Limoncello and Torta Tartufata
Inspired once again by Italy through a piece about Tessa Kiros' book 'Limoncello and Linen Water' in an old Country Living magazine, I stepped back into my daydreams of life in an Italian farmhouse, happily making food from the plentiful food that grows outside in the warmth of the day. Obviously this is only a daydream, and I have nothing but respect for the Italian women who work hard everyday to provide food for their families from their plots of land, come rain or shine. But hey, what food they provide! So simple to prepare, and yet so delicious! Just the pictures of the recipes from the book had me caught. There was only one thing for it, I had to make them myself and be, for just one small moment, that Italian mother in her kitchen...
To start my journey, I chose to make Limoncello. What a great feeling making my own liqueur for the summer and beyond! The starting point would be buying a bottle of vodka to start, and R obligied last week. With nets of organic lemons in hand, I began the process:
Limoncello
1 litre bottle of vodka
8 unwaxed lemons, preferably organic
1 litre water
1kg granulated sugar - I used the golden granulated that I prefer because of the lack of processing behind it, but a white sugar will, I'm sure, give a different colour. Mine is more golden and rum looking, whereas the recipe photo showed a cloudy lemonade looking liqueur.
Part one:
Using a paring knife or a vegetable peeler, take the skin from all the lemons, taking care not to peel off the pith which will make it bitter.
Place in a large clean jar (I used a 3 litre Kilner jar) and cover with the vodka.
Seal the jar and leave in a cool dark place for 1 week (you could keep it cool, but cover with a teatowel).
Shake the jar a couple of times through the week.
Part two:
Heat the sugar and water in a large pan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Allow the sugar mix to come to the boil and then leave to simmer for 9 mins.
Meanwhile, strain the lemon vodka through a piece of muslin, into a jug.
Once the sugar is ready, turn off the heat and pour the vodka into the pan very slowly. It will fizz and maybe spit so be careful here.
Stir the ingredients together and then allow to cool completely.
Part three:
Pour the liqueur from the pan back into the jar.
Seal the jar, place back in the cool, dark place for 10-15 days.
After this time it will be ready!
Serve very cold, straight from the fridge or freezer.
I will let you know how mine looks in 14 days. The bottles are on order and I plan to bottle a few up! Then I just need some Italian sunshine and I will be found in a sunny spot with a liqueur glass in hand - cin cin!
Torta Tartufata
This flat Italian cake looked delicious and needed to be made for desert ;-) I only had a 20cm tin for the cake and the recipe called for a 28cm one, so I adapted the recipe and worked with two thirds of the original. The quantities I quote here are the ones from Tessa Kiros, so you will need a 28cm cake tin.
Torta Tartufata
40g skinned hazelnuts
100g butter
120g dark unsweeted chocolate (I used 90% because the darker the better for me).
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
20g plain flour
Pinch of salt
icing sugar for dusting
Start by buttering and flouring your cake tin and preheating the oven to 180 C.
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan, then crush in a pestle and mortar.
Melt the butter gently in a pan with the chocolate, and then add the cocoa. Remove from the heat once melted and leave to cool.
Whip up the egg whites until they form small peaks.
Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until they are creamy and paler in colour.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture, mixing thouroughly.
Whisk the flour into the mix, and add the nuts and salt.
Finally, fold in the egg whites with a metal spoon until completely incorporated.
Pour out into your tin and bake for 20 mins. The centre should still be slightly moist and soft.
Cool and then dust with icing sugar before serving.
We also had ours warmed - great with ice cream! Mmmm....
To start my journey, I chose to make Limoncello. What a great feeling making my own liqueur for the summer and beyond! The starting point would be buying a bottle of vodka to start, and R obligied last week. With nets of organic lemons in hand, I began the process:
Limoncello
1 litre bottle of vodka
8 unwaxed lemons, preferably organic
1 litre water
1kg granulated sugar - I used the golden granulated that I prefer because of the lack of processing behind it, but a white sugar will, I'm sure, give a different colour. Mine is more golden and rum looking, whereas the recipe photo showed a cloudy lemonade looking liqueur.
Part one:
Using a paring knife or a vegetable peeler, take the skin from all the lemons, taking care not to peel off the pith which will make it bitter.
Place in a large clean jar (I used a 3 litre Kilner jar) and cover with the vodka.
Seal the jar and leave in a cool dark place for 1 week (you could keep it cool, but cover with a teatowel).
Shake the jar a couple of times through the week.
Part two:
Heat the sugar and water in a large pan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Allow the sugar mix to come to the boil and then leave to simmer for 9 mins.
Meanwhile, strain the lemon vodka through a piece of muslin, into a jug.
Once the sugar is ready, turn off the heat and pour the vodka into the pan very slowly. It will fizz and maybe spit so be careful here.
Stir the ingredients together and then allow to cool completely.
Part three:
Pour the liqueur from the pan back into the jar.
Seal the jar, place back in the cool, dark place for 10-15 days.
After this time it will be ready!
Serve very cold, straight from the fridge or freezer.
I will let you know how mine looks in 14 days. The bottles are on order and I plan to bottle a few up! Then I just need some Italian sunshine and I will be found in a sunny spot with a liqueur glass in hand - cin cin!
Torta Tartufata
This flat Italian cake looked delicious and needed to be made for desert ;-) I only had a 20cm tin for the cake and the recipe called for a 28cm one, so I adapted the recipe and worked with two thirds of the original. The quantities I quote here are the ones from Tessa Kiros, so you will need a 28cm cake tin.
Torta Tartufata
40g skinned hazelnuts
100g butter
120g dark unsweeted chocolate (I used 90% because the darker the better for me).
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
20g plain flour
Pinch of salt
icing sugar for dusting
Start by buttering and flouring your cake tin and preheating the oven to 180 C.
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan, then crush in a pestle and mortar.
Melt the butter gently in a pan with the chocolate, and then add the cocoa. Remove from the heat once melted and leave to cool.
Whip up the egg whites until they form small peaks.
Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until they are creamy and paler in colour.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture, mixing thouroughly.
Whisk the flour into the mix, and add the nuts and salt.
Finally, fold in the egg whites with a metal spoon until completely incorporated.
Pour out into your tin and bake for 20 mins. The centre should still be slightly moist and soft.
Cool and then dust with icing sugar before serving.
We also had ours warmed - great with ice cream! Mmmm....
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| Torta Tartufata |
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