The yummiest chocolate pecan pie ever

Whenever I go to Avoca (an Irish restaurant that cooks delicious food) I cannot resist this pie. I've looked for the recipe for years with no success - it's not in the Avoca cooking books, and all my attempts at modifying similar recipes yielded disappointing results. Then, finally, some days ago, I found the recipe on the Internet and tried to reproduce it. Perfect! That was it! The problem is that this pie has done nothing but calling my name until I ate at least half of it in a few days! But it was worth it: taste it and you won't be disappointed!

Tools:

• a pie dish

Ingredients:

for the pastry

• 224g plain flour
• 127g butter 
• 28g caster sugar
• 2 free-range egg yolks
• a little cold water

for the filling

• 226g dark chocolate (53% cocoa contents, OR half dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids and half milk chocolate with 30% cocoa solids)
• 113g butter
• 113g caster sugar
• 113g brown sugar
• 113g plain flour
• 142g pecan nuts
• 2 free-range eggs
• 1 drop of vanilla extract

to decorate

• dark and white chocolate buttons

Method:

for the pastry

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Dice the butter and add it to the flour, then rub the two together until they look like fine breadcrumbs. Add the caster sugar, then the egg yolks and a little water if necessary, and mix well. Make up a ball, wrap it in cellophane and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Rub some butter onto the pie dish, then sprinkle it with flour and shake out the excess. When the pastry is ready, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. Helping yourself with a rollin pin, transfer it onto the pie dish. Don't worry if it breaks, you can easily fix it with your fingers! Push it onto the base and sides of the dish and pierce its surface with a fork.

for the filling

Pre-heat the oven to 160 ºC. Cut half the chocolate into chunks, then pour it onto a large bowl and add both types of sugar, the chopped pecans, vanilla essence and flour. Mix well.

Melt the butter, add it to the other half of the chocolate and mix well until it has melted. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones, add the eggs and mix well.

Pour the mixture onto the pastry, then bake for 35-40 minutes until the sides have settled but the centre still has a little wobble in it. Decorate it with chocolate buttons.

Delicious served warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Be careful, you won't be able to stop eating it!

Apple and Forest Fruit Pie

Are you looking for a dessert which is perfect for spring, delicious and beautiful? Well, you've found it! Although preparing the pastry requires a little time, this pie is extremely simple to make and packed with vitamins ... what more could you ask for?

If you wish to use frozen forest fruit (or any other berries, such as blackberries, blueberries or raspberries), remember to leave them out of the freezer to thaw the night before you make the pie.

Ingredients:

for the pastry

• 330g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 175g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large free-range egg, lightly beaten
• whipped cream or custard, to serve

for the filling

• 750g cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
• 750g forest fruit (or berries of your choice)
• 100g caster sugar, plus a little extra for sprinkling
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 tbsp plain flour

Requirements:

• a 23cm tart tin, about 2.5cm deep, with a removable base

Method:

To make the pastry, sieve flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter cut into chunks and, with your fingertips, rub it against the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 4-6 tablespoons of water, one at a time, until you can shape the dough into a ball. You might not need all the water. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

To make the filling, toss the apples and berries in a large bowl together with the sugar, lemon juice and flour.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C (175 °C for fan ovens), gas 4.

Rub some butter onto the tin, then pour in some flour and get rid of the excess. This will help make it non-stick.

Sprinkle some flour on a clean, hard surface, then roll out two-thirds of the pastry to a 29cm circle. Gently lift it with a rolling pin and transfer it to the tart tin. Press the pastry into the base and sides of the tin, then trim it level to the edges of the tin. Knead the scraps into the remaining dough. Spoon the apples and berries into the pastry case.

Roll out the remaining pastry and, with a knife, cut it into strips. Brush the edges of the pastry case with some beaten egg, then arrange the strips horizontally and vertically on top of the fruit to create a lattice pattern, pressing their ends onto the pastry rim. Trim any excess pastry.

