Ricotta Fig Tart

More figs you say? But if you have followed me for a while, you would know that I am a big fan of this versatile fruit (see here, here, here, and here). I could eat figs every day, and now that the season of fresh figs is over I can still get my daily fix with dry figs if I need to. A neighbor has a fig tree she doesn't pick (what's wrong with her?), and I mean to contact her to see if I can do pick it for her and share the bounty, I think there are still a few on the branches. Figs and I go way back, and one of the favorite things to eat as a child where these huge, soft, drenched in corn start, figs my dad used to bring home. I owe my dad a lot of things, my love for eating is one of them.

I haven't made this tart in ages, not sure why since it is one of my favorites. I was trying to think of something new to try with ricotta, my favorite cheese to bake with, to increase my chances of winning the cheese guide and cookbook Sweet Charity is giving away. After a little search in my ever growing stack of cookbooks, I realized that many ricotta recipes were either for Easter cakes, or where kind of boring. I also remembered I still had some extra pasta frolla in the fridge so I opted to make this tart, which you have to give it a try, it is delicious! I suppose that if you are not a fan of figs (how is that even possible?), you could substitute other dried fruit, like plums, or cherries for the figs.

This recipe comes originally from my first ever cookbook I bought in the States, Spago Desserts, which I purchased shortly after moving from Venice to Santa Monica, and is one that has given me few wonderful recipes. I haven't changed the filling of this tart since I think it is perfect the way it is, but I don't use a brioche dough as the base like the book calls for. The brioche didn't work so well the first time I tried it (probably due to my inexperience with yeast doughs), and I think the tart is better and more elegant with a buttery pate sucree. This recipe introduced me to one of my favorite spices, cardamom, a spice I had never used or seen in Italy. After smelling it and tasting it in this wonderful tart I have become a total cardamom addict, I use it a lot, and one of my favorite ways to enjoy it is as an ice cream flavor, in Cardamom Ice Cream.

Make ahead notes:

*When making this tart, plan ahead, since the figs need to be reconstituted in liquor, and the tart is best served chilled. Don't skip the orange zest as it is a match made in heaven with the cardamom and it add a great dimension to the tart.

*If you can't stand the blandness of store bought ricotta, try making it at home with this recipe, it is easy and really superior to the store variety. I would also use whole milk ricotta, not the low fat or fat free versions, the end result will not be the same.

Ricotta Fig Tart
adapted from Spago Desserts

shell:
pasta frolla or pate sucree

filling:
3/4 pound dark dry figs (I use black mission)
3/4 rum or armagnac
3/4 pound whole milk ricotta
3 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
3 table spoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of salt

topping:
2 TBS almond meal
1 TBS sugar

Roll the dough to a 1/4" thickness, and transfer it into a 10" tart shell. Cut the dry figs in half, and marinate them in rum or Armagnac, until needed. In a large bowl mix the cheeses until smooth, add the sugar and mix until smooth. Add the whole eggs and the yolk, one at a time. Add the lemon juice, orange zest, extract, cardamom and the salt. Mix just until combined. Poured the filling into the tart shell. Drain the figs and arrange onto the filling, without letting them sink. Bake in a 350F pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes, then add the almond meal mixed with the sugar. Keep baking until the filling is firm to the touch and lightly golden, another 20 minutes or so. Cool on a wire rack and then chill until ready to serve.

La crostata di mele e mandorle e' di Adriano Continisio

I apologize to my English readers but I have no choice but to join this protest against plagiarism. A well known Italian TV personality "stole" the following tart recipe from Adriano's blog, Profumo di Lievito, and passed it for hers during a TV appearance. Apparently the same woman did the exact thing back in 2003 to Lydia of Tzatziki a colazione. Many Italian food bloggers are publishing Adriano's original recipe today, giving him the credit, and the amazing thing is that nobody is writing the plagiarist's name as everyone knows who she is (except me since I live in the USA and I am clearly not following Italian TV). Don't you love the Internet? Power to the masses! This recipes looked amazing, and I had heard about it from other bloggers so I was happy to try it with or without the protest. The title means "The Apple and Almond Tart is by Adriano Continisio". Adriano wrote about the experience here, and Lydia here.

Pasta Frolla is an Italian version of tart dough, made by mixing the butter with the flour until sandy and then adding the liquids. I had been meaning to try Adriano's recipe anyway since many blogs complimented on it, so here you go, try it too.

The original recipe appeared here, and I am going to reproduce it to the letter, and you can find a translated version at the bottom of the post.

