Category: Uncategorized

“Oh, can’t you see? You belong to me. How my poor heart aches with every step you take. Every move you make, and every vow you break. Every smile you fake, every claim you stake. I’ll be watching you.” Every breath you take, The Police

When we listen to this song then all of a sudden ‘karaoke time’ starts! I don’t know exactly what I was expecting from the world of work and its everyday life, but I never imagined I’d be able to find someone to share everything with. One of these people is surely Eva, we are so different but our dissimilarities made us bond even more: she is “the bad girl”, I’m “the good girl”. We learned a lot from our bad temper and improved each other so much.

Today’s recipe is the first she shared with me, her Mamma Anto’s famous Belgian crêpes. There are so many recipes out there but this is the real deal! Believe me, once you try it you’ll never leave it anymore! Let’s bake it! 😉

Stay tuned!

Sara

S’ belgian crêpes

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 125 g milk
• 42 g water
• 6 g melted butter
• 13 g granulated white sugar
• 84 g all-purpose flour
• 1 g salt

Procedure

In a bowl, with the hand mixer beat all the ingredients until the mix becomes smooth. Put it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. When you’re ready to make crêpes, lightly butter and heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Using a small ladle, pour the batter into the center of the hot pan: tilt and swirl the pan so the batter forms an even layer. Cook them until edges of the crêpe start to curl and the top looks almost dry (about a few minutes). Flip the crêpe and continue cooking it until you have some brown spots over the surface. They are delicious! My favorite ones are with hazelnut cream or ricotta cheese cream with chocolate chips!

Remember, #bakeforlife 😉

“Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken. Your best friend always sticking up for you, Even when I know you’re wrong? Can you imagine no first dance, freeze-dried romance. Five-hour phone conversation. The best soy latte that you ever had, and me?” Drops of Jupiter, Train

This song drives me crazy since I was 11 years old: it is one of my favorites, and for me it’s an evergreen as well as chocolate chip cake of mum Maria.

This recipe is deeply connected to one of my best friends, Annamaria, because when I was in middle school and I was going to her house to play after studying, her mom Maria most of the times surprised us with a sweet treat, a slice (well, actually, two or three slices :D) of her chocolate chip cake! Despite the fact it’s a really simple cake, it is so soft and delicious that you will never get tired of having it for breakfast or tea time, or anytime you need a pleasant moment. Are you ready to bake it?

Stay tuned!

Sara

S’  chocolate chip cake

Ingredients

• 100 g egg whites
• 200 g light brown sugar
• 1 g salt
• 90 g evo oil
• 106 g heavy whipped cream
• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 5 g baking powder
• 212 g dark chocolate (chopped)

Procedure

In a bowl, with the hand mixer beat egg whites and sugar until they hold soft peaks. Start adding evo oil, salt, then heavy whipped cream and continue beating, keeping on medium speed for about a few minutes; at the end, add the all-purpose flour with the baking powder and the chopped chocolate. Grease and flour 8 inches (20 / 22 cm) round cake pan. Bake at 170°C (338 F) for about 40 min.

Remember, #bakeforlife 😉

Tips: you can use chocolate from Easter eggs.

Variations:

• The egg whites can be replaced by 2 whole eggs
• The light brown sugar can be replaced by granulated white sugar
• The heavy whipped cream can be replaced with milk or with a soy drink

“Barcelona, such a beautiful horizon. Barcelona, like a jewel in the sun. Por ti sere gaviota de tu bella mar. Barcelona, suenan las campanas. Barcelona, abre tus puertas al mundo. If God is willing, friends until the end. Viva! Barcelona!” Freddy Mercury & Montserrat Caballé

With this song my brother told me that a few months later he would have left Italy and moved to Barcelona. I was very happy for him but also a little bit scared because this time there would have been many more kilometers between us.

We usually say that “cooking is an act of love because it is done for others”, doing it we try to show something with our creature.

Today I decided to bake a simple chocolate tart with an intense taste and strong flavour, but with a soft and spicy heart. I dedicate it to my brother because tomorrow is his birthday. what about you, who will you dedicate it to?

“The sweetest of loves is the love that unites two brothers.” Menandro

Stay tuned!

Sara

S’ Dark chocolate tart with ginger caramel

Ingredients for the chocolate pastry crust

• 125 g soft butter (at room temperature)
• 100 g granulated white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 g salt
• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g cocoa powder
• 2 g baking powder

Procedure

In a bowl, with the hand mixer beat the soft butter and sugar until are smooth and fluffy. Start adding the beaten egg with the salt, then, the all-purpose flour, the cocoa and baking powder. Cover and place the chocolate pastry crust in a refrigerator for 1 hour to chill. Take it out from the fridge, and roll out the dough to a thickness of 0,5 cm. Transfer the pastry crust to your pie or tart pan (22 cm) and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake at 170°C (338 F) about 20 min.

Ingredients for the ginger mou

• 110 g granulated white sugar
• 125 g heavy whipped cream
• 5 g ground ginger
• 8 g soft butter (at room temperature)

Procedure

Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of granulated white sugar: repeat this until to finish it and becomes amber colour (don’t touch the caramel with spatula or spoon). Then remove from heat, add the hot cream with the ginger and stirring vigorously with a spatula or wooden spoon: please be careful, this is the most complex step of the recipe!  Place the pan over low  heat and cook, stirring constantly, until all possible lumps have melted. Add the soft butter and cook about 2 min. When the ginger mou is warm, fill the bottom of the chocolate pastry tart.

