Tag: gift

Baci di Cracco: the sexiest gift for Valentine's Day – Italian Cuisine


On the chef's online shop you will find his Baci, also in a special edition in the shape of a heart, chocolates and a plum cake with a ruby ​​red heart. They can be bought in one click and that's why they are a stroke of genius

Make a gift of Valentine's day it's easy, if you know how to do it. And Carlo knows it. Since he inaugurated his online shop shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic and the delivery boom, orders have never stopped. Jams, spices, tomato sauce, oil and a set of pots, but it is the pastry that is king. Cakes, panettone, chocolates and them… i Kisses of Cracco. He is a cooking genius, his collaborators are evil geniuses who have created a perfect product: good, beautiful and with a name so sexy that it has become a blockbuster. The credit would be all in marketing were it not that Cracco's Kisses are not just a nice gimmick: they are a small delight studied by pastry chef Marco Pedron. He, the man of Cracco's pizza, of his screaming croissants, and now of the new Milanese classic.

«Colored like macarons, Italian like lady's kisses. They are Ringo gourmets, I have not invented anything . Marco studied the product in every detail, and not just the taste. «Compared to the lady's kisses we used not hazelnut flour, but almond flour: they are light and colorful. But there are no secrets, only excellent raw materials: stone-ground 00 flour Petra 5 by Molino Quaglia, which makes the pastry crumbly, and Valrhona Inspiration chocolate, a “white chocolate” with cocoa butter and fruit . Therefore? "In Baci di Cracco, more than the recipe, the stroke of genius lies in the management of the product, which is often more important than the product itself". Yes, because Cracco's Baci are kept out of the refrigerator and last long enough that you don't have to eat them in one bite (if you can resist). Raspberry, yuzu, passion fruit, strawberry, gianduia, almond; in the heart version, only in two flavors.
«But for Valentine's Day we also do plum cake with heart shaped heart, a long process that requires a double firing . Chocolate, red heart with raspberry powder and pulp, chocolate ganache to make it beautiful and uniform, chocolate glaze and golden sugar. «Simple to the eye, complex in processing, but not so decorated, because the beauty is inside. At the debut he totaled more than a thousand orders just him. And then i chocolates, heart shaped obviously, raspberry chocolate with passion fruit filling and dark chocolate with raspberry filling.

Marco Pedron is not only a great pastry chef, he is a calculator and one who engineers production to make it work even on large numbers. Since Cracco's opening in the Galleria they have never stopped, not even during the first lockdown of 2020. "We have always worked, myself, the two guys who take care of the doughs and leavened products, and the three girls who make up half of the team . They are the ones who take care of all the Valentine's Day production . And he is keen to mention them with a lot of name and surname: Ilaria Caneva, sous pastry chef, the chocolatier Carlotta Filipazzi and Alessandra Pagan. As I write this, doves are already being baked for Easter, and they promise surprises.

Marco, Ilaria and Carlotta

I Baci di Cracco and all the other products can be bought from Cracco in the Galleria or bought online.
"They go away like bread", better hurry. Browse the gallery to discover all the gifts for Valentine's Day made in Cracco

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the last minute gift for greedy friends – Italian Cuisine

the last minute gift for greedy friends


We present the stars and stripes version of the nougat: if you have never tried rocky road this is the right time to prepare them and … give them away

We cannot define the rocky road simply Chocolates because they are much more.
These chocolate cubes they are rich, colorful, greedy and can be done in many different ways.
You can use dark, white or milk chocolate, maybe even all three together in layers, and you can add nuts, raisins, and other dried and dried fruit.
In the variant most loved by children, you can also play with Marshmallow, white or colored and possibly mini, to add a touch of softness.
Someone defines them "American nougat" due to the presence of chocolate and dried fruit, but in this case the slightly chewy consistency of the classic nougat as we know it is missing.

The basic recipe of rocky road

Melt in a water bath 200 g of dark chocolate is 100 g of milk chocolate with 30 g of butter.
Mix everything with 30 g of puffed rice, a handful of almonds and pistachios is 100 g of mini marshmallows colored.
Pour the mixture into a mold lined with cling film. It must have a thickness of about 2 cm.
Let everything cool down in the refrigerator for two hours and then cut into cubes.

White chocolate variant

Melt in a double boiler only White chocolate and a walnut of butter and then mix it all up with something colorful like Goji berries or raspberries e cranberries dried.
Top with a handful of pistachios because green goes very well with white and red and is a perfect match for Christmas. Also in this case you can add marshmallows always in chromatic contrast.

Rocky road with cookies

You can also add some to the chocolate cookies: in this period we suggest those spiced with ginger and cinnamon.
You don't have to chop them, but simply break them coarsely because they must show up in the cut of the cubes and they must feel bite after bite as a crunchy part.
If you don't like spiced cookies, use any type of Biscuits of your choice.

Greedy and creative recycling

Rocky roads are the ideal recipe for recycle chocolate, biscuits and nuts, especially after the holidays.
If you have different types of chocolate you can melt them separately, mix them with the other ingredients and then arrange them in layers inside the mold. In this way you will get very colorful and super greedy rocky roads.