Oggi partecipo a questa protesta, organizzata da Rosy of Rosemarie & Thyme, copiando la ricetta di Adriano pari passo, e il testo seguente da Rosy.

Perchè oggi 8 novembre 2009 molti food bloggers e forumisti pubblicano in contemporanea questa ricetta?

Per solidarietà con Adriano Continisio che l'ha inventata e pubblicata sul suo blog già nel 2007.

Riassumendolo in pochissime parole, questa manifestazione vuole porre l'attenzione prima di tutto sulla necessità di un comportamento corretto per chi usa la rete nei confronti di chi pubblica materiale. Spesso si sceglie di mettere a disposizione il proprio materiale o lavoro con una licenza che permette di usarlo a condizione che se ne citi la fonte e questo è già un dono, a mio avviso. Si dice a chi legge: puoi gratuitamente utilizzare il materiale, puoi prenderlo, ma devi specificare che è mio e dire dove l'hai preso. Non è chiedere molto!

Altra importante condizione è che il materiale non venga usato a scopo di lucro.

Quando tutte e due le condizioni non vengono rispettate è evidente che la cosa è ancor più grave.

Questa volta è capitato ad Adriano, ma nel tempo è già capitato ad altri. Creare un tam tam è forse il primo di tanti passi per avversare il fenomeno, perciò ci siamo uniti e oggi pubblichiamo con il nome del suo autore la ricetta e la foto della crostata che ognuno di noi ha preparato.

E' ora che tutti sappiano di chi è la farina e pure il sacco!!!!! Crostata di Mele e Mandorle ricetta di Adriano, di Profumo di Lievito Ingredienti 400 gr pasta frolla*
4 mele grandi (ca. 600gr al netto degli scarti) 80 gr di zucchero 4 cucchiai di amaretto di saronno succo di mezzo limone poca cannella in polvere massa di mandorle 120 gr uova intere 60 gr zucchero 50 gr farina di mandorle 15 gr farina di mais fioretto 15 gr di fecola un pizzico di sale estratto di mandorle una manciata di mandorle a lamelle sciroppo di zucchero, marmellata di albicocche.

Saltare a fiamma alta le mele sbucciate e tagliate a cubetti, miscelate con il succo di limone e lo zucchero, fino a che non risultino asciutte ma non spappolate. Incorporare il liquore e la cannella e lasciare raffreddare.

Foderare uno stampo da 26cm e cuocere in bianco per 15 minuti (i primi 10 con carta da forno e riso). Nel frattempo montare le uova con lo zucchero ed il sale, incorporare delicatamente le polveri e poche gocce di estratto. Pennellare la frolla con poca marmellata, versare le mele, coprire con la massa e cospargere con le mandorle a filetti. In forno a 170° per ca. 20 minuti. All'uscita dal forno lucidare con sciroppo a 30°be.

Per chi non conosce l'antefatto la storia è su Profumo di Lievito, il blog di Adriano

Dal post di Adriano i seguenti chiarimenti sul dolce:

Quanto conservare la crostata

Adriano: la marmellata fa da parziale barriera, ma la frolla tende ed assorbire l'umido delle mele. Una giornata regge. La farcia è morbida e la copertura inizialmente croccante, poi si ammorbidisce.

Come ottenere lo sciroppo a 30° be per lucidare la torta

Adriano: per lo sciroppo: versare 100 gr di acqua in un pentolino, aggiungere 135 gr di zucchero semolato, portare ad ebollizione, poi lascia reffreddare.

Le uova come sono pesate?

Adriano: le uova vanno pesate senza guscio.

*Per la pasta frolla

la mia ricetta è questa, dividete per 4 o 5

1000 gr farina 0 biscotto (in alternativa 900 gr 00 e 100 gr fecola di patate)
500 gr burro appena morbido
250 gr zucchero a velo (200 se utilizziamo il miele)
200 gr uova intere (oppure 150 gr uova e 50 gr di miele d’acacia se vogliamo una frolla morbida)
6 gr di sale sciolto in 20 gr di succo di limone
6 gr di lievito istantaneo (se utilizziamo farina normale)
zeste grattugiate di un limone
1 cucchiaino di essenza di vaniglia.

Per ulteriori spiegazioni cliccare su La pasta frolla perfetta di Adriano.

For English readers

Apple and Almond Tart

400 gr of Pasta Frolla*

4 big apples (600 gr after cleaning them), cut in cubes
80 gr sugar
4 TBS Amaretto di Saronno liquor
juice of 1/2 lemon
cinnamon

Cook the apples with the sugar and the lemon juice until dry but not too soft. Add the liquor and the cinnamon. Let cool.

