Frozen Yogurt Cake

Ciao! Last weekend I decided to make a really light and refreshing cake, the frozen yogurt cake! It's the perfect cake for summer, it doesn't require any baking and it's really easy to make. For all my Italian readers here you can find the recipe: Giallo Zafferano. I will write down the recipe in english so everybody can try and make it, trust me it's delicious!

Ingredients:

for the crust

280gr Mc Vitie's Digestive cookies

2 tbs brown sugar

170gr butter

for the yogurt filling

700gr of yogurt (choose one that already contains sugar)

6 tbs milk

300 ml heavy cream

12 gr sheets of gelatin

Directions:

Put the cookies in the mixer and finely crush them. Melt the butter, and mix it with the cookies' crumbs and the brown sugar. Line the pan with parchment paper and press the mixture on the bottom evenly. Put in fridge for 30 minutes.

Put the sheets of gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes till they get soft. In the meantime make the milk hot, but it doesn't have to boil. Then squeeze the gelatin to remove excess water and put it in the milk, mix very well until it melts completely. Now take the heavy cream and whip it until it becomes very fluffy. 

Now you can put all together, the yogurt, the whipped cream and the milk with melted gelatin. Mix carefully with a spatula.

Take the pan out of the fridge and pour the filling onto the base. Now put back in the fridge for at least 3 or 4 hours. The gelatin should make it solidify. 

You can garnish with fresh fruit or syrup, I used mixed berries syrup.

Enjoy! Have a great week!

Love, Fede

Healthy Carrot And Almond Cake

Ciao! How was your weekend? Mine was good, I kept thinking about how I could bake a cake that was both delicious and healthy. Whole wheat flour is the answer! I had never used it before and I had no idea how a whole wheat cake would turn out. But I had no reason to be worried, it turned out yummy and it's also very healthy since there are also carrots and almonds, and no butter, I used oil instead. This way you won't feel guilty every time you eat a piece. It's so easy to make, just put all the ingredients in the mixer and it's done.

Ingredients:

240 gr freshly grated carrots

100 gr peeled almonds, finely chopped

105 gr flour

105 gr whole wheat flour

100 gr white sugar

100 gr brown sugar

3 eggs

160 ml olive oil

A pinch of salt

1 tbs baking powder

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Pre-heat oven at 180C. Mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Pour in a baking pan lined with parchment paper and put in the oven for 23/30 minutes. Let it cool completely before serving.

Let me know if you try this healthy recipe. You can make a frosting to put on the cake or you can put confectioners sugar as a decoration. Enjoy it!

Love, Fede

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New York Cheesecake

Hi! Hope you had a wonderful weekend and a very happy Mother's Day! As I wrote in my last post I made a real NY Cheesecake to celebrate my mom! It was surprisingly easy to do (it was my first time!) and it turned out really good! I like my cheesecake less thick When the slice is thick tall I can't even finish it and that's too bad. That's why I chose to make it thinner. But here I give you the recipe for both the short and the tall version. What do you think of it? Let me know if you try this recipe. My mom loved it and I was so happy! She also loved the present my sister and I got her, she didn't expect it at all!

Have a great week!

Love, Fede

Ingredients:

for the crust

240 gr of Mc Vitie's Digestive biscuits

2 tbs brown sugar

110 gr melted butter (I used low fat)

for the filling (if you make the shorter version):

600 gr cream cheese (I used Philadelphia Light)

100 gr white sugar

20 gr cornstarch

2 eggs and 1 egg yolk

100 ml heavy whipping cream

juice of half a lemon

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the filling (if you make the taller version):

900 gr cream cheese (I used Philadelphia Light)

150 gr white sugar

30 gr cornstarch

3 eggs and 1 egg yolk

150 ml heavy whipping cream

juice of 3/4 of a lemon

1 and a half teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the topping:

200 ml sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

to decorate:

1 cup fresh berries

Directions:

Preheat oven at 180°C. Line the pan with parchment paper, the edges too. In a medium sized bowl combine the Digestive crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan. Cover and refrigerate in freezer for 15 minutes or fridge for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add the eggs and the yolk, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Add the heavy whipping cream, lemon juice, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from the freezer and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan (to prevent leaking) and place in the oven.

Bake for 45/60 minutes at 180°C and then lower the oven temperature to 160°C  and continue to bake for about another 40/45 minutes. If the top is getting brown cover it with aluminum foil. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. If it looks like the center is still too wobbly you may continue to cook for a few more minutes or let it cool inside the oven. Remember, never open the oven door during the first 30/45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the cold cheesecake.

Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate several hours, preferably overnight. Serve with fresh berries.

This is the final result! Delicious!

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Fruit Tart

Hi! Last weekend it was my dad's birthday!!! I wanted to make his birthday cake from scratch so I chose a fruit tart. The pastry crust didn't scare me because I had made it before and always turned out good. But I had never made the pastry cream, and if that had turned out bad it would have ruined the whole cake. I found a great recipe here, so I followed it and I was so happy with the results! The tart was great looking and the taste was even better. Everybody wanted a second slice. My dad was so happy with my present for him. It was a great day!

Let me know if you try this recipe.

