Cakes and Cookies

Velvety Chocolate Layer Cake: Torta di Cioccolata Vellutata

July 2, 2012
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This is a perfect layer cake for both a novice as well as seasoned baking veteran. The satiny texture is sublime and the cake turns out rich and wonderful.

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Apple Tart: U Giancu

June 4, 2012
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The ever-modest Mr. Oneto calls it: The Apple Tart that nobody can resist eating at least 2 slices. He then goes on to tell the story of his grandmother Elena who gave him the recipe but also always managed to eat at least three or more slices of this extraordinary tart.

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Italian Ricotta Cheesecake for Mother’s Day

May 7, 2012
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This ricotta cheesecake is airy and smooth and doesn’t make one feel heavy. At the party, it was the first dessert to go –next time I’ll have to make more.

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Chocolate Custard with an Italian Twist of Amaretti Cookies

April 17, 2012
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The only hard part in this recipe is waiting for it to cool. If we aren’t careful, we often will see smudge marks on the top where our youngest daughter has “checked” to see if it was ready yet. However, this is not just a children’s dessert, it is an elegant ending to an adult meal.

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Tiramisu: The perfect pick me up dessert

October 3, 2011
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Tiramisù literally means “pick me up” so it’s important to use richly flavored Italian coffee, which is easily made in a stovetop Moka. One of the key ingredients in Tiramisù is mascarpone, and we add it, one third at a time, incorporating it into the mixture taking care not to over-whip it. Finally, whip the cream until it is firm and carefully fold it in.

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Chocolate Cookies and a Thank You to Fire Fighters

April 4, 2011
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These are fun and easy cookies to make. Even the smallest child can assist. The greatest challenge is to get them to actually make the cookies rather than just eating the yummy dough.

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Carrot Almond Cake Recipe

March 22, 2011
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here are equal amounts carrots and almonds in this cake recipe, and both flavors are present and not covered up. It doesn’t have that heavy, oily, overly sweet flavor that is sometimes present in store bought carrot cakes. We’ve found that it doesn’t need to have a cream cheese toping; instead we serve each with a dollop of simple homemade whipped cream

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Italian Custard Pie Recipe: Torta Della Nonna and a review of two new google rich snippets recipe plugins

March 16, 2011
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After all the discussion of the new google mandates and just trying to figure out what a rich snippet is and figure out which google recipe plugins we should use, we will all need something sweet to pick us up. Since our girls are very much into baking, I thought it would be good for them to make one of the Sorelle Simili, the Simili sisters, fabulous treats, their Torta Della Nonna, or Grandmother’s cake. Long ago the sister’s had given their recipe of this homey and comforting pie to Giuliano. I thought it was a perfect chance for the girls to learn how to make custard and to roll out pie dough.

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Easy Holiday Cookies

December 20, 2010
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The recipe is so easy that, other than putting the cookies in the oven and taking them out, the kids can do most of it themselves. This is something the kids can make to give as a “gift”, and they are so tasty that even the most discriminating grandparent will be pleased.

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Panettone: The story of Italian Christmas Cake

December 16, 2010
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As in all recipes Italian, everyone believes that either they or their mother makes it the best. In the case of Panettone the competition almost came to blows in the 1930’s. Trying to out produce each other, two Milanese bakeries Motta & Alemagna, learned how to make the cakes industrially. Because of the competition, the price of panettone, once only eaten by the wealthy dropped and became inexpensive enough for everyone to enjoy it at Christmas. As Italians immigrated to other parts of the world, they brought panettone with them and it now can be found everywhere.

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A Chocolate Cake with Diplomacy

December 13, 2010
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Happily for Giuliano, one of our favorite holiday desserts does not need to be baked… Called diplomatico, it is a rich and creamy chocolate mouse cake that is foolproof, hence the name. It is frosted with whipped cream, providing a perfect canvas for decorating, which is, of course, the children’s job.

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