Tag: leavened

Easter Crescia recipe, savory leavened product – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Step 1

For the Easter crescia recipe, in a small bowl, with 20 g of yeast, 50 g of flour and 100 g of warm water, prepare a pastel which you will leave to rise for 30 minutes covered with a napkin.

Step 2

Place the egg whites in the bowl of the mixer and whip them until stiff with the round whisk, then add the egg yolks and, continuing to work, the oil, the pecorino cheese, the parmesan, the leavened pastel, salt and a generous grinding of pepper ( at this point the mixture will become so liquid that initially whipping the egg whites might seem like a superfluous operation; however, it is necessary to give greater softness to the final dough).

Step 3

Replace the round whisk with the hook one and, continuing to work, add 400 g of flour, 70 g of crumbled yeast and, little by little, the remaining flour (400 g), continuing to work until the dough is soft, homogeneous, very elastic and air bubbles will appear on the surface.

Step 4

Butter and flour a 32 cm diameter loose-fitting mold generously and transfer the dough into it, so that it does not fill it more than two-thirds.

Step 5

Keep in a warm place, covered with a napkin, until the rising dough fills the mold; then put it in the oven already at 180° for about an hour and 30′, covering the crescia halfway through cooking with aluminum foil, to prevent it from becoming too dark on the surface.

Step 6

Before taking it out of the oven, test the cooking with a toothpick which, inserted into the highest part of the focaccia, should come out perfectly dry.

Step 7

Crescia can be enjoyed warm or cold, cut into slices, with coarse-grained salami.

Carsenza recipe from Milan, the recycled New Year’s dessert – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

In the nineteenth century, in Milan, the «lack of bombon it was the «sweet del recycling par excellence, born from the ingenuity of those who try not to throw anything away, handed down through generations: and as the conditions of the people improved, the recipe became richer.

The basis was there white bread dough advanced a Christmas; she reworked it again and added something sweet, like the apples (also a little dented) and thegrape which had seen better times: the harvest had been over for a while and there were no first fruits or Chilean grapes, obviously… but only the “passing” ones, but as they had dried in the cellar.

Traditional on New Year’s Eve, everyone prepared it as they wanted and as they could: with the dried fruiti figsthe pears, it was still delicious. Many put in a beanor a chickpea, and whoever found it was certain that he would have a lucky year ahead of him.

A curiosity: at the house of Alessandro Manzoni the tradition of this dessert was so deep-rooted that it was widely spoken of in family correspondence.

How is leavened puff pastry made? – Italian Cuisine

A very sweet leavened dough to be prepared according to the fold technique and to rest between one passage and the next

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There leavened puff pastry it is a richer version of traditional puff pastry, with milk, eggs and sugar added to the pastel. When the different elements are brought together, they roll out into a rectangle and work with each other the technique of folds. The rectangle is folded in 3 or 4, obtaining a dough which, after resting in the fridge, rests and folds several times: generally, from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 6 turns of folds are made. It is customary to mark each round with a notch, imprinted on the dough with a fingertip: a trick that serves to remind you, step by step, at what stage of processing you have arrived. This elaborate technique is meant to form one pasta in overlapping layers interspersed with the fat part, or the butter, which makes it crumbly and crunchy. The growth is due to the evaporation of the water contained in the butter and the pastel, which pushes the layers upwards, making the dough grow.

Doses to prepare about 600 g of leavened puff pastry: 240 g of flour 00 + the one for processing; 10 g of brewer's yeast – 50 g of granulated sugar – 7 g of powdered malt (in pastry shops) – 75 g of eggs (about 1 large egg) – 50 ml of milk – 140 g of soft butter – salt

Step by Step

- 1
- 1) Prepare the leavening. Dissolve the yeast in 40 ml of water. Mix 75 g of flour with the yeast mix, form a ball and immerse it in a bowl of water at room temperature. Let it rest for a few minutes until it rises to the surface. Meanwhile, pour the remaining flour into a bowl (or mixer). Collect the leaven with your hands, drain it and join it in the bowl.
  
  2) Add beaten egg with milk, then malt and sugar. Start working and, when the mixture is homogeneous, add 25 g of soft butter and a pinch of salt. Knead again to incorporate them completely. Form a loaf and wrap in plastic wrap.
- 2
- 3) Let the dough rise in the fridge for 12 hours. Therefore, transfer it on the lightly floured surface.
- 3
- 4) Roll out the dough, on the floured surface, in a rectangle a couple of cm thick (about 20×40 cm). Arrange the remaining butter, at room temperature, between two sheets of baking paper and flatten it with a rolling pin forming a square sheet (about 20×20 cm).
- 4
- 5) Transfer the butter to one half of the rectangle, fold over the free dough and roll out with a rolling pin, until you get a rectangle of the initial size (20×40 cm) again.
- 5
- 6) Fold the rectangle in 3, mark this first round by making a notch with your fingertip, wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for half an hour. Take the dough, spread it a little, then stretch it again to the initial size, fold it in 3 and mark the second round. Let it rest for another half hour in the fridge, in plastic wrap, then repeat the operation one last time: at the end you will have made 3 turns of folds. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or until the moment of use. Pasta that is not used immediately can be kept in the freezer, wrapped in cling film, for 2-3 months.

Francesca Romana Mezzadri
September 2021

Kranz with candied fruit, chocolate and macadamia nuts
Makes 10 Kranz: 500 g of half puff pastry – 600 g of leavened puff pastry – 120 g plum jam – 60 g of shelled Macadamia nuts – 75 g of cubed candied orange peel – 40 g of chocolate chips – flour for processing

1. Chop the walnuts. On the floured surface, roll out with a rolling pin the half-puff pastry, rather thin, in a rectangle of approx 25×12 cm. Spread it with 2/3 of the jam e sprinkle it with 2/3 of the chopped walnuts, 2/3 of the cantidia and 2/3 of the chocolate chips.
2. Roll out also the leavened puff pastry, to the same size as the half puff, and place it on top of the latter. Spread the leftover jam on half of the surface (starting from the short side) e distribute yourselves the rest of walnuts, candied fruit and chocolate chips.
3. Fold back the free part over the stuffed one: you will get a thick square of about 12 cm per side. Then, cut it into 10 strips, about 1.5cm wide.
4. Twisted the strips a couple of times on themselves (around their longitudinal axis) and arrange them, well spaced, on a couple of plates lined with baking paper. Let it rest at room temperature for about twenty minutes, then bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Posted on 17/09/2021

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