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Little truffles with surprise: the alternative to Easter eggs

The best part of an Easter egg is definitely opening it to find out what surprise it contains, so I didn’t want to miss out on this pleasure by proposing a mouth-watering dessert that is perfect for a picnic on the first days of spring: my Little truffles with surprise.

Thinking of the perfect dessert for an Easter Monday lunch, perhaps by the sea or surrounded by nature, a bite-sized treat to be eaten without cutlery is definitely the perfect solution. And do you know how my Little truffles with surprise were born? By pure chance with ingredients found in the fridge after my online cooking course on Fantastic Tarts. I recommend not underestimating the surprise effect by putting whatever you like in the centre of the soft mascarpone cream: in addition to my suggestions, give free rein to your imagination to make each bite unique.

Another added value of Little truffles with surprise is that you can prepare the dough even a week in advance by storing it in the freezer! Simply take it out of the freezer a few hours before completing the preparation… in short, a dessert for busy mums.

And if you want to know what my Easter lunch menu is going to be, here it is: Tuna and pepper quiche, Herb-marinated chicken salad and Little truffles with surprise.

Little truffles with surprise

33.15g carbohydrates per 100g of truffles without filling

Ingredients for about 20 little truffles

  • 250g Mascarpone
  • 180g shortbread biscuits**
  • 45g icing sugar*
  • 30g espresso coffee
  • filling to taste: jam*, berries, chocolate cream*, hazelnut cream*, almonds, hazelnuts, dried fruit
  • bitter cocoa powder*

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Blend the shortbread biscuits in a mixer, then mix them with Mascarpone, icing sugar and espresso coffee to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Place the mixture in the freezer to harden and make it workable.
  2. When the mixture is firm, weigh out 25g spoonfuls, flatten them on the palm of one hand and place the filling of your choice in the centre, closing to form a ball.
  3. Place the cocoa powder in a soup dish or small bowl and roll the truffles in it so that they are well coated with cocoa.
  4. Place the truffles in paper cups and keep them in the fridge, taking care to remove them about 30 minutes before serving.

N.B.: to use them for a picnic, keep them in the freezer until the last moment, then store them in a cooler until ready to eat.

Tartufini-close-up

Version with gluten of Little truffles with surprise

Replace gluten-free shortbread biscuits with conventional biscuits; all other ingredients are naturally gluten-free, so no adaptations are necessary.

 

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Mahalabiya: rose-scented milk pudding

Mahalabiya is a rose-scented milk pudding that I got to know and taste during an unforgettable family trip: a day and a half snatched from work to give the children their first encounter with the magical city of Venice.

Undoubtedly, the enchantment of the place and the joy of spending a few hours of serenity with loved ones on a beautiful sunny day made the culinary experience even tastier. But lunch at the gluten free restaurant Cucina Mediterranea Frary’s in Venice was a real surprise.

The unexpected ingredient in the preparation is rosewater, which we do not normally use in traditional cooking, so much so that the olfactory experience of this pudding is very strong: one has the impression of having a perfume to wear on the table rather than a dish to taste! This is because we are used to finding rosewater in cosmetics, but actually in the Italian culinary tradition we have many recipes in which orange blossom wateris used, such as the very famous Neapolitan ‘Pastiera’.

As soon as I got back, I immediately wanted to try to reproduce this typical North African dessert and, thanks to the help of a Tunisian friend, I created my own version of rose-scented milk pudding, my Mahalabiya, which my fellow travellers promoted with flying colours!

If you want to enjoy a lactose-free pudding with no added sugar instead, try my Peach pudding with coconut and mint with no added sugar.

Mahalabiya, rose-scented milk pudding

31.13g carbohydrates per 100g of pudding without decorations

Ingredients

  • 400g milk
  • 100g sugar
  • 60g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 6g rosewater*
  • grated coconut*, cinnamon powder*, slivered almonds*, raisins, pistachios

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

Preparation 

  1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and gradually add the sugar and rice flour, stirring with a whisk so that no lumps form. Finally, add the rose water and put the pan on the heat.
  2. While continuing to stir, bring the cream to the boil. When it starts to thicken, remove it from the heat and pour it immediately into small single-portion glasses.
  3. Let cool and place in the refrigerator.
  4. When serving, sprinkle the surface with a pinch of grated coconut, a little cinnamon, a few almond slivers, a pinch of chopped pistachios and some raisins.

