flour Archives - vespresso cooking

Cherry and Almond Crumble

Sometimes, I’m simply not looking for symmetries, geometries and flawlessness. Sometimes, a rustic dessert chaotically dropped on a white plate creates for me an ecstatic state of mind, a genuine satisfaction that no other form of perfection could ever bring. Moments like that tell me it’s time to make a crumble.

Fruit crumble isn’t the most aesthetic dessert that you could think of, I give you that, but the taste is simply divine. Those fresh fruit that bake in their own juice, creating a silky, flavorful sauce go wonderfully with the crunchy buttery crust. For this particular crumble I used meaty June cherries, I flavored them with rose water (vanilla or almond extract work beautifully too) and I topped them with a buttery almond flake mixture. A delicious madness! Continue reading Cherry and Almond Crumble

Lascute (homemade square pasta)

Lascute (quadratini / quadrucci in Italian) are the adorable small pasta that my grandmother used to make when I was a child. They are nothing else but some tiny squares with 5 mm side length. They are so delicious in chicken soups, tomato or bean-based soups. They are really easy to make, they require just a few things: some flour, salt and eggs. You also need a rolling pin, a sharp knife and some spare time. I like to make a large batch and I dry them overnight. Once nice and dry, they last for weeks.

For this pasta recipe I use all-purpose white flour, chicken or duck eggs and Himalayan salt. Chicken eggs make some delicious homemade pasta, but duck eggs simply elevate the dish. Duck eggs are higher in fat, compared to chicken eggs, which improves both the texture and the taste of the pasta. Also, duck eggs have a higher yolk to white ratio than chicken eggs, which provides a more vibrant color to the final product. Continue reading Lascute (homemade square pasta)

Mocha Cake (Coffee Cake with Whipped Ganache Cream)

Today VespressoCooking turns 1. I can’t believe it! I have no idea how time flew by but it did, and I’m so glad I had the courage to launch myself, head first, in this project. It was such a wild year, I shifted my career, I discovered my infinite passion for photography, I’ve created a poultry microfarm, I graduated from culinary school and became a chef. I hope I don’t sound cheesy but I feel the need to thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every visit, for every line that you’ve read and for every recipe that you’ve saved!

Whenever there’s an anniversary, there has to be a cake, and this particular cake is nothing but extraordinary. It is a chocolate and coffee cake, a mocha delight, if you will. It is a well known fact that coffee and chocolate are a match made in heaven but this cake somehow surprises me with every slice. The sponge is the perfect balance between dense and airy and the whipped ganache is simply divine.

The sponge is in fact „torta al Caffé”, an Italian coffee cake. This particular sponge is very popular in northern Italy, and it’s served for colazione, breakfast that is. I felt in love with its texture and its taste at first bite and I wished I could make it in my own kitchen. Persuasive as I am, I convinced the pastry chef (which happens to be a close friend) to give me the recipe and since then I’ve been been baking it at least twice a month.

There’s not much to say about the ganache. Ganache is a cake filling made with chocolate melted in warm whipping cream. The proportion of those two ingredients give the ganache its texture. I use the following scheme: Continue reading Mocha Cake (Coffee Cake with Whipped Ganache Cream)

Homemade Naan

Naan is an oven baked flatbread made with yeast. These flatbreads are by far my favorite kind of flatbread. They are so easy to make, the ingredients are always in my pantry, they look so adorable, but also these beauties are extremely delicious. This flatbread is so elastic, soft and airy, with a lovely buttery and toasted sesame seed flavor. It is such a rustic bread and yet so sophisticated. The technique is quite simple and the active part takes no more than 20 minutes. The passive part, the part when the dough rests or rises is the most challenging part, if you will. It takes about 2 hours to rise, so this recipe isn’t the most suitable if you are in a hurry. But if you have some time to spare, trust me, the result is so rewarding and surely it is worth waiting every minute. Continue reading Homemade Naan

Cheese-Beer Bread

My latest obsession in the bread-making field is this cheesy beer bread. It is so easy to make, it’s quick, it’s no fuss, it doesn’t involve kneading / finding a warm place in the kitchen / figuring out what in the name of God lukewarm is supposed to mean. Even though the ingredients are pretty common, the result exceeds all expectations – a lovely crunchy cheesy crust and a dense, elastic and flavorful center. Even though the only fat-source is the cheese (and a low-fat version, to be more accurate), the taste is so unexpectedly rich and the flavor amplifies with every bite. These being said, good luck on limiting yourself to just one serving! Continue reading Cheese-Beer Bread

Cherry Tart

Bread crumbs & cherries

Tart slice

I love June and its wonderful cherries with their firm texture and addictive sweetness. They are my favorite fruits. They are perfect served as dessert, added in salads or in sweet treats, but eaten right from the tree are even better. They taste like chidhood!

With an acute childhood nostalgia, an intense sweet craving and a dangerously low blood sugar level I decided this morning that it’s the perfect moment to bake a cherry tart. Even though it’s a sweet tart, the crust is sugarless. It is a pâte à foncer, a dough made from flour, sugar, egg and salt. I love how the salty crust enhances the flavor of the filling. This tart has 3 components: the flaky crust, the coffee glazed cherries and the delicate custard. I can honestly say that this is the best tart I’ve ever had! Continue reading Cherry Tart