Almond Paste
120 gr eggs
60 gr sugar
50 gr almond meal
15 corn flour
15 corn starch
Pinch of salt
almond extract

1/2 cup of sliced almonds
apricot jam

Pre-heat the oven at 350F. Line a 9"-10" tart mold with the pasta frolla. Blind bake the tart crust with pie weights for 15 minutes, removing the weight for the last 5 minutes. While the tart is baking, beat the whole eggs with the sugar and the salt, gently incorporate the dry ingredients and few drops of almond extract. Brush some apricot jam on the crust, add the cooked apples, cover with the almond paste, spread the sliced almonds on top and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for about 20 minutes. Brush the top with some sugar syrup (100 gr water and 135 gr sugar, brought to a boil and cooled).

*Pasta Frolla

1000 gr pastry flour
500 gr butter, softened
250 gr powder sugar
200 gr eggs (about 3 large eggs)
6 gr salt
20 gr lemon juice
6 gr baking powder (if using a/p flour)
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Slightly beat the eggs until the salt is dissolved. Mix the flour and the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until sandy. Add the sifter powder sugar and mix fore few seconds. Add the eggs to the flour/butter mixture and mix until the dough comes together. Wrap tightly and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use. Divide it in portions, wrap tightly and freeze it.

Laura's notes:

*I used more like 200 gr of pasta frolla for my 9" tart, maybe I rolled it too thin. The pasta frolla was nice and soft, easy to roll and not sticky at all.

*This recipe lends to many variations, so it is surprising that the above mentioned TV personality didn't try to change it and make it her own. I can picture the apples cooked with brown sugar and star anise, and other liquors added to the almond paste. The crust can also be modified with the addition of nuts for example.

*The tart took much longer to cook, it was really pale for a long time. I also over beat the eggs so the filling is more spongy than creamy.

* The apple filling was too sweet in my opinion, next time I will use less sugar.

* The cake was really good, the crust nice and soft, the flavors went well together, definitely a keeper.

Sourdough Cinnamon Bread

There are many advantages of speaking more than one language obviously, but one became clear relatively recently when I started discovering a great deal of wonderful Italian food bloogers. I love to read in my native language, learn about restaurants and food trends, rediscover dishes, and feel a little nostalgia (ok, a lot!). One of the Italian blogs in my ever growing reading list is Profumo di mamma, a blog that Gaia only started this past August, but that in a very short time has become a great source of inspiration. When I saw these little sour dough panini I knew immediately that I had to try them. See, I have been keeping a starter in my fridge for almost a year now, but I rarely use it.

I started this mother culture when I was testing some recipes for bread guru Peter Reinhart's new book, which I can't wait to get my hands on, and I was sent the full instructions to start a mother dough. I had tried making a starter before, with various degrees of success, but this last one was a very powerful one, super active, not too sour, and I can leave it in the fridge abandoned for a month and it comes to life beautifully. Because of laziness I haven't used it much, but Gaia's recipe couldn't be passed.


Since cinnamon bread is really popular in my house, I decided to change the recipe a little to add cinnamon, which is used rarely in Italy, but it is something I grew to love after leaving in the States for few years, except when it is added to cappuccino. I slightly decreased the amount of sugar in the dough since I wanted to roll the dough in cinnamon sugar. Last change was the addition of honey, since I didn't have any malt in the house. I wanted to make little crescent rolls like Gaia, but in my notes I explain why it didn't work. The bread turned out very delicious, soft and full of cinnamon flavor, and the dough was not sour at all. Thank you Gaia for inspiring me to try this recipe. Now I have to keep the starter well fed so I can make these more often.


I know I am weird, but can you see a face on this roll like I do? A little deformed, but it is there.

I am submitting this recipe to yeast spotting, a fun weekly event organized by the talented Susan of Wild Yeast.

Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from Profumo di Mamma

350 gr mother starter
150 ml milk
1oo gr sugar
1 large egg
1 tbs honey
400/450 gr all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
50 gr butter, softened
cinnamon sugar (5o gr sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon)
1 large egg for egg wash

Add all the ingredients, except the butter and the cinnamon sugar, to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Mix the dough at low speed for 5 minutes to develop the gluten. Add the softened butter and mix for few more minutes until incorporated. Adjust the amount of flour to have a soft and tacky dough. Remove the dough onto a well floured counter top. Let rest for 5 minutes, then proceed with pulling and folding the dough like an envelope, which will develop the gluten. Let rest for 30 minutes and repeat the pulling and folding two more times. Allow the dough to double in size. Roll the dough to 1/2" thickness, brush with the egg wash, sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar (leaving one long edge free of sugar). Roll tight and cut into pieces 1' to 1 1/2" thick. Distribute the rolls onto a 10" well buttered cake pan. Let rise in a warm place until double (1h to 1h30m). Bake at 350F until nicely brown.


