Recipes From Our Kitchen

Panettone

Panettone is a typical Christmastime sweet from Milan, and as we mentioned above, there’s a really sweet story behind its inception.
**Remember to make your starter the day before you mean to make the panettone.

Preparation

Mix together all the ingredients for the starter in a wide mixing bowl. When well mixed, leave to rest overnight.

For the Dough

Combine the starter dough with all of the ingredients for the panettone except the fruit and nuts, and mix and knead them together preferably in a mixer with a hoop or by hand, until the dough is soft and workable.
Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It will be light and airy. Gently deflate the dough, and knead in the fruits and zest. Roll the dough into a ball and place it in a paper panettone lining. Cover and let the dough rise until touches the rim, approximately 1 hour. Sprinkle a handful of almonds and coarse sugar over the top, before putting it in an oven preheated to 400°F. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the oven heat to 350°F and bake for a further 30 minutes or until golden brown. Once baked, remove the panettone from the oven and leave to cool. Decorate with sugar pearls if desired. Slice and serve with a hot cappuccino or a cold bubbly.

Zeppole ~ Christmas Fried Dough

Preparation

Dissolve yeast in milk. On a work surface, pour the flour and the sugar, mix and make a well in the middle. Add the milk mixture, beaten eggs, melted butter, salt and zest and slowly start to incorporate the flour. Kneed by hand for about 10 minutes until smooth. Cover and set aside to rise until the dough doubles in size.
Roll dough out into coils and twist into ribbons.  Set aside and allow to rise about 30 minutes.  Heat frying oil on a high flame until very hot.  Test oil by dropping in a zeppola – it should drop to the bottom, then rise to the top right away to make sure it is hot enough.  Fry for 3-5 minutes turning until golden.  Drain excess oil on a paper towel.
Toss with sugar and cinnamon while and serve while still hot.

Biscotti Di Natale ~ Christmas Cookies

These Christmas cookies are deliciously light and can be left plain or cut into different festive shapes and decorated as desired.

• 100 g (½ cup) sugar
• 200 g (1 1/3 cups) rice flour
• 50g (1/3 cup) potato flour, plus additional if sticky
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• 100g (3 ½ oz) butter, melted
• 1 large egg

Preparation

In a bowl mix the sugar, both flours, vanilla, melted butter and egg. Mix all ingredients by hand. Once well combined, form into a ball and set aside for at least 30 minutes to rest.
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). On a well-floured surface, roll out the pastry dough into a rectangle. Using a pastry cutter, cut into stars or other shapes and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 180°C (350°F) for about 20 minutes until golden. Allow to cool, decorate if desired, serve or store in an airtight container.

Struffoli ~ Christmas Fried Dough In Honey

It is said that the Greeks brought struffoli to the Gulf of Naples back in the times of the Siren Parthenope, and still today, they are the emblem of a true Neapolitan Christmas. In the 1600’s, the nuns in Naples offered out them as small Christmas gifts to the people, but this delicious sweet soon became known throughout the south and center of Italy.

• • 400 g (3 1/3 cups) ‘00’ flour
  • 6 egg yolks + 1 egg white, if needed
  • 25 g (1 oz) butter
  • 1 tablespoon grain alcohol, optional
  • Zest of 1 lemon, grated
  • Zest of 1 orange, grated
  • Salt, to taste
  • 50 ml (2 fl oz) water
  • 270 g (1 1/3 cup) sugar
  • 250 g (3/4 cup) honey
  • 150 g (5 oz) candied citrus peels, chopped
  • 50-100 g (2-3 oz) candy sprinkles, as desired

Sunflower or Peanut Oil, for frying

Preparation

On a work surface, mix the flour with the egg yolks, butter, alcohol, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, a pinch of salt, and the grated orange and lemon zest. Mix well and if needed, add an egg white if the dough is too hard. Knead by hand for a few minutes then set aside. Let dough rest for about 1 hour.
Roll the dough out into long coils and cut into small, bite-size pieces. Fry small quantities of the dough in the very hot oil and when golden, remove and allow to drain on paper towel to absorb excess oil. When all dough is fried, let cool to room temperature.
In a saucepan, heat the honey, the remaining sugar and water until the foam on top disappears and the color becomes light amber. Add the honey mixture to the struffoli and chopped candied citrus peels, and stir lightly with a large wooden spoon to combine.
Place onto a serving plate and sprinkle with candy sprinkles and some additional pieces of candied citrus peels to garnish, as desired.

Panforte ~ Christmas spice cake from Siena

The first documentation of this sweet dates back to the year 1000 when it was made, not by bakers, but by the spice merchants who had access to the then very exclusive ingredients. (The cocoa was clearly a later addition.) As such, it was once a sweet to be enjoyed only by the wealthiest families. Sliced thinly, this specialty from Siena is a perfect accompaniment to small cups of potent black espresso or a glass of vin santo.

• 200 g (1 ½ cups) almonds
• 100 g (3/4 cups) walnuts
• 100 g (3/4 cups) hazelnuts
• 150 g (6 oz) candied orange and lemon peel, chopped
• 100 g (4 oz) dried figs, chopped
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch white pepper
• Generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 50 g (2 oz) cocoa powder
• 75 g (3 oz) type ‘00’ or all-purpose flour
• 175 g (1/2 cup) honey
• 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
• 25 g (1 oz) icing sugar plus 1 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F), and line a buttered 24cm (10”) round cake tin with rice paper. Otherwise, buttered, floured baking parchment will do.
Toast the three types of nuts under a hot grill, being careful not to burn them, then chop or whiz briefly in a food processor. Place nuts into a bowl and add the candied peel, the figs and all the spices. Sieve in the cocoa powder and the flour and mix well.
In a small, thick-bottomed pan (or in the microwave), gently heat the honey then add the sugar stirring continuously until the honey is hot and the sugar is perfectly incorporated. Pour honey mixture immediately over the fruits and nuts and stir gently until well mixed. Spoon mixture into the prepared cake tin, smoothing the top with the spoon. Bake for 40 minutes until dry. Allow to cool slightly then remove cake from tin and place on a wire rack. Once completely cool, dust the top of the cake with the icing sugar mixed with the cinnamon. Alternatively, the cake can also be covered with melted dark chocolate. Wrapped well in foil, this cake will keep for up to a couple of months.