Tag: Christmas

Three Christmas cakes to prepare for the holidays – Italian Cuisine

Scenographic, decorated, but also easy and quick to make. Here are some ideas to bring on the Christmas table some delicious alternatives to the classic panettone and pandoro

panettone is Pandoro they are two sweets that can not certainly be missing on the table Christmas. But for those who want to get out of the usual patterns and give a touch of originality to more party menu, of ideas for the Christmas cakes there are plenty of them. It ranges from those traditional to those more fast and easy to prepare, up to those decorated and scenic. Here then some recipe from which to take inspiration, to start experimenting and get the day X ready and tested.

Christmas cakes in the shape of fir

There Christmas tree cake It is certainly among the nicest to prepare for Christmas Eve dinner or the 25 December lunch. In this case what matters is not so much the substance as the form. Once we have got it mold suitable, in fact, you can choose to do it with the sponge cake, with the mixture of Margherita cake, or even, for the joy of children, to the chocolate. The ingredients for the latter are 180 grams of flour, 180 grams of dark chocolate, 180 grams of sugar, 150 grams of butter, 100 grams of drops of white chocolate, four eggs, a spoonful of powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla yeast and 75 cl of cream for desserts. Melt the chocolate and butter cut into chunks in a bain-marie. Separately, beat the eggs with the sugar, add the sifted flour and baking powder. Mix and incorporate the melted chocolate and butter. Mix everything and add the drops of white chocolate. Pour the mixture into the mold e bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Once the cake is cooked, let it cool. in the meantime whip the cream with icing sugar, put it in a pastry bag, remove the cake from the mold and decorate the surface with some tufts of cream that remember snowflakes.

Donut Red Velvet, easy and scenic

Quick and easy as one donut, as scenic as the famous Red velvet cake. The union of these two recipes is born Donut Red Velvet. The ingredients for the dough according to the famous pastry chef Ernst Knam they are: 375 grams of flour, 375 grams of sugar, 300 grams of yogurt, 150 grams of butter, two eggs, 30 ml of red dye, 50 grams of cocoa powder, 10 grams of baking powder, 30 ml of vinegar White, 5 grams of salt. More powdered sugar to decorate and one mold of 26 cm in diameter. Combine the butter at room temperature with the sugar, whisk with an electric whisk and incorporate the eggs one at a time. At this point add salt, dye and cocoa powder. After mixing everything well and also pour the yogurt, flour, baking powder and vinegar. Stir and pour into the cake tin. Bake at 175 degrees for 35 minutes. When the donut is cold, instead of garnish with the cream-cheese-frosting as provided by Knam, to speed up the dusting time with the icing sugar.

Christmas tart decorated with biscuits

Another decorated Christmas cake, but not too complicated to make is the chocolate tart and cinnamon with a base of spicy shortcrust pastry. The ingredients they are 500 grams of flour, 300 grams of butter, 200 grams of sugar, five yolks, the grated peel of an orange, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, half a teaspoon of cinnamon in powder and a pinch of salt. For the stuffed of chocolate and cinnamon serve 300 grams of milk, 150 grams of sugar, 200 grams of chocolate melting, a teaspoon of cinnamon, 60 grams of flour and 50 grams of butter. First of all, do the short pastry, incorporating the orange peel and cinnamon when you insert the vanilla extract. After having made the dough rest in the fridge for a couple of hours, with one part line the mold and with the other make some cookies in the shape of a Christmas tree. Place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and place them to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. When they are cold, insert at the base of each cookie one toothpicks with a length of 5 cm and put them back in the fridge for another half an hour. For the stuffed chop the chocolate and put it in a saucepan with the sugar and flour, stirring well. Turn the heat on low heat and mix everything, using a wooden spoon. Add the milk a little at a time and keep turning until you get one thick and smooth cream. Remove the mixture from the stove and incorporate the butter, stir and put to rest in the fridge. When everything is ready compose the tart. In the mold lined with the dough pour the chocolate cream and cook in a hot oven at 180 ° for about 35 minutes. Cook the biscuits and, once cooled, put them in the tart and sprinkle with some granules of sugar, in order to simulate a nice snowfall.

Christmas: the tradition of stuffed capon – Italian Cuisine

It has a long history: for Christmas it brings to the table the stuffed capon, a rich second that smells of celebration

Since the Middle Ages broth with capon it was one of the dishes that traditionally were consumed during the December festivities on the occasion of winter solstice. In these cold nights of vigil around the fireplace stories were told eating particularly nutritious and substantial foods.

Quoted in the history of literature, it also appears among the pages de The promised spouses, when Renzo gave the lawyer Azzeccagarbugli four capons, for the time considered an authentic delicacy. The number four returns to Milan, where it seems that for the richest families it was tradition to raise four capons: one for San'Ambrogio, one for Christmas and another for New Year's Eve, and finally the last for Epiphany. The capon was raised in the courtyard, while today we buy it, yet this tasty tradition resist and bring to the table the intense aroma of the days of celebration.

How do you cook the stuffed capon?

For the filling you will need them minced meat of veal, sausage, offal, abolished Venetian, stale bread is milk. Do not forget the aromas: pepper, nutmeg, rosemary, garlic, sage, parsley and thyme will make the dough scented. Once you have amalgamated the ingredients and prepared the dough, it is necessary fill the capon and close the opening with needle and thread. Brush the capon with oil and cover with an aluminum foil. Preheat the oven, then let the capon cook slowly, at 180 °.

The side dish for the stuffed capon

For a side dish you can prepare a fresh one mixed salad, baked potatoes season with rosemary or cooked vegetables. The extra touch? The sauces: green with parsley or in the variant with celery, white with horseradish, or prepared using walnuts. It presents the capon in the middle of the table garnished with pomegranate grains, a symbol of fertility and wishes for the new year. Those who want an alternative to meat can focus on filling chestnuts: a delight able to find an agreement for all palates.

At Christmas, choose a mysterious gift – Italian Cuisine

This year is your Christmas goal to leave everyone speechless with mysterious gifts? So we have what's right for you.

The joy of discovery

Discard i presents has become the inevitable ritual of the Christmas festivities, under each self-respecting decorated tree appear packages sparkling with colored ribbons that evoke an irresistible curiosity to any passerby nearby. Even among those who are no longer children, gifts are welcome, but it is often very difficult to impress us adults. Seeing the pleasantly shocked reaction of friends and relatives when unwrapping presents is a great satisfaction and we want only real smiles and no fake smug faces on the faces of your loved ones. We therefore thought to make the moment of discovery a moment of pure fun to make you relive those childish emotions set aside over the years. Do not just discard the gift to understand what you have in your hands, the surprise effect continues stimulating your curiosity to the nth degree until the resolution of the puzzle.

The mysterious object becomes a gift

The research has been stimulating, we have created thematic galleries with exclusive design products, useful in the kitchen and also beautiful to show on your shelves and worktops. Stone, wood, steel or plastic, the materials you prefer for the most original tools, from the 3-in-1 citrus fruit squeezer to the bird-shaped bottle opener, not to mention the beehive-sized vegetables or the giraffe-sized coffee dispenser. Browse the gallery with all the mysterious objects we collected from January to December in La Cucina Italiana and Merry Christmas magazine.