Love, Fede

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Sponge Roll With Whipped Cream & Strawberries

Hi everyone! Today I wanna share a recipe I tried last weekend for a family dinner. It was the first time for me to try and make sponge cake, I was nervous! But actually it turned out to be quite easy, so you all can try this recipe. Let me know!

Ingredients for the sponge roll:

120 gr flour

120 gr sugar

4 eggs

pinch of salt

vanilla extract

confectioners sugar

Ingredients for the filling:

heavy cream

strawberries

Preheat the oven at 180°C

While the eggs are still cold separate the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl.  

Place the egg yolks along with the sugar in your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for five minutes, or until thick, pale yellow, and fluffy. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Sift the flour over the beaten egg mixture and fold in gently with a rubber spatula, just until the flour is incorporated.

In a clean bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy. Gently fold the whites into the batter. 

Line a pan with parchment paper. Pour the batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly with a spatula. Bake for about 10 minutes at 180°C or until golden brown. Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven sprinkle with confectioners sugar and then invert the cake onto a clean dish towel. Remove the parchment paper, sprinkle with confectioners sugar, and roll up the sponge, with the towel. Place on a wire rack to cool. 

Place your mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 15 minutes. Then place the whipping cream, into the bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Add the strawberries and fold gently with a spatula. I also added cinnamon because I love it!

Unroll the sponge, spread with the cream and reroll. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. 

Just before serving, dust with confectioners sugar e decorate with the remaining strawberries. Enjoy!

Love, Fede

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Berries Jam Pie and Pizza Margherita Recipes

Ciao and Happy Monday! I hope you had a fantastic Valentine's Day and weekend! I decided to cook this weekend, and finally put to good use the great present that I got from my parents on my bday: the Kenwood Kmix, the best mixer in the world!

Isn't it fabulous? I love that it's red.

First thing I made the Jam Pie, here's the recipe.

Ingredients for the pie crust:

500 gr flour

250 gr butter (I used a low fat low cholesterol butter)

200 gr sugar

4 egg yolks and 1 egg white

zest of 1 lemon

a pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven at 180°C

Just put everything in the mixer and mix it until it makes a solid ball, then put it in the fridge for half an hour to rest.

Fit the pie crust into a pie plate and fill it with a jam of your choice, I used 400 gr of mixed berries jam, my favorite!

It was Valentine's Day so I made heart shaped decorations to put on top of the pie.

Now put it in the oven at 180°C for 35 minutes. Here's the final result, believe me it was delicious!

Then I made pizza!!!! Hey I'm Italian after all!

Ingredients for the pizza dough:

500 gr of flour (you have to use the right kind of flour, the one for bread or pizza)

300 ml water (warm)

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

10 gr of salt

12,5 gr dried yeast (or 1 envelope)

Put the yeast and the sugar in a glass of warm water and the salt in another glass of warm water. Then put everything in the mixer and start mixing until it becomes a solid ball. 

Put the ball in a bowl, cover it with a cloth and put it somewhere to let it double its size, like inside the oven (turned off!). It usually takes 2 hours.

See? It's beautiful! It almost tripled!

Now you can place the dough in a pizza baking pan. Pre-heat the oven at 220°C. Season tomato sauce (about 200gr) with extra virgin olive oil (4 tablespoons) and salt (3 pinches) and put it on the dough. Then put whatever you want on the pizza, I put olives and of course mozzarella (only at last) and oregano, I like my pizza to be simple. But you can put prosciutto, mushrooms, salami and so on. Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes, then add mozzarella and leave inside for another 2 minutes.

This was the result and it was a big hit! I'm so proud!

Hope you enjoy these recipes, let me know if you give them a try! Have a great week!

Love, Fede

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Happy Halloween! (Pumpkin Cake Recipe)

Happy Halloween everyone!!! I made a pumpkin cake and brought it to the office!  Do you like the decoration I made on the cake? Also I wanna show you my look ;), I wore my new favorite shoes and a faux leather skirt that I adore.

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo, Fede

Here is the recipe:

2 cups flour (256 gr)

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 eggs

300 gr sugar

150 ml oil

1 can (15oz) pumpkin

Directions:

Sift dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt & soda) and set aside. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients, gradually. Mix well.

Spread batter in a greased 15x10x1 baking pan. Bake at 350 F degrees (180 C) for 35 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely.

Sweater: Zara / Faux Leather Skirt: Zara / Booties: Nine West Gemeza / Watch: Michael Kors

Blackberry Cake with Greek Yogurt

Hi everyone, last sunday I wanted to make a yummy cake so I looked on Pinterest for inspiration. I found a recipe for a blueberry cake with greek yogurt, it looked really good. So I went to the grocery store and....bummer!! They had run out of blueberries. But they had blackberries so I thought why not give it a try! And I was right, the cake was soooo good! Here is the recipe:

- 1 cup (125gr) all purpose flour

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 stick (57gr) butter

- 2/3 cup (133gr) sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1 large egg or 2 small eggs

- 1/2 cup (122gr) greek yogurt

- 1 cup (125gr) fresh blackberries

Mix well (add the blackberries only at the end) and put in oven at 375°F (180°C) for 30 minutes.

Here is the final result!

Thanks for reading, Xoxo

Fede