Shells

170g flour

2 tbsp of sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 tbsp of cocoa powder

1 tbsp of butter

1 small egg

3 tbsp of Port (if you don’t have Marsala)

Filling

325g ricotta

130g sugar

for 8 cannoli

I don’t like the scent of burnt oil in the house; on the other hand, I was craving cannoli. I’m thinking, ’Could I bake them?’.

I had prepared the filling the previous night, draining ricotta and mixing it with the sugar.

To make the cannoli shells, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, butter, and egg. To give them their typical flavour, add 3 tablespoons of Port if you lack the classical Marsala.

Knead until you have a compact dough (insist until all the ingredients are fully incorporated!). Let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 balls. Then, crush them and roll them out. Draw circles using a 12cm-diametre bowl. Cut them out. Wrap them around the cannoli tubes. Use a few drops of water to stick the ends.

Place the cannoli tubes into a baking pan. Then, bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes.

By using a piping bag, fill the shells with the ricotta and sugar mixture.

Tip: I prefer filling the shells every time we have cannoli, keeping the piping bag in a mug in the fridge.

makes 130 bezele

4 egg whites

200g sugar

1 tbsp of vinegar

a pinch of salt

When I have more egg whites than needed, my thought flies to my Mom’s bezele recipe.

Here it is!

Take the egg whites out of the fridge. When they sit at room temperature, their foam will be richer.

Mix them with the sugar, adding it bit by bit. Then, mix in the vinegar [it will make the foam ’sit’ and the bezele feel glossy] and the salt.

Fill a pastry bag with the foam and draw bezele. Make a circle, letting the foam flow, then lift the pastry bag.

I got 2 large baking pans and a small one.

Bake in the preheated oven at 110°C for 30 minutes.

They’ll be crunchy for 2-3 days in closed bowls or bags.

That is, if you don’t eat them in the meantime. 😊

One year and a half ago, I tried NoMoMoo's products for the first time. I got drawn to them before tasting them (I then understood why)! It was love at first bite! They are not only exquisitely made but also the most delicious vegan cheeses (and more!) I’ve tasted! They're made with soul and you can feel it!

So here I am, wholeheartedly trying to include them in a good-looking dessert.

It is still their season, so I chose peaches! Here’s what I got! [As I baked without lactose and eggs, I also wanted a gluten-free dessert.] Its star is NoMoMoo’s Cajoont Clasic; you’ll need one.

What to use?

FOR THE DOUGH

125g gluten-free oatmeal

35g tapioca flour

2 tbsp of brown sugar

a pinch of sea salt

115g Cajoont Clasic from the fridge

1 ice cube

2 tbsp of icy water

FOR THE FILLING

4-5 medium peaches

1 tbsp of brown sugar

1 tbsp of tapioca flour

10g Cajoont Clasic

+15g Cajoont Clasic to sprinkle over the galette

How to bake it?

Use a blender to mix all the ingredients for the dough in the specified order; you can knead them into a dough, too.

Spread the dough over a ceramic tart mould (use water and tapioca flour to help you do this); leave elongated pieces of dough on purpose.

A little elf helped me clean and cut the peaches into slices. Mix them in a bowl with the brown sugar, the tapioca flour, and 10g of Cajoont Clasic.

Then, place the peach slices next to one another on the dough; fold the elongated pieces of dough over the fruit slices.

In the end, sprinkle the remaining bits of Cajoont over the galette.

Bake it for 15 minutes in the preheated oven at 220°C.

How do I know if I like a dessert? When I crave another slice immediately after the first one!

I hope you’ll try it and agree. And that you’ll also go crazy for NoMoMoo’s Cajoont! 

P.S. To make it easier to bake this lovely galette, add one teaspoon of psyllium seeds to two tablespoons of spring water. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, then add it to the other dough ingredients. 

I know, I know, I’ve promised 2 recipes since last week. Something occurred, though. Two days ago, I was searching for a solution dealing with some soured whipping cream... and I ended up clicking the recipes on my blog.

So, I told myself ’Why not make a list of recipes to bake/cook when we’ve got ingredients about to spoil?’

I’d like to keep it updated, by categories!

Basic ingredients

cottage cheese: papanaşi, baked papanaşi, Dobrujan pie

egg whites: Pavlova, pricomigdale, walnut cookies

milk: supangle, muhallabieh, galatopita, trileqe, condensed milk

sour cream: ashta

whipping cream: savarine, molehill cake

yoghurt: Romanian donuts, lemon pound cake

1 yolk: tart crust

several yolks: crema catalana

Fruits

apples: apple pie, apple strudel

bananas: Banoffee Pie, vegan coconut and strawberry dessert, vegan banana cookies, vegan banana and peanut butter cookies, vegan banana pound cake, banana and oatmeal cake, banana muffins

blackberries: syrup

grapes: grape pizza, grape cake

quinces: upside-down quince cake

raspberries: smoothie

rhubarb: rhubarb and strawberry cake, rhubarb sauce

Vegetables and herbs

basil: pesto

eggplant: mirza ghasemi

spinach: spanakopita

Already-processed foods

condensed milk: colchão de noiva, Deliciu

preserves: negresă (Romanian brownie)

rice cakes: chocolate cake bars

♥

 I will start a mini-series of suggestions for dessert making. It is based on my experiences and I hope you enjoy it and find it useful.

1. Leave the eggs get to room temperature before using them. This way, you will be able to beat them stiff for meringues and creams and mix them more easily into éclair or profiterole batter.

2. Coffee brings out the flavour of chocolate. Add a teaspoon of ground coffee to desserts rich in chocolate.

3. For any recipe that requires baking, keep in mind a ±20°C margin. Test your oven well!

4. Use butter instead of sunflower oil [the 1:1 ratio works just fine]. Even in non-vegan recipes, I like using coconut oil. It’s my favourite oil. 

5. To beat the whipping cream stiff, cool the bowl and/or the mixer blades that you are using in the freezer.

6. Semolina makes the filling stiff. For instance, if you decide to bake a cassata al forno (its filling resembles the one used for the cassata in the picture), make sure to add some tablespoons of semolina to the ricotta filling.  

7. For extra-crunchy bakes, oil or butter your baking pan; for extra-fluffy bakes, sprinkle semolina onto the baking pan. 

8. When you’re preparing your puff pastry dough by adding eggs one at a time, use a mixer. It will turn out fluffier.

For 500ml

200g almonds (soaked and peeled)

400ml water

I discovered some delightful Romanian almonds last week. Given our lactose intolerance, we decided to try and make our almond milk. We’ve tried that before, in 2015, upon returning from Sicily, but it turned out even tastier now.

We soaked the almonds and left them overnight in the fridge. We noted that they doubled their size. And then we peeled them.

In our version, A, we added the water and the almonds to the juicer and squeezed them. We also obtained some almond meal, which we dehydrated/dried in the oven.

If you don’t have a juicer, but you have a powerful blender, so version B, blend the water and the almonds and sieve the milk when you’re done.

I like it without added sugar – this way, I can feel the taste of the almonds.

The almond milk is in the fridge now. I bet it’s going to be perfect at breakfast, too, reminding us of a lazy morning in Noto.