Tag: pastry

“Free” cakes: 10 recipes without lactose, gluten or eggs – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Any problems with gluten, dairy or eggs? Then this is the right article for you. Because thanks to these cakes “without” you can enjoy a delicious slice of dessert and not give up the taste. In addition to not losing the joy of sharing because the ones we offer are all sweet, good for everyone.
Inside the gallery you will find different types: some without any of the 3 ingredients, others simply only without eggs, gluten or lactose.

Pay attention to the ingredient

Especially for gluten, pay attention to the ingredients: in fact, there are baking powders on the market that contain gluten. Special attention should also be paid to cocoa and icing sugar. Some components of eggs are also often used in these ingredients. Finally, also pay attention to the wording “May contain traces”: in the case of allergic subjects, the possibility of contamination must also be taken into consideration.

What are gluten-free flours?

Are you looking for a gluten free solution? Be careful with the flour: the classic 00 for cakes, made of soft wheat, contains gluten. But there are now various naturally gluten-free flours on the market, and they are:

oatmeal
Rice flour
corn flour
Millet flour
Quinoa flour
buckwheat flour
Dried fruit flour
Legume flour
amaranth flour
sorghum flour

How to replace eggs in desserts

Eggs in desserts have the function of acting as a binder and giving structure. Some desserts do not require the use of eggs in the recipe, but if you still want to try making a recipe that includes eggs with a substitution, here are the 4 alternatives available to you:

There banana: half a banana is enough to replace an egg. The substitution is a winner because the banana also has a binding function and also helps to keep the dough moist;
There potato starch or cornstarch: they also have a high binding power. The proportion, for substitution, is two tablespoons of starch or cornstarch for each egg provided from the recipe.
Milk: 50 ml of milk they are enough to replace an egg;
The yogurt: one egg can finally be replaced with half a jar of yogurt.

How to replace butter and milk in desserts?

If you have an intolerance problem with dairy products, butter, milk and derivatives – such as cream – will be forgotten by you. Luckily there are many on the market today plant-based alternativesas the margarinethe so-called vegetable “milks”. and also the vegetable cream. And then, let’s not forget the good old guy olive oilperfect for replacing butter.

10 “without” cakes, good for everyone

Agar agar, zero calories: what it is and how to use it in the kitchen – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Agar agar: just take a look around social networks to immediately realize how much it has become one of the emerging products used in the kitchen. Popular among the food influencers and it is carving out an important space for itself among those who love to eat vegetarian or vegan dishes without giving up more traditional recipes.

What is agar agar

Agar agar is a product completely vegetal which is obtained from the processing and subsequent drying of algae red. Very famous in Japan, where it is called Kanten, it is a natural gelling agent which can be used in the preparation of jellies and desserts, especially to replace the gelatine.

Among its characteristics, in fact, there is an incredible ability to absorb liquids as soon as it comes into contact with them: it is therefore ideal for preparing jellies for cakes and completely vegetable desserts and puddings. It can be found on sale in all specialized shops and in the most well-stocked supermarkets and is completely odorlesstasteless and colorless so it does not modify the natural flavour of foods. Not only, agar agar it is also calorie-free and therefore suitable for low-calorie diets.

Agar agar powder

HeikeRau

How to use agar agar in cooking

Agar agar can be found on the market in different formats: barsflakes or more commonly in dust.
To use agar agar in the kitchen there is an important parameter to keep in mind: for 1 liter of liquid you will need approximately 4/5 g of product in powder. Furthermore, unlike isinglass gelatin, agar agar melts at temperatures between 85 and 90 degrees and becomes jelly at a temperature of 35-40 degreesthe. When using it in recipes it is good to remember that a teaspoon of agar agar corresponds to approximately eight sheets of isinglass. Finally, to obtain the maximum effect, it is best to use it within six months from opening the package.

Agar agar: recipes in which it can be used

Being a completely natural and highly performing solidifier, agar agar as mentioned can be used for replace the isinglass or other types of thickeners in pudding, panna cotta, cream, cheesecake, cake and dessert recipes.

Let’s find out how to use agar agar

Nicola Di Lena: Knight for his commitment to ethical pastry making – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Nicola di Lena didn’t expect all this media attention. Yet his choice to leave a certain (and prestigious) job for an uncertain activity, certainly more demanding, at least on a human level, made him appear on all the front pages of national newspapers. Originally from Ginosa, in the Taranto area, but born in Switzerland, Nicola Di Lena, born in 1981, until a year ago was the mainstay of the sweet area of the Seta** restaurant, inside the five-star luxury Mandarin Oriental Milan hotel, next door to chef Antonio Guida. Then his choice, after 8 years, to return to his native Puglia, to open his own business with his wife Alessia Semeraro, always at his side. And now, on March 20th, he will be at the Quirinale – with 29 other Italian excellences – to receive the recognition of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. The reason? The its social and ethical commitment in favor of the excluded, which has marked his professional path in the last year in San Vito dei Normanni, in the province of Brindisi, thanks to “Comma”one therapeutic pastry which, from December 2022, will be welcomed into the laboratory people with disabilities And women who have suffered violence.

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The genesis of the ethical pastry shop project

«I certainly didn’t expect all this in just one year of activity, he tells us excitedly on the phone. «My wife and I had decided to return to Puglia, the “ethical” pastry shop project came later, that is, after meeting Vito Valente, president of the social cooperative “Includi”, which deals with the work integration of people with disabilities. The. was already present in the area XFood restaurantof the non-profit organization Something different, which since 2014 within the ExFadda urban laboratory, allows young people with disabilities to work between the dining room and kitchen, led by chef Giovanni Ingletti. «Hence Valente’s proposal to think about the format of a pastry shop. “The name Commahas the subtitle “a story that continues”, because not only does it follow up on the restaurant format, but it could also include other stories like this, in Puglia and who knows where else”, explains Di Lena with enthusiasm. At the beginning the proposal only envisaged a workshop for children with problems, “I thought that, instead, a cake shop with retail sales would give greater visibility to the initiative”. And so it was.

The “special” collaborators

Di Lena immediately accepted the project, not only to share moments of lightness and joy, but to teach a trade and introduce these fragile subjects to the world of work thanks to a serious training course. «Five guys currently work with us, Mimmo And Francesca they are the veterans, but two other figures from the Brindisi hotel school will arrive shortly, both minors, who will be accompanied by a tutor”. Precious help from the kids, who immediately became passionate about the project. «They go crazy to make biscuits, biscuits, lady’s kisses, tartlets with mousse creams, not even having time to finish the job before they are already breathing down their necks wondering what else they can do. When the kids are in the laboratory, deliberately visible to the public, thanks to the large windows, «they are very happy and we are equally happy, or rather, I will say more, when they are not there, we miss them because they have so much to teach. They are, special period, without the comma!”.