Notes:
*I normally leave my doughs sticky because the folding is done with extra flour so by the time I am done with the second folding the dough has the right consistency, and is still wet, which works so much better in my opinion.

*I had to fold the dough a third time because it didn't look ready after two folds, I wonder if it had to do with the milk or the fact that it was a mother dough.

*Because of the wild yeast, the dough took a while to rise, next time I will let it rise in the fridge overnight to save time and so it will be cold and easier to handle.

*I initially planned to make all the dough into little crescents, but the dough was too soft, so I decided to try two crescents and the rest was turned into a cross between Monkey Bread and Cinnamon Rolls.

Focaccia with Figs and Walnuts

The talented Paoletta of Anice e Cannella challenged us again to join a fun Autumn game. In the Summer she gave us a recipe and we were challenged to copy or change it to our liking, this time we were given the ingredients and we had to come up with the recipe.


Since the ingredients are some of my favorites to work with, and I love baking bread, I decided to give this focaccia a twist by adding egg yolks, sugar, and increasing the amount of corn flour. I probably used the last figs of the season, but dry reconstituted figs could be used as well.

The result was so spectacular and really tasty.

Focaccia con fichi e noci

for the sponge:
1 cup warm water (225 ml)
1 tsp active yeast (4 gr.)
1 cup all/purpose flour (130 gr)

Add the yeast to the warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes. Add the flour and mix until incorporated. Let stand at room temperature until bubbly, or let stand overnight to develop more flavor.

for the dough
3/4 cup water (200 ml)
1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast (2 gr.)
1/3 cup olive oil (75 gr)
1 tsp kosher salt (40 gr)
1/4 cup cornmeal (40 gr)
2 yolks
4 tbs sugar (40 gr)
3 cups all purpose flour (375-400gr)
1 pint of fresh figs (10-12 figs), quartered
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
one egg for the egg wash

Add the rest of the ingredients to the sponge and mix for 5 minutes at low speed on an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Adjust the amount of flour to have a sticky dough. Remove the dough, which should be sticky and tacky, onto a well floured counter top. Let rest for 5 minutes, then proceed with pulling and folding the dough like an envelope, which will develop the gluten. Let rest for 30 minutes and repeat the pulling and folding. Let double at room temperature, about 1 hour. Press the dough onto a well oiled baking pan. Brush the top with one egg, dd the quartered figs and the crushed walnuts and let rise at room temperature for another hour. Bake at 350F until nicely browned and the internal temperature reaches 200F.

Focaccia con fichi e noci

Prefermentazione:
225 ml di acqua tiepida
4 gr. di lievito di birra secco
130 gr di farina

Sciogliere il lievito nell'acqua tiepida e lasciarlo riposare per 5 minuti. Incorporare la farina e lasciare lievitare a temperatura ambiente per una o due ore. Per sviluppare piu' sapore si puo' lasciar lievitare per tutta la notte.

Per la pasta:
200 ml di acqua tiepida
2 gr. di lievito di birra secco
75 gr olio d'oliva extravergine
4 gr di sale
40 gr farina di mais
2 tuorli
40 gr di zucchero
375-400 gr farina
10-12 fichi, tagliati in quattro
una manciata di noci spezzettate
1 uovo

Aggiungere il resto degli ingredienti meno l'uovo alla prefermentazione e mescolare per 5 minuti in un mixer, aggiungendo farina q.b. per fare una pasta morbida e appiccicosa. Versare la pasta su un ripiano infarinato e lasciare riposare per cinque minuti, poi procedete tirando e piegando la pasta come se fosse una busta, per sviluppare il glutine. Lasciare riposare la pasta per 30 minute e ripetere le pieghe una seconda volta. Lasciare lievitare a temperatura ambiente fino a raddoppiare il volume, circa 1 ora. Distribuire la pasta in una piastra da forno ben oliata. Spennellare la pasta con un uovo sbattuto, aggiungere i fichi e le noci e lasciare lievitare per un'ora. Cucinare in forno medio (175C) fino a che prenda colore e la temperatura interna raggiunga gli 80C gradi.

Buon Appetito!

