breakfast, especially cut in half and enriched with a teaspoon of raspberry jam.

Version with gluten of Vegan muffins with almond butter

The recipe contains only naturally gluten-free ingredients or ingredients bearing the gluten free wording, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

November 4, 2018/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Deliciously gluten-free: Oat and ricotta crumble

Dolci

Are you craving for a fresh, tasty and easy-to-make dessert, cooked with naturally gluten free ingredients? My answer is this Oat and ricotta crumble, a light and special cake that is going to conquer family and friends.

Let’s remember that oat has been considered suitable for celiacs by the Italian Celiac Association only recently and you can read the position statement here: position statement of the AIC Scientific Committee on oat products.

And since you purchased oat flour to prepare this crumble, you can take the opportunity of having this ingredient available to bake some irresistible Digestives.

Oat and ricotta crumble

30g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for a 26cm diametre tin

125g oat flour*
75g butter
60g sugar
45g brown rice flour*
40g almond flour*
1 egg
a pinch of sodium bicarbonate* (optional)

Ingredients for the filling

400g Ricotta cheese
200g strawberries
80g sugar
45g Amaretto Velvet liqueur*
1/2 vanilla pod (pulp)
lemon or orange zest, grated

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Prepare the crumble by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl obtaining large crumbs. Set aside while preparing the filling.
Put the ricotta cheese in a bowl and mix it with sugar, vanilla, Amaretto and the grated lemon or orange zest to taste to obtain a smooth and even cream.
Take a hinged mould having a diameter of 24-26cm and cover it with wet parchment paper so that it adheres well to the mould. Form a layer of crumbs on the bottom using about half of the mixture, then top with the ricotta cream and the strawberries cut in pieces plunging them slightly in the cream, then complete with the remaining crumbs.
Bake in a convection oven preheated to 170°C for about 40 minutes, then place in the refrigerator to cool immediately.

Version with gluten of Oat and ricotta crumble

The recipe is naturally gluten-free, so no adaptation is needed for its version with gluten.

October 9, 2018/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Gluten-free lavender biscuits: scented treats

Dolci

Why make lavender biscuits? Simply because we met Francesca D’Ambrosio , who on the hills of Parma, precisely in Bazzano, runs the farm Orto di Coccinellewhere she grows organic lavender and saffron, tending them by hand and in complete harmony with nature. It is a corner of paradise where butterflies, ladybirds and birds reign supreme. With these biscuits, we close our eyes and relive the experience of so much peace, beauty, fragrance and taste.

If you love biscuits, try also these Rice and buckwheat biscuits.

Lavender biscuits

50.33g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

170g flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
130g butter
110g almonds, peeled
100g sugar
45g wholemeal rice flour*
35g blue corn flour**
1 egg
2 g organic lavender flowers
a pinch of salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

In a food processor, grind the almonds to a flour. Add the other flours, sugar, butter, egg and salt and mix to incorporate all ingredients well. Finally, add the lavender flowers.
Take pieces of shortcrust pastry weighing 20g each, form them into balls, then flatten and place them on a baking tin covered with parchment paper, spacing them at least 2cm apart. Bake them in a static oven preheated to 180° for about 15 minutes.
They are irresistible biscuits both for breakfast and for an afternoon tea or to accompany coffee at the end of a meal.

I biscotti alla lavanda pronti per essere gustati con un tè

Lavender biscuits ready to be enjoyed with tea

Version with gluten of Lavender biscuits

Replace the BiAglut flour with an equal amount of conventional cake flour.

September 11, 2018/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Gluten-free baking: Desert roses

Dolci

You know those old-fashioned sweets, the ones that smell of good food and tradition? We love them and thought we would prepare a simple but very tasty recipe, biscuits that are a temptation to enjoy on their own or to accompany tea: gluten-free Desert Roses.

Their shape is unmistakable, their texture crispy and their taste delicately enveloping, in short, they are perfect for breakfast or a snack during the day, perhaps even accompanied by tea or coffee. Have a look also at my Coffee biscuits if you want to enrich your choice!

If you are short on time and do not like to cut biscuits, this is definitely the right recipe for you.

Desert Roses

48.5g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

80g almonds, peeled
70 g organic cornflakes Sarchio**
60g raisins
50g flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
50g corn starch*
50g sugar
45 g butter
1 egg
a bit of vanilla from the pod
4g baking powder*
a pinch of salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Soak the raisins in lukewarm water.
In a food processor, grind the almonds to a floury mixture, then add the flour, corn starch, butter, egg, vanilla, salt, sugar and baking powder; mix to incorporate all ingredients well. Finally, add the squeezed raisins.
Pour the cornflakes onto a sheet of baking paper. With a teaspoon, take an amount of dough the size of a large walnut and roll it over the cornflakes so that they adhere to the surface.
Place the desert roses on a baking tray covered with parchment paper and bake them in a static oven preheated to 180° for about 20 minutes.

Gluten free desert roses

Version with gluten of Desert roses

Replace the BiAglut flour with 50g wheat flour and use standard cornflakes.

July 19, 2018/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Gluten-free apple strudel

Dolci

There are desserts that go well in any season, delighting not only in their flavour but also in their aromas. Gluten-free apple strudel is one such desserts: healthy, spicy and irresistibly flavoured. If you love apples, don’t miss this Soft apple and cinnamon cake.

Gluten-free apple strudel is easy to prepare, great to taste and… quick to bake. So, no fear of the heat in the house, it will only take a little effort to bake an extremely tempting dessert that can possibly be accompanied by a few spoonfuls of cinnamon-flavoured Greek yoghurt.

Gluten-free apple strudel

34.53g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the dough

300g flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
100g water
75g butter
40g seed oil
30g sugar

Ingredients for the filling

900g Granny Smith apples (weight of apples to be peeled)
70g raisins
50g pine nuts
50g breadcrumbs**
30g brown sugar
25g rum
20 g lemon juice
cinnamon powder

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation of Gluten free apple strudel

For the puff pastry, knead all the ingredients until you obtain a soft, even dough. Cover with cling film and place in the refrigerator for the time needed to prepare the filling.
Soak the raisins in rum. Peel the apples, remove the core and cut them into very thin slices. Sprinkle with the juice of half a lemon, add sugar, pine nuts, cinnamon and finally the raisins with rum.
Stir well and leave for about ten minutes.
Roll out the dough very thinly to form a rectangle of at least 45×35. Sprinkle with some of the breadcrumbs, leaving about 4 cm free around the perimeter of the rectangle. Place the apple filling in the middle of the rectangle without pouring the liquid. Sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs, then close the rectangle over the apples to form a cylinder: don’t be alarmed if it seems like a lot, just try to close the strudel and you’ll see that, once cooked, the quantity of apples will be perfect!
Brush the cylinder well with the apple maceration liquid made of rum and lemon, then bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 45 minutes. In case the strudel does not brown, raise the temperature to 200° for the last 15 minutes.

Apple strudel ready to be eaten

Version with gluten of Apple strudel

Replace the gluten-free flour and breadcrumbs with conventional products and in the dough reduce the amount of water to 80g and the amount of seed oil to 35g.

June 21, 2018/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli