Homemade cereal bars

Posted in Others by granellidizucchero

No butter, cream or food coloring. Just 3 natural ingredients for a simple but surprising result.

Ingredients

– 500g of mixed cereals/müsli (rolled oats, dried fruits, almonds, hazelnuts, raisins, chocolate chips…)

– 3 tbsp of honey

– 200g of dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 175° C (347° F). Put the chocolate in a bowl, place it over a sucepan of simmering water and wait until it’s melted. Let the chocolate cool slightly.

In the meanwhile mix together the cereals and the honey. Pour the chocolate into the mixture.

Put the mixture in a baking pan (around 25cm x 30cm) lined with parchment paper. Use a spatula to press the cereals and to compact the mixture. Bake for around 15 minutes.

Press and compact the mixture again with a spatula. Let the müsli cool. With a sharp knife cut the cereals in bars or little cubes. If you want you can decorate your bars with white chocolate, paper stripes or ribbons.

Bon appétit,

Anna

28Oct2014

BOO!

Posted in Cupcakes, Meringue by granellidizucchero

With Halloween right around the corner it’s time to wrak your brain for some spooky baking idea!

I’ve decided to bake some fluffy vanilla cream cupcakes topped by ghost meringues ideal for Halloween parties.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes (16 pieces):

– 5 eggs

– 150 g granulated sugar

– 5 g of vanilla sugar

– 100 g flour

For the cream:

– 3 egg yolks

– 250 ml of milk

– 80 g of granulated sugar

– 25 g of flour

– the peel of 1 lemon

– 5 g of vanilla sugar

– 250 ml of whipped cream

For the ghosts:

– 3 egg whites

– 1 pinch of salt

– 220 g of powdered sugar

– 5 g of vanilla sugar

First of all prepare the meringue ghosts. Preheat the oven to 80° C. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, add the sugars and the salt gradually while beating. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Put the mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a large spout tip and form your ghosts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 3 hours or until meringues are dry. Paint the eyes with edible pencils.

For the cupcakes preheat the oven to 180° C. Take the 5 eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Whisk the egg whites with half of the sugar until stiff peaks form. Whisk now the egg yolks, the vanilla sugar and the other half of granulated sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy. Add slowly the flour.

Slowly and carefully add the yellow mixture to the whisked egg whites. Be careful not to deflate the mixture! Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for around 20 minutes.

BOO! Ghosts cupcakes For the cream whisk together the egg yolks, the vanilla sugar and the lemon peel until light and fluffy. Add slowly the flour and the milk being careful not to form lumps. Cook the mixture in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts boiling. Let it cool down in the fridge for around 1 hour. Now whip the 250 ml of cream and add it slowly to the cold lemon and vanilla mixture.

Create a hole in the middle of your cupcakes and fill it with the cold cream. If you prefer, before adding the cream, you can also add some melted chocolate on the bottom of the hole. Put your meringue ghosts in the middle and decorate with some cream on the borders.

BOO! Ghosts cupcakes For a really scary Halloween ghost add a “BOO!” flag on each cupcake :)

Here you have your super spooky Halloween baking idea for delicious treats!

Bon appétit,

Anna

1Aug2014

Chocolate chip cookies

Posted in Cookies by granellidizucchero

When I started making my chocolate chip cookies my digital scale stopped working so I decided to proceed in a 100% American way: for the first time I used the “cups” system! To be honest I never loved it that much but after today I changed my mind! Try these soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies perfect also as ice cream cookies sandwiches.

Ingredients:

– 1 cup of butter (220g)

– 3/4 cup of granulated sugar (150g)

– 3/4 cup of brown sugar (165g)

– 2 cup of flour (256g)

– 1/4 cup of potato starch (35g)

– 1 cup of chocolate chips (180g)

– 1/2 cup of ground hazelnuts (70g)

– 2 big eggs

– 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

– 1 teaspoon of salt

In a bowl, whisk together the butter, the brown sugar and the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, each one mixed in completely before adding the next.

Pass through a sieve the flour, the potato starch, the salt, the baking soda. Add them to the butter dough and mix slowly. Stir in the chocolate chips and the hazelnuts.

Put the dough in a plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 175° C (347° F).

Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges (20 minutes).

The best way to savour your cookies in summer is to fill them with a delicious ice cream!!!

Bon appétit,

Anna

28Dec2013

Rudolph cake pops

Posted in Cakes by granellidizucchero

Almond and cinnamon cake pops

Ingredients:

– 80g of butter

– 110g of granulated sugar

– 1 egg

– 135g of flour

– 1 teaspoon of baking powder

– 80ml of milk

– 60g of almond meal

– 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

– Cake pops silicone mould (for 18 pieces)

For the chocolate coat:

– 100g of dark chocolate

– 100g of white chocolate

– Gel food coloring

Preheat the oven at 160°.

Beat the softened butter with the sugar until the mixture is creamy.

Add the egg and continue whisking. Add the flour with the baking powder, the cinnamon and the milk. Continue mixing until you have a creamy texture. Add the almond meal and mix. Fill the buttered cake pops mould and bake for 20 minutes at 160°.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool, remove form the mould and insert the stick into each cake pop.

Melt the dark chocolate in a bain marie. Melt also the white chocolate. Coat half of the cake pops with the dark chocolate and the other half with the white chocolate, decorate with gel food coloring and little branches.

Have a sweet Christmas time,

bon appétit

Anna

22Dec2013

Christmas whoopies

Posted in Cookies by granellidizucchero

Ingredients (for 8 whoopies):

– 75g of dark chocolate

– 50g of butter

– 1 egg

– 90g of granulated sugar

– 110g of flour

– 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

– 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

– a pinch of salt

For the filling:

-50g of dark chocolate

– 125 ml of cream

– 2 tablespoon of chocolate chips

– 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

For the decoration:

– Royal icing and gel food coloring

Preheat the oven to 175° and line two baking pans with parchment paper.

Put the chocolate and the butter in a bowl and place them over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat when melted. With an electric whisk, mix the egg and the sugar and add the melted butter and chocolate. Pass through a sieve the cocoa powder, the baking soda, the flour, the salt and add them into the egg mixture. Stir well and slowly.

Put the dough into a pastry bag with a large tip and form the whoopie pies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 9 minutes.

For the filling put the chocolate in a bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat when melted.

Whip the cream on medium speed. Add half of it in the melted chocolate, mix well but slowly and stir in the rest of the cream. Add chocolate chips and cinnamon to the mixture.

Put the cream into a pastry bag and cover the flat side of the whoopie. Top with another whoopie to assemble them.

Decorate with royal icing and gel food coloring.

I WISH YOU ALL A SWEET CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

Your Anna

17Nov2013

Teddy in wonderland

Posted in Cakes by granellidizucchero

Chocolate cake pops

Ingredients:

-75g of dark chocolate

-55g of butter

-90g of granulated white sugar

-2 eggs

-10g of cocoa powder

-45g of flour

-60g of chocolate chips or nuts

-1/2 teaspoon of salt

-Cake pops silicone mould (for 18 pieces)

-1 egg white

-200 g of powdered sugar

-Food coloring

-Food decorations

Preheat oven to 180°.

Put the chocolate and the butter in a bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat when they are melted. Stir in the cocoa powder and the white granulated sugar. Next whisk in the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addiction. Finally, stir in the flour, the salt and the chocolate chips (or nuts).

Pour into the buttered cake pops mould and bake for about 25-30 minutes at 180°.

For the frosting: whisk the egg white, add the powdered sugar and the coloring while continuing to whisk.

Dip each cake pop in the frosting and decorate them as you whish. Let the icing dry.

Bon appétit,

Anna

10Oct2013

Choco garden

Posted in Cakes by granellidizucchero

Soufflé au chocolat

Ingredients:

– 100 g of powdered sugar

– 4 g of corn flour

– 30 g of flour

– 7 eggs (1 whole, 1 yolk and 6 egg whites)

– 60 ml of milk

– 75 ml of cream

– 75 g of dark chocolate

– 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder

Take five 200 ml soufflé dishes, brush them with butter and tip a little cocoa powder in each dish.

To make the chocolate cream, mix 30 g of flour, 7 g of corn flour and 15 g of powdered sugar.

Put one egg yolk and a whole egg into a bowl, mix them well and add half of the flour mixture, blend, and tip in the rest of the flour mix.

Put 60 ml of milk and 15 ml of cream into a pan and bring them just to the boil, remove from the heat. Add 25 g of dark chocolate and beat until it is melted. Add to this chocolate mix the flour and yolks mixture. Cook this mixture over a low heath for 5 minutes, let it cool down and beat occasionally with a wire whisk.

Slowly warm 60 ml of cream to make the ganache. Just before it boils take off the heath and add 50 g of dark chocolate. Mix until it is melted and add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder. Allow to cool.

Heath oven to 190°. Whisk 6 egg whites with an electric whisk and sprinkle in 85 g of powdered sugar while whisking.

Mix the ganche and the chocolate cream mixture in a large bowl.

Add 2 tablespoons of whisked egg whites to the chocolate mixture. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, mix slowly, add another third of the whisked eggs, take care not to lose the volume and add fold in the last third.

Fill the soufflé dishes by three-quarters with the mixture and bang each dish on to the surface so the mixture fills the sides.

Bake the soufflés for 17 minutes in the preheated oven (190°).

Decore with cocoa powder and fresh flowers.

Bon appétit,

Anna

30Sep2013

It’s tea time!

Posted in Meringue by granellidizucchero

New recipes coming soon…..