Daring Bakers-French Macarons

I remembered the first time I tasted a French Macaron, it came all the way from Paris via a family friend, and it was from Pierre Hermé, of all places. It was a revelation, the flavors were amazing, so was the texture. After I switched my career to the Art of Pastry I decided I had to master these delicate morsels. The first recipe I tried was from the Chocolate Desserts book by Pierre Hermé, and obviously they were chocolate macarons. They were truly amazing, and for a while I was making them as part of the cookie platter at the restaurant where I worked. After a while I stopped making them, mostly because of laziness, and because I have a hard time not eating then non stop. But soon I discovered a sunflower seeds and ginseng recipe in the gorgeous book Wild Sweets and I was hooked again.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

For this challenge I had left over egg whites from all the challah bread I make for the farmers' market, so I had plenty to work with. To be daring, I wanted to compare recipes and try different flavors so I chose to make the sunflower seeds recipe, Fleming's recipe with the addition of cocoa powder, and Tartelette's recipe to which I substituted half pistachios and added a little cardamom. I also made some macha macarons using Helen's recipe, because I have been wanting to make those for ages, and I filled them with red bean paste butter cream, YUM!

For the complete recipe please check Ami's blog Baking without Fear here.

The daring kitchen has a forum for the Daring Bakers and I had read many posts complaining of the lack of feet using Fleming's recipe, which has less sugar than more traditional recipes, including Helen's of Tartelette. Helen was wonderful and helped by sharing her expertize with macarons, but still the recipe was at fault, I believe. After trying one batch using Fleming's recipe I have to agree with the other DBs, mine got no feet and they all cracked. Plus they were not soft, but quite hard.

The other macarons all had feet and looked like they are supposed to look. The eggs whites were the same, aged the same, the only difference, beside the cocoa powder, was the ratio of almonds and sugar. I will stick with the other recipe from now on since it worked for me.

Thanks Ami for challenging us with this recipe and to all the other daring bakers for their talent and inspiration. Check their work here.

Sunflower Ginseng Macarons

225 gr icing sugar (sifted)
50 gr sunflower seeds
75 gr almonds
1 tsp ginseng powder
100 gr whites
25 granulated sugar

Grind the sunflower seeds with a little bit of powder sugar in a coffee grinder. For the method, follow Tartelette's recipe.

Birth of a Butterfly

I wanted to make bread today for world bread day but life took over, the life of a monarch butterfly to be precise. Three falls ago I planted three milk weed plants to attract monarch butterflies to lay eggs on the leaves and observe the caterpillars. Within days there were dozens of green eggs that hatched into tiny caterpillars that devoured the plants. One day they all disappeared to form their chrysalis so I never saw the full cycle of this beautiful organism. Last fall there were not butterflies, but this year they came back and we were lucky to observe 6 juicy caterpillars fattening up in front of our eyes. When they started moving away I decided to trap one in a vase so we could see the miracle of the birth of the butterfly. It took three weeks for the chrysalis to fully mature, probably because it got really cold for a while. Today I was able to observe the miracle of the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis and take these pictures. Just breath taking.

Remember this fella?

Three weeks ago

Yesterday

Early this morning

Emerging from the chrysalis

Wings are growing fast

Ten minutes later

Trying to get out

It's a boy!

Warming up for the big migration to Mexico. I hope he makes it.

Concord Grape Sorbet for Pink October

Why the pink? October is breast cancer awareness month and for the past three years Matthew Oliphant has organized this wonderful event, turning pink one blog at the time. There are many reasons I joined this event besides having breasts, mostly because I know many women who had breast cancer, including few who lost their battle to cancer. I also live in a county that has one of the highest breast cancer incidences in the USA, and nobody knows why. Recently two breast cancer walks passed through my town, with all the participants wearing pink, including a Harley Davidson leathered driver that had draped a very pink bra on the front of his bike. What a sight!

I have meant to make this sorbet since tasting it at the restaurant Chez Panisse, and when I saw some concord grapes at my local grocery store I knew I couldn't wait any longer. Concord grapes are native of North America, the result of a cross between European and Native American varieties. They have very thick skin, lots of seeds and are rich in tannins, which makes eating them an interesting experience. The deep purple skins turned this sorbet a beautiful hue, not quite pink, but still very feminine. It was better than expected and so simple to make.



Concord Grape Sorbet

3 pounds concord grapes
1 1/8 cup of sugar
1 TBS lemon juice

Remove the grapes from the stems, add 1/8 cup of water and cook until all the grapes have popped and are very soft. Add the sugar, pass through a sieve and chill overnight. Freeze according to your ice cream maker.