Ingredients for dark chocolate ganache

• 125 g heavy whipped cream
• 20 g honey
• 125 g dark chocolate (finely chopped)

Procedure

Heat the cream and the honey in a small pot: when it has reached its boiling it, pour the cream over the dark chocolate chopped. Mix with your hand blender until you have a velvety smooth ganache. Add the dark chocolate ganache on the top of the crust.

The tart is ready to be enjoyed the following day, but if you can’t resist, wait at least about 2 hours, in order to let the ganache rest a little and become steady!

Remember, #bakeforlife 😉

Tips: The tart will be fine for several days when properly stored at room temperature. If you keep it in the fridge, remember to take it out at least 20 min before enjoying it.

Buonumóre – Peaceful, good mood, happy with or without external manifestations.

It’s hard for me but nevertheless I’ll try to teach you what does mean “buonumóre” in english. I think that the better choice is to translate it with “feel good”.

“Don’t stop me now, I’m having such a good time, I’m having a ball. Don’t stop me now, If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call. Don’t stop me now (’cause I’m having a good time) Don’t stop me now (yes, I’m havin ‘a good time) I don’t want to stop at all! “ Queen

What relates the Queen song and our feeling good? According to a scientific study conducted by the cognitive neuroscientist Jacob Jolij at the University of Groningen on various international songs, Don’t stop me now is the best “feel-good song” ever.

During the quarantine, in addition to the duties we cannot escape, we must do all that things that make us feel better, happy and cheerful like a call to a loved one or a comfort food.

Just thinking about the smell of a batch offreshly baked chocolate chips cookies makes me happy! Did you know that dark chocolate is a natural antistress and antidepressant because it increases the production of serotonin?

So, what are you waiting for? My chocolate chips cookies will cheer you up! Let’s bake it!

Stay tuned!

Sara

S’ Chocolate chip cookies – about 16 pcs

Ingredients

• 164 g soft butter (at room temperature)
• 109 g light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 g salt
• 164 g all-purpose flour
• 4 g baking powder
• 136 g chopped dark chocolate

Procedure

In a bowl, with the hand mixer beat the soft butter and brown sugar until are lighter, smooth and fluffy. Add, first, the beaten egg with the salt in 2 times to make it better absorbed by the mixture; then, the all-purpose flour and baking powder (always in 2 times); at the end, add the chopped dark chocolate.

For a medium/large cookies, drop about 2 tablespoons of cookie dought (35-40g) or you can use a medium ice-cream scoop and place them on a plate/oven tray with baking sheet to make them harden about 1 hour in a refrigerator/freezer before cooking: this step is necessary in order not to flatten cookies during cooking time.

On oven tray covered with some baking sheet, space them several inches apart and bake at 170°C (338 F) about 15 min. Before removing them from the pan, make sure they are cold. Store chocolate chip cookies in a tin box or in an airtight container at room temperature.

Remember, #bakeforlife !

Variantions:

• 136 g chopped milk / white chocolate
• 68 g chopped chocolate + 68 g coarsely chopped dried fruit
• 55 g wholemeal flour + 109g 00 all-purpose flour

Tips: You can freeze cookie dough balls in a plastic bag to cook them whenever you want.

It’s been a couple of years that I plan to write my blog but it was very hard because of my crazy&busy life!

Today I think that now I have all the time I want, but this is a time that I don’t choose and this is changing not only my life but the life of all of us, a time called COVID-19.

In these days more than ever we realize how was beautiful our daily life.

Now in order not to get lost in a vortex of anxiety and sadness we must reinvent ourselves, create a routine that motivates us to return to our beloved ‘our daily life’, but before this can happen we must live the quarantine armed with positivity, convinced that it is a way to be born more beautiful and strong than before.

In Italy we said “Il buongiorno si vede dal mattino” why don’t you make the best breakfast ever? I leave you a simple recipe to start a better every day!

“Bake as an act of resistance, bake thought your heart is overthrown, when you bake there is no distance. So let your love be known.” (Inspired by Sing for Life – Bono Vox)

Stay tuned !

Sara

S ’ Pancake Mix – about 8 pcs

Ingredients

• 100 g all-purpose flour
• 7 g baking powder
• 23 g granulated white sugar
• 1 g salt
• 1 large egg
• 23 g seed oil
• 184 g milk

Procedure

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl just until combined.

Heat a non-stick pan with a little bit of butter and using a small ladle or scoop, spacing pancakes a few inches apart. When bubbles start to appear on the top, turn over.

Hot and ready to taste, fill them as you like! I love them with strawberries and chocolate!

Variations : wholemeal flour / buckwheat flour / cocoa powder

• 80 g flour
• 20 g wholemeal flour / buckwheat flour / cocoa powder

“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion and knowledge.” Platone

In the world of pastry, knowledge is essential to show your emotions and make your desires come true.

This blog is born from the desire to share my greatest passion with you through recipes: you can try and have fun!

See you every Thursday with a new recipe and stay tuned on my instagram and facebook pages for other delicious surprises!

Sara