Brush with some more beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake the pie in the oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour, watching it now and then to make sure not to overcook it (if it is acquiring too much colour, lower the temperature by 5 °C). The pastry must be golden; the juices bubbling.

Let it cool down outside the oven and serve it warm with whipped cream or custard.

Buon appetito!

Supermum's Wholemeal Banana and Chocolate Bread

So, you feel like making (and eating) a cake, but you want to be good, too ... and you have some old, nearly gone off bananas? Well, then this is the recipe for you!
I originally took it from a lovely blog called Wit & Wistle, and made some little changes. A friend of mine, the author of Magda's Cauldron, found this recipe for me one day I was moaning about wanting to use wholemeal flour and healthy ingredients as well as some delicious dark chocolate. This cake needs only egg whites, no butter, and almost no effort at all!
My (super)mum loves it: she is drawn by its scent and waits for it to come out of the oven like a little girl would. She has it with her espresso and then exclaims, 'Che buona!' (it's yummy!) with a smile. What could be better than that?

Requirements:

• A loaf-shaped tin, either metal or silicone 
• UK cups, or a small mug as measurement

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups of wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of weak olive oil
• 2 free-range egg whites
• 2 large (or 3 small) very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (or 2 sachets of vanillina if you are in Italy)
• 1 cup of chocolate chips (or chopped-up good-quality dark chocolate)

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 170 °C (fan assisted) or 180 °C (traditional). 

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, mix sugar, oil, egg whites, bananas, milk and vanilla with a spoon. Stir in the dry mixture until they are combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Rub some butter onto the inside of the loaf tin, then pour some wholemeal flour into it, shake it so it spreads evenly, and get rid of the excess. Pour the cake mixture into the tin.

Bake for 45 minutes, then test it by inserting a skewer or toothpick into the centre, and into the cracks than will form on its surface. If it comes out clean (or just a little brown from the chocolate) the cake is ready. Otherwise, check again after 5-7 minutes. When it's cooked, let it cool for 5 minutes, then remove it carefully from the pan.

Enjoy with a glass of milk or some coffe, and say ... 'Che buona!'

Q&A
Why is it important that the bananas be ripe?
Because if they are not, you will not be able to taste them in your lovely cake.

Apple and Berry Crumble

You've been told you need to eat more fruit. Fruit is good for you! Well, it doesn't have to be raw, does it? This crumble is as easy to make as it is delicious. The fruit melts in your mouth, the crumble is sweet and crunchy, and your mum is going to be happy about your vitamin intake. You don't even need to defrost the berries, and if you do not have caster and/or brown sugar you can use any other type. Peeling and coring cooking apples requires some time and elbow grease, so I often ask my boyfriend to do it in exchange for a rewarding slice of this lovely dessert.
With its vibrant colours and scrumptious taste, the apple and berry crumble is bound to give you (and your boyfriend, and your mum) a sparkle of happiness.


Requirements:

• one ovenproof 1.8-litre dish

Ingredients:
for the filling

• 670g Brambley (cooking) apples, peeled
• 450g mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
• 100g caster sugar
• whipped cream, to serve

for the crumble

• 175g all-purpose flour
• 75g unsalted butter
• 75g brown sugar

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 160 °C (fan assisted) or 180 °C (traditional), gas mark 6.
Core and slice the apples and put them in the ovenproof dish, followed by the berries. Sprinkle the caster sugar and 3 tablespoons of water over them.
Mix together the flour, butter and brown sugar - either rub them together by hand, or whiz them in a food processor - until they look like breadcrumbs. Sprinkle this mixture over the fruit and even it out by pressing it lightly with your hands.
Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour, until the fruit is juicy and runny and the top is a golden colour.
Serve hot with pouring or whipped cream.
Boast about getting one of your five-a-day with no effort at all.

Giulia's Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake

Prepare for a recipe that will make everyone fall in love with you! It's easy, it always works, and its love-inspiring effects are guaranteed. Besides, ricotta is a low-fat cheese, so you don't have to feel guilty about it! Make sure you use good quality chocolate such as Bournville, Lindt, Cioccoblocco or Valhrona - the cake will taste so much better! - and, if you can find it, buy fresh ricotta.
This is the first cake I baked, and it is still the one my niece Giulia asks for more often. She has even learnt how to bake it herself because, she says, it makes her smile. 
And that one sentence, right there, is the reason why I do it.


