Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Torcettini di Saint Vincent (Sugar Crusted Twisted Cookies from the Valle d’Aosta) - We Knead to Bake # 4

Month No. 4 for 'We Knead to Bake' - I am loving this project. I always loved baking breads and cakes and cookies too. However, never actually tried or even knew of so many different varieties out there. This project has made me love bread baking all the more and the beauty is I get to learn new recipes.

This month Aparna who pens at My Diverse Kitchen had us bake a yeasty cookie. It has this beautiful knotty shape and that sugar on top. Its a yummy crunchy on the outside and soft and airy on the inside kinda cookie that can be dunked in tea, coffee or even dessert wine (yes, we tried it with some yummy blueberry wine) 


Torcettini are smaller versions of Torcetti (meaning small twists), and these pear/ teardrop shaped twists are made of a dough of flour, yeast and butter which are shaped and then rolled in sugar before being baked. These biscuits are synonymous with the town of Saint Vincent in Valle d'Aosta, a small mountainous region in North-Western Italy, even though they’re well known throughout the Piedmont region as well.
The origin of these biscuits is believed to be from Grissini (breadsticks) which were made from the leftover scraps of bread dough. According to one story, a Grissini baker had some leftover butter which he needed to use up. Inspiration struck and he decided to add the butter to the last batch of his Grissini dough for the day. To be able to differentiate this lot of “breadsticks”, he rolled them in sugar and shaped them into loops, and the Torcetti was born. Torcetti/ Torchettini taste even better when they’re flavoured with lime/ lemon zest or anise.



These biscuits are crunchy, not very sweet and pair very well with cold milk, hot chocolate, tea/ coffee or wine. They are delicious served warm and equally good cold, and keep very well if stored in airtight containers. Apparently, Queen Margaret, the wife of King Umberto I of Savoy loved these biscuits so much during her stay in Valle d'Aosta, that she gave her servants enough provisions to bake an abundant supply for her consumption.


Recipe adapted from A Baker's Tour by Nick Malgieri

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water, about 110F
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (or 1 tsp instant yeast)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder (if making chocolate torcettini)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lime/ lemon zest (replace with orange zest for the chocolate version)
40 gms (3 and 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/3 cup sugar for rolling the cookies

Method

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, in a small bowl and keep aside.
Put the flour and the salt in the food processor bowl (or a largish regular bowl if kneading by hand) and pulse a couple of times to mix. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is well mixed and the flour-butter mixture looks powdery.
If making chocolate Torcettini, remove 2 tbsp all-purpose flour and add the 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder mentioned in the recipe. Don’t add the lemon zest/ anise. Use orange zest and maybe add 1/ 2 tsp instant coffee powder with the flour.

Add the yeast-water mixture and pulse till it all comes together as a ball. Do not over process or knead. Place the ball of dough in a oiled bowl, turning it so it is well coated with the oil. Cover the bowl, and let the dough rise quite a bit. 

This dough does not really double in volume, but it should look “puffy” after about an hour or so. When you pinch off a bit from the top you can see the interior looking a bit like honeycomb. Press down the dough and deflate it, wrap it in cling warp and refrigerate it for at least one hour or up to 24 hours. 
When ready to make the cookies, take the dough out and lightly roll it out into an approximately 6” square. If the dough feels sticky, scatter a little sugar on it. Using a pizza wheel cut the dough into four strips of equal width. Cut each strip into 6 equal pieces, by cutting across, making a total of 24 pieces. The measurements are not very critical in this part because this just makes it easier to have 24 equal sized bits of dough, as compared to pinching of bits of the dough.

Roll each piece into a pencil thick “rope” about 5” long. Sprinkle a little sugar on your work surface and roll the “rope” in it so the sugar crusts the dough uniformly. Form the “rope” into a loop crossing it over before the ends.

Place the Torcettini on parchment lined baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2" between them. Leave them for about 20 minutes or so till they rise/ puff up slightly. Don’t worry, they will not “puff up” much.
Bake them at 160C (325F) for about 25 minutes till they’re a nice golden brown. Cool the cookies completely, on a rack. Store them in an air-tight container at room temperature. This recipe makes 24 to 30  biscuits.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Nutella Brownies (just 3 ingredients)

I had seen this 3 ingredient brownie on pinterest a while ago and always wanted to try them. Super quick and super easy with just 3 ingredients, one bowl and a cupcake mould or a square brownie mould. Yummy brownies in no time and just one bowl to clean after. Who would not like that.


Ingredients

1 cup nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
10 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 eggs
Chopped nuts (optional)

Method

Mix the nutella, eggs and the flour well and make a brownie mixture. You can spread this batter into a square brownie tray or add 2 tablespoons of batter to a cupcake mould lined with paper cups. Add chopped nuts on top of the batter. Bake it at 350 degrees farhenhite till done. Cupcakes would take about 10 to 15 minutes - the square brownie tray would take about 25 to 30 minutes. Check if its done by inserting a toothpick into the brownie - if it comes clean its done.

Torta De Cielo (Mexican Almond Cake)

Baking is a passion. Cakes, cookies, bread - you name it and I will jump to have it done. Every year for my husband's birthday I bake a different cake. We have made the humble vanilla cake, chocolate cake, fresh strawberry cake, his favorite pear and ginger cake, date and walnut cake (my mum had baked that one).

This year was no different. I started looking at what I could bake to make his special day extra special. Well,  I found the almond meal packet in my freezer (I had got this to make the french macron - well, never got to make em) and decided to bake an almond cake. 

I had picked up this simple baking book from homegoods and found this cake (torte) recipe that I loved and thought of making it.

Torta De Cielo is a Mexican Almond cake and generally is made by using whole almonds with or without skin which is coarsely powdered in a food processor. Since I already had the almond meal ready, I used that.

This cake is generally bakes in a round baking dish - just like a torte. Well, since half of my stuff is in storage due to our future move, I baked this cake in a bundt pan.


Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter
1 and 1/4 cup almond meal (you can use whole almonds too)
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 tablespoons all purpose flour
pinch of salt

Method

Lightly grease an 8" round cake pan OR as I have used, you can use a bundt pan too. If you are using whole almonds, then place them in a food processor and process to form a mealy mixture.
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar untill smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, almond extract and vanilla extract to this mixture and mix for about 3 to 5 minutes till its a nice fluffy mixture. Add the almond meal/almond mix and salt to this mixture and mix well. Now add the flour and fold it into this mixture till everything is incorporated. Do not over mix at this stage, just fold everything in.
Pour the batter into the greased pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit for about 40 to 45 minutes, or untill a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let it stand to cool. You can dust it with powdered sugar and decorate with toasted almond slivers.
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