Gift idea

Rocky roads are nice homemade Christmas gift that everyone will appreciate.
They are easy to prepare, as you have seen, and also very beautiful to pack in transparent bags.
They keep for a long time … if they don't disappear instantly!

10 gift ideas for an eco-sustainable Christmas 2020 – Italian Cuisine


This year the Christmas holidays are tinged with green: here are 10 gift ideas for a Christmas 2020 in the name of sustainability and the environment

Christmas is upon us and the time has come to choose which gifts to surprise and make friends and relatives happy. Never as this year does happiness coincide with self-care and personal well-being, but also with a rediscovered love for nature and the environment. While, on the one hand, the need to spend more time at home has awakened interest in technological gifts related to the sphere of entertainment and communication, on the other hand, the demand for useful and eco-sustainable products. Let's go and discover 10 eco-friendly gift ideas, for a peaceful and "green" Christmas 2020.

1) Set for the vegetable garden at home

The hobby ofvegetable garden in the house has been growing strongly in the last year, as is the offer of kits that can be purchased, more and more functional and more and more creative. The cheapest and easiest to use gift idea is a set that includes a wooden cube, a biodegradable pot and everything needed for cultivation and maintenance, naturally including plant seeds. You can choose to plant classic herbs or chillies, or more whimsical alternatives ranging from hops to avocados. Going up a little in price, you can instead opt for real indoor mini greenhouses, for growing plants, herbs and vegetables at home.

2) The "plantable" pencils

Let's stay in the gardening field to talk to you about a unique ecological gadget of its kind, which has been depopulating for some time and which in fact represents a double gift. Let's talk about the Sprout Pencils, made in 100% natural and organic wood, which have the particularity of containing a small seed inside the tip. Once the pencil has been used up, it is in fact possible "to stop”In order to then see it germinate. There are many pencils in special editions: from Christmas to customizable ones.

3) Zero waste starter kit

Another practical kit that is very fashionable, and which represents an original gift idea, is the one designed for those who want to start embracing a lifestyle in the name of zero waste, that is, minimizing waste and, consequently, the environmental impact. These kits contain a wide selection of beauty, home and travel products including an organic cotton shopping bag, reusable and eco-friendly food containers, ecological washing machine spheres, a set of bamboo cutlery and much more. even more.

4) Cookbooks zero waste

Very popular this year is also the cookbook zero waste, designed for those who want to learn how to cook avoiding food waste as much as possible. In fact, these are collections of ecological recipes that teach how to use both leftovers and expiring products that we have in the fridge and in the pantry, in an easy and creative way.

5) Beeswax film for food

We remain in the context of waste in the kitchen for another Christmas purchase, very useful and trendy, namely the colorful, washable and reusable fabrics and wrappers based on beeswax. They are the ecological and anti-waste alternative to plastic film. The materials they are made of, including beeswax but also oil and resin, are all natural, breathable and antibacterial, perfect for preserving food and keeping it fresh.

6) Bamboo toothbrushes

For some years now, bamboo has been declared one of the most sustainable, flexible and resistant natural and biodegradable materials. In fact, it is widely used in eco-furniture and bio-architecture, but it is also used for a wide range of products for the home and for personal hygiene, from cotton buds to reusable make-up remover pads. We, for Christmas 2020, recommend that you opt for a set of bamboo toothbrushes: You can choose, for example, among those for adults or children, the colored ones, the travel ones, those with the interchangeable head.

7) Natural straws

The environmental damage that the use of disposable plastic straws has caused globally is well known. Fortunately, the variety of eco-friendly alternatives is growing on the market, made with sustainable and renewable materials. For lovers of cocktails or take away drinks, what better gift, then, than these ecological and reusable straws? They exist in bamboo, stainless steel, silicone, grain and even those edible and those made with grass grown.

8) Refillable scented candles

Never before is it important to create a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere at home, so why not give gifts rechargeable scented candles, economical, but with a refined and elegant design? This product, in addition to having the advantage of the quality / price ratio, is ecological and available in many fragrances.

9) Eco-friendly yoga mat

Let's stay in the field of personal well-being with the ecological mat for yoga or fitness. Perfect for athletes who care about environmental issues, this new type of mat has the advantage of being made with 100% eco-sustainable, recyclable and biodegradable materials, but also to be hypoallergenic, waterproof, easy to wash and non-slip.

10) Solid shampoo

Finally, we close with a product for beauty and personal hygiene that has been becoming popular in recent months, namely the solid vegetable shampoo. It is about soap-shampoo, available in many fragrances and colors, made only with natural and organic ingredients, and therefore free of preservatives and dyes. Furthermore, compared to traditional shampoo, it allows a great saving in terms of money, space and plastic consumption, and also has the advantage of lasting months and being easily transported on trips, including air travel.

In short, as we have seen, there is something for all ages and for all needs!
Whatever item you decide to give as a gift, you can make the purchase with the joy and awareness of having contributed to the health of the planet … and of all of us.

Photo: eco-friendly christmas 2020 cover_ freeimageslive.co.uk .jpg
Photo: christmas 2020_bamboo toothbrushes_Pxfuel.jpg

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