No Italian dessert goes without coffee.... our morning espresso! 
Homemade cappuccino...my recipe of course it can't compete withe one made by those Italian fancy machines....still it is not too bad...and until I go to Italy this is the recipe: boil 1/4 cup milk and pour over 1/2 cup of hot coffee ...stir in a teaspoon of cocoa powder...and voila' 
Coffee In Italy
Italy is synonymous with coffee. Not only do the Italians love drinking it, they have different types of coffee to suit different types of the day. These have now become adopted by coffee drinkers throughout the world. Go into any Starbucks or other coffee chain across the world and the choice of coffee are nearly all Italian in origin - from espresso to cappuccino. However most Italians would not necessarily recognise the way that coffee is drunk across the world. In Italy coffee is an integral part of the day but it is often something which is drunk quickly before moving onto the next thing. Not something to be lingered over in a coffee shop for hours as has become the custom elsewhere. In Italy you start the day with a coffee, much in the same way that most people in Britain start the day with tea. Most people make this first coffee of the day at home, however others grab a quick espresso on the way to work. Visitors to Italy can always tell the difference between natives and tourists at this point. Native Italians order their espresso at the bar and drink it quickly in two to three sips before going on to work. It is designed to be a quick drink, served piping hot. The tables outside a bar or cafe are designed more for the tourists, who then come to sit down and linger over a coffee - and as such are often charged up to four times as much for the privilege of sitting down to drink their coffee. However later in the day Italians themselves can also linger more over a coffee. This is where other types of coffee come in. These include a cappuccino, which should contain equal parts of espresso, steamed milk and frothy milk and macchiato in which a dollop of steamed milk marks the espresso. A well known coffee across the world -the Americano is not actually Italian at all. It originates from the time when Italian GI`s found Italian coffee too strong and asked for hot water to be added to their espresso. As nearly all Italian coffee is based on the espresso, which is almost pure coffee, the quality of the coffee is very important. The way in which coffee beans are roasted and then blended is very important. There are several master blenders in Italy who are dedicated to producing the perfect blend. For the best and freshest tasting coffee, the coffee beans should be ground as soon as possible before brewing. They should also be the best quality possible. You should then get the best espresso - an essential part of any Italian`s day.
Struffoli are little pieces of sweet dough fried and then passed in honey and sprinkled with jimmies and they are like cherries… when you take one with your fingers, you can’t stop! In a bowl mix 2 cups of flour and a teaspoon of yeast,add 2 eggs........and work it to obtain a ball( add a little tepid water if the dough is crumbly and a little flour if necessary if the dough is sticky ) and then cut it in small pieces............. Transform these pieces with your hands in small sticks and cut them in 1/2 inch pieces............. Put the pieces on a plate with a little flour so they don’t get stack to the dish. Let them rest for 30 minutes...shake the excess flour off and then fry in hot and abundant oil. Drain on paper towel. In another frying pan melt ¾ cup of honey, 1/3 cup water and a teaspoon of sugar Pour the struffoli in the honey mixture and turn them
at low temp. until all the honey mixture sticks to the struffoli. Pour
the struffoli in a large dish and with a fork adjust them in a ring shape. Decorate with red and green jimmies.
Pastiera Pastiera is an Easter pie made with cooked wheat and ricotta. My family likes this pie so much that we also make it for Thanksgiving. In a pan warm up and cook stirring constantly at low heat for 15 minutes t 1 cup milk, a 14 oz can of cooked wheat, 1/3 cup sugar, pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel. Let cool it Meanwhile prepare the ricotta mixture In a large bowl mix until obtain a smooth mixture: 16 oz ricotta, 4 eggs, 1(or 2 if you like it sweeter) cup of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and a TBS of orange juice (In Naples we use something called water of orange or millefiori(thousand flowers)+ 8 oz of citrons Add the cooled cooked wheat mixture and mix well. Pour in to a pie shell and cover with criss-cross strips (this mixture makes at least 2 pies) Bake at 350° F for 1 hour or until the pie will acquire a gold-amber color Let it cool before serving and actually this pie taste even better the day after!
Cherry me up “Tiramisú” The easiest recipe ever ...non baking needed! This version of tiramisu' is an evening dessert, if can’t have coffee after 6pm! In a glass pan layer 8 lady fingers sponged in maraschino cherry juice (optional add a TBS of STREGA liquor) Cover with a creamed 8 oz cream cheese (in a blender whip cream cheese with a banana and a little milk) Layer another 8 sponged
lady fingers and more creamed cream cheese. Cover with grated chocolate and garnish with maraschino cherries.
In ITALIANO: In un contenitore di vetro disponete 8 savoiardi spugnati nel maraschino che avrete separato dalle ciliege, coprite con una crema ottenuta con 1 filadelfia.1 banana e un po' di latte. Disponete altri 8 savoiardi spugnati e coprite con altra crema. Decorate con cioccolato grattugiato e le ciliege separate dal maraschino. Ponete in frigo per qualche ora. Easy NUTELLA cheesecake
Prepare a regular cheesecake... divide the batter in 2... add + mix 1 cup Nutella to one part and pour it on top of the other one. After baking the cheesecake spread 1/2 cup slightly warm Nutella over and let the cake cool Fruits recipes... in Italian are called Frullati di frutta and are very popular especially in the summer. People like to seat at the tables of outside cafe' and enjoy not only ice-creams,but also frullati di frutta... they are so refreshing and so good,too. One of our favorite that we often make is: the Banana~Blueberry and here is the
recipe x 2: Whip in a blender 1 banana,1/2 cup vanilla yogurt,1/2 cup vanilla ice-cream 1/3 cup of fresh or frozen Blueberries. Refrigerate for a while and then serve.
Cooked Apples( le mele cotte) When we were little, our mother had find the way to make us eat a lot of apples simply cooking cut apples in water, a little honey and a pinch of cinnamon. Ice-cream,yogurt & fruits Smoothie In a blend whip 1 cup cherries, 2 bananas, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream and 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt. Refrigerate for few hours. It looks like chocolate!
***More recipes in my ciaobellacooking...noteBook... included my Brown Rice & Ricotta dessert...see homepage for details***
For the Italian friends/per gli amici Italiani una torta Americana in Italiano:
TORTA di ananas sotto~sopra
Accendere il forno a 180. In un pentolino sciogliere a fuoco lento 100 gr. di burro o margarina e...amalgamarlo con 200gr.di zucchero (possibilmente scuro) In un ruoto per dolci disponete: il burro sciolto e amalgamato con lo zuccero e sopra di esso fette rotonde di ananas private del succo. Mettete una ciliegina al maraschino al centro di ogni