Mahalabiya-dolce-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Mahalabiya, rose-scented milk pudding

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

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Panna cotta with berries

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Are you planning a dinner party but still undecided about which dessert to bring to the table? No problem, we took care of it preparing an easy and delicious Panna cotta with berries.

Today we recommend a recipe for a soft dessert that combines the sweetness of cream with the pleasantly tart flavour of berries.
Easy to make and mouth-watering to eat, here’s how to prepare Panna cotta!

You can also watch the video to prepare it step by step with me!

Panna cotta with berries

11.30g carbohydrates per 100g

 

Ingredients for Panna cotta

  • 400g milk
  • 350g fresh cream
  • 80g sugar
  • 15g gelatine sheets* (corresponding to 3 sheets)
  • a bit of vanilla from the pod

Ingredients for the berry sauce

  • 390g berries (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries)
  • 20g agave juice*
  • 15g lemon juice

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

Preparation

  1. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan, add the sugar and put everything on the heat, stirring occasionally so that the sugar dissolves well.
  2. Separately, soak the gelatine in water to soften it. When the milk is about to come to the boil, remove it from the heat and add the well-drained gelatine, stirring with a whisk.
  3. Let cool and fill moulds of the desired shape, then place them in the refrigerator for a few hours so that the mixture solidifies.

panna-cotta-ai-frutti-di-bosco-blog-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

  1. At this point, prepare the berry sauce. You can do this in advance, to save time, or just before serving the cake if you prefer it warm.
    Place the berries in a non-stick pan with the lemon juice and agave juice. Let them cook 5 minutes on high heat until they have released their deep red sauce. Wait until it has cooled down
  2. Remove the Panna cotta from the moulds and place it directly on the serving plate, then decorate it with the sauce.

panna-cotta-ai-frutti-di-bosco-blog-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

Version with gluten of Panna cotta with berries

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

Would you like another mouth-watering and easy-to-prepare soft dessert? Try Peach pudding with coconut and mint with no added sugar.

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Strawberry cheesecakes

Spring doesn’t just mean milder air and the awakening of nature, it also means the arrival of juicier fruit that precedes summer delights… in short, it means strawberries and Strawberry cheesecakes.

In fact, remember that strawberries are a very diabetes-friendly fruit, having only 5.3g of carbohydrates per 100g of strawberries. And since they are in season and friendly to our needs, also try Ricotta and strawberry cake.

Let’s get to work now!

Strawberry cheesecakes

22.01g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the cake

  • 200g gluten-free biscuits**
  • 110g butter
  • 50g Nutella

Ingredients for the mousse

  • 200g strawberries
  • 250g whipping cream
  • 150g cream cheese at room temperature
  • 60g icing sugar*
  • 10g gelatine sheets*
  • 2 tablespoons of milk
  • 1 vanilla pod

Ingredients for the strawberry sauce

  • 250g strawberries

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Place the biscuits with the softened butter in the blender and chop until a rather fine mixture is obtained; complete by adding the Nutella and mixing well with the chopped biscuits.
    Pour the mixture on the bottom of 9 round pastry rings with a diameter of 8cm placed on a tray, levelling well and compacting it with the back of a spoon. Finally, let your bases rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the mousse.
  3. Soak the gelatine in plenty of cold water for at least 10 minutes.
    In a bowl, mix the cheese with the icing sugar with a fork; wash and clean the strawberries, then blend them to a juice and add them to the cheese cream, mixing well.
    In another bowl, whip the cream and add the seeds of the vanilla pod.
    Heat 2 tablespoons of milk in a saucepan without reaching the boil, remove from the heat, add the squeezed gelatine and stir to dissolve it.
  4. When the gelatine mixture has cooled, add it to the cheese cream. Finally, also incorporate the whipped cream and stir gently with a spatula, from the bottom upwards so as not to cause the mixture to go runny. Pour the resulting cream over the biscuit base inside the rings.
    Now put the cheesecakes in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
La preparazione delle cheesecake

Cheesecake preparation

  1. Before serving, set aside some strawberries to use as a garnishing and blend the remaining ones to make a sauce.
    Take the cheesecakes out of the refrigerator, remove the rings and top with the strawberry sauce and a sliced or whole strawberry.
  2. This recipe can also be prepared by replacing sugar in the cream with a sweetener of your choice, e.g. 30-40g agave syrup, thus reducing the amount of carbohydrates.
La cheesecake pronta da gustare

The ready-to-eat cheesecakes

Version with gluten of Strawberry cheesecakes

Replace gluten-free biscuits with standard ones; no other adaptation is needed.

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