Stay tuned,

Anna

30May2013

Panda macarons

Posted in Meringue by granellidizucchero

For my panda…

Ingredienti:

Per la base usare gli stessi ingredienti e lo stesso procedimento degli strawberry macarons senza usare però il colorante alimentare o utilizzandone uno bianco.

Per questa ricetta dovete però tenere da parte una piccola ciotolina di impasto alla quale aggiungere tre cucchiaini di cacao in polvere in modo da renderla marrone ud utlizzarla per creare le orecchie, il naso e gli occhi dei panda.

Dopo aver formato i dischetti bianchi di 3 cm di diametro sulle teglie foderate di carta da forno, versare il composto di cacao in una sac à poche con bocchetta più piccola di quella di utlizzata per creare i dischetti e creare, su metà macarons le orecchiette, gli occhi ed il naso dei panda e sull’altra metà, che sarà il retro dei panda, crare un puntino che andrà a formare la coda.

Far riposare fino a che non si sarà crata una pellicina in superficie.

Infornare a 150° per 16 minuti circa.

Per la ganache al cioccolato:

-80 g di cioccolato fondente

-100ml di panna

-28g di burro

Far sciogliere il cioccolato a bagnomaria, contemporaneamente scaldare la panna in un pentolino, a fuoco lento, fino a portarla al limite del bollore. Versare la panna sul cioccolato sciolto, mescolando. Appena avrete ottenuto un composto liscio aggiungete il burro tagliato a pezzetti, mescolate fino a che non si sarà sciolto. Riporre la ganache in frigorifero per 20 minuti.

Farcite i panda con la ganache al cioccolato e riponeteli in frigorifero per 24 ore.

Bon appétit,

Anna

Happy birthday Tunis!

13May2013

My first Liebster award!!!!!

Posted in Awards by granellidizucchero

Yuppppyy!!!! I’ve been nominated for the Liebster award!!!!!

I have to thank This Must Be The Plate, in particular Chiara, for this very SPECIAL surprise!!! It’s a big honour for me and for my young blog, which is only 3 months old! Grazie, grazie, grazie!!!

The Liebster award is a nice way for bloggers to recognize other bloggers with less than 200 followers. The rules are easy to follow: thank the blogger who nominated you, answer his/her 11 questions, share 11 facts about yourself, nominate your 11 favourite blogs, ask your nominees 11 questions and inform them about their nomination.

Here are my answers to This Must Be The Plate questions:

1) What is your number 1 breakfast? La colazione del campione?

Bread, jam (preferably of raspberry), a lot of butter and coffee 🙂

2) Do you listen to music while you are cooking? If yes, of which genre? Quando cucinate ascoltate musica? Se si, che tipo?

Usually I do not listen to music while cooking unless my neighbor turns up the volume too much.

3) In my kitchen I cannot renounce to….. Quale utensile non può mancare nella vostra cucina?

….my Lékué sac à poche (thank you Ivana) 🙂

4) Which is the best pastry in your town? La miglior pasticceria della vostra città?

Obviously my home! 🙂

5) Which is the most difficult recipe you tried to prepare? La ricetta più difficile con cui vi siete cimentati?

It is the Bouillabaisse fish soup.

6) When did you start cooking? Quando avete iniziato a cucinare?

Relatively late: during my Erasmus in 2011. I had no choice!!

7) Which is your best recipe? Revel your secret! Qual è la vostra ricetta migliore? Dateci il vostro segreto!

My macarons almost always achieve success, but I do not like to reveal secrets! 😉

8) What do you love about cooking? La cosa che vi piace di più del cucinare?

About cooking, especially about baking, I love the scent that emerges from the oven. Remember: “the scent of baked goods makes people nicer“.

9) Which is the reason why you decided to become a blogger? Cosa vi ha spinto ad iniziare un blog?

I decided to become a blogger because thinking that someone could make other people happy thanks to my recipes in simply amazing!

10) Which is the best Italian traditional dish? Qual è secondo voi il miglior piatto (dolce o salato) della tradizione italiana?

Artichokes “alla romana” … I love them!!!!

11) Which is your ideal menu? Il vostro menù ideale. (Sì, può anche essere solo a base di dolci!)

My ideal menu is composed by: scallops au gratin or mussels “alla scotadeo”, sea food spaghetti, oven baked sea bass with roasted potatoes and a warm chocolate and raspberry tartlet.

Eleven things about me:

– In my past life I was a squirrel

– I have an extra stomach for desserts 🙂

– I love French-style pastries

– My ideal travel: USA, West Coast trip, old cabriolet, The Heavy – Short change hero as background music and a lot of sun!!

– I’m a perfectionist

– I hate grasshoppers

– If I don’t eat breakfast I can’t start my day

– I love warm summertime evenings at the sea

– I could eat artichokes every day of the year

– I have dual citizenship: Austrian and Italian

– In my creations I like to abound with chocolate, cream and butter