Tag Archive for: dolci

Gluten-free Pumpkin Bounty Bars

As the holiday season approaches, the desire to prepare simple yet impressive desserts grows—little treats to enjoy with a cup of tea or delightful bites to bring to the table and surprise family and friends. These gluten-free Pumpkin Bounty Bars are an easy and quick recipe, perfect for anyone looking for a Christmas sweet that brings together flavour, lightness, and a touch of festive colour.

Pumpkin, with its natural sweetness and creamy texture, makes each bite soft and comforting, while ricotta adds balance and lightness. The desiccated coconut completes the magic with its fresh, exotic note. The result? Small 25-gram treats—indulgent yet nutritionally balanced—ideal for a snack or as a mini dessert at the end of a meal.

Coated in dark chocolate and decorated with almonds, raisins, or candied orange peel, these Pumpkin Bounty Bars bring a charming mix of colours and aromas to your holiday table. They’re perfect for creating a Christmas dessert corner, enriching a festive buffet, or offering as a thoughtful homemade gift.

An inclusive, naturally gluten-free recipe that celebrates autumn flavours and the magic of Christmas with simplicity and creativity.

ilaria-bertinelli-bounty-alla-zucca

Pumpkin Bounty Bars

24.4 g carbohydrates per 100 g (without decorations)
6.1 g carbohydrates per 1 pumpkin bounty

Ingredients

  • 200 g ricotta cheese
  • 80 g desiccated grated coconut*
  • 70 g cooked pumpkin, already cleaned
  • 40 g icing sugar*
  • 150 g dark chocolate

Ingredients to decorate

  • Almonds, raisins, and orange peel

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Mash the cooked pumpkin with a fork or blend it until smooth.
  2. Soften the ricotta in a bowl, then add the icing sugar, pumpkin purée, and finally the desiccated coconut.
  3. Shape the mixture into 25-gram bars, place them on a plate and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  4. In the meantime, melt the dark chocolate over a bain-marie or in the microwave and let it cool slightly.
  5. Dip each coconut bar into the chocolate to coat it completely, lay it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and decorate with raisins, almonds, or orange peel.
  6. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

ilaria-bertinelli-bounty-alla-zucca

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Torta soffice di mele e cannella

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In addition to bread and jam, one of my favourite breakfasts is with Soft apple and cinnamon cake, although I love any baked desserts made with this fruit that accompanies us all year round and which – especially at this time of spring when we are waiting for the great gifts of the warm season in terms of fruit – is one of the few seasonal products of Italian origin.

Although I like all apple desserts, for breakfast soft cakes are definitely the ones I enjoy the most, combining them with yoghurt, granola and my ever-present strong coffee: a pampering that I find really indispensable to get the day off to a good start.

I suggest you use cinnamon in the recipe, do you know why? Have you ever wondered why in all cultures of the world there are so many sweets containing cinnamon? This is by no means a coincidence.

In fact, this spice slows down gastric emptying time, which also slows down the absorption of blood sugar immediately after meals, i.e. cinnamon has a ‘hypoglycaemic’ function. This does not mean that the consumption of cinnamon can be considered a therapy for diabetes, but there are numerous studies showing its favourable effect on blood glucose control in people with diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes (for some more information, you can read this article). So in addition to giving our preparations an unmistakable aroma, cinnamon also has a positive effect on our well-being!

Torta soffice di mele e cannella

Soft apple and cinnamon cake

 Soft apple and cinnamon cake   

40.10g carbohydrates per 100g

 Ingredients

  • 350g Granny Smith or rennet apples already cleaned and peeled (2 apples)
  • 200g brown sugar (+ 20g for sprinkling, optional)
  • 125g low fat plain yoghurt
  • 100g gluten free multi-purpose flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 100g corn starch*
  • 80g almond flour*
  • 70g butter
  • 30g coconut milk*
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 lemon
  • 16g baking powder*
  • a bit of vanilla from the pod
  • cinnamon powder

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Peel and core the apples and sprinkle them with the juice of half a lemon so that they do not get dark.
  2. In a planetary mixer, whip the eggs with the brown sugar until white and frothy, then add the creamy butter, vanilla and the powder ingredients, i.e. almond flour, corn starch and the Massimo Zero mix; add the yoghurt, a pinch of salt and finally the baking powder and coconut milk. Remove the mixture from the planetary mixer and complete with grated lemon zest.
  3. Wet a sheet of baking paper and line a 24cm-diameter hinged cake tin. Pour in the mixture, level it and start covering it with the sliced apples, creating a pattern on the surface so that all the apples are used.
  4. To complete and if you wish, mix 30g brown sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon, then sprinkle the apples with the mixture before placing the cake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 40 minutes.
  5. Remove the cake from the oven, allow it to cool, then take it out of the mould, remove the baking paper and place it on a cake tin. Watch the video recipe!

Version with gluten of Soft apple and cinnamon cake

Replace the Massimo Zero flour mix with an equal amount of conventional cake flour and do not add 30g of coconut milk.

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