Requirements: 

• a 20-cm deep springform tin, or a rectangular brownie tin

Ingredients:
for the base

• 125g plain biscuits
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 40g unsalted butter

for the filling

• 400g ricotta 
• 150g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla essence (1-2 sachets of vanillina if you are in Italy)
• 150ml fresh cream
• 200g dark chocolate (60%+ cocoa contents works best)
• cream, to serve

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 160 °C. 

Put the biscuits into a clear food bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Mix the crushed biscuits with the cocoa powder.

Melt the butter and stir it into the biscuit mixture.

If you do not want to slice the cheesecake inside its tin when it's ready, line the bottom of your tin of choice with baking parchment (otherwise, simply rub the tin with butter and sprinkle some flour over it), then press the biscuit mixture onto its base. 
At the start, it will not seem enough to cover the base, but persevere and it will!

In a large bowl, beat the ricotta till it softens, then beat in sugar, eggs, vanilla essence and cream. You can do this by hand, using a wooden spoon or a whisk.

Melt the chocolate. Spoon one-third of the white mixture into a separate bowl and beat in the chocolate. Do not worry if it goes a bit lumpy: it will melt in the oven.

Pour the white mixture onto the prepared biscuit base, then place spoonfuls of the brown mixture on top of it. With a knife, swirl it to create a marbled effect.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the centre of the cake feels only just set. Make sure you do not overcook it - it is OK if the centre is a little wobbly. Let it cool, then transfer it to the refrigerator.

Serve warm with cream, and enjoy all the lovely 'mmmmhh' and 'oooohhh' you'll get from your happy customers. Then have a slice yourself, and smile :)

My Sister's Yogurt Cake

As a little girl, I was very fussy about food, and had my parents terribly worried. So, now and then, my sister, the first real baker in the family, would make something plain, sweet, only for me. The type of cake any child would like. When I grew up and started baking too, she kindly provided me with a recipe that still gives me the warm feeling of knowing that someone really cares about me. This cake needs no food scales (you use the empty yogurt pot to measure ingredients), and allows you to use different flavours of yogurt (banana suits it well).

Make it for someone you love!

Requirements:

• a 20-cm springform tin, or a mould of any shape, provided it is not too small. If the mould is too small and deep, the dough will not cook properly in the middle

Ingredients:

• 1 pot of yogurt (plain or banana) then use the pot to measure ingredients
• 3 pots of plain flour
• 2 pots of granulated or caster sugar
• 3 medium free-range eggs 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (or a sachet of vanillina if you are in Italy)
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder (or a sachet of Lievito Bertolini if you are in Italy)
• 1/2 (half) a pot of vegetable oil (I use weak olive oil)
• icing sugar to dust

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 170 °C (fan assisted) or 180 °C (traditional).
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients, alternating them (start with flour, then sugar, then one egg, then some oil, and repeat). You can do this by hand or using a food processor; however you do it, make sure you get rid of all the bumps. The result will be quite liquid.
Rub butter on the tin or mould you have chosen, then dust it with flour and get rid of the excess. This way, your cake won't stick when you turn it out.
Pour the dough into the tin and bake for 20 minutes, then check the cake by inserting a skewer into its centre. If the skewer comes out dry, the cake is ready. Otherwise, check again after 5 minutes. The top of the cake should look golden.
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out of the mould or tin.

Wait 10 more minutes, then sieve some icing sugar on top of it, and share the love!

TIP: You can use the same recipe to make delicious chocolate-chip yogurt muffins. Add a sachet of plain or dark chocolate chips, then line the holes of a muffin tray with paper cases. Bake for 15 minutes, then insert a skewer or toothpick in the centres of two muffins. If it comes out clean, they are ready. Otherwise, check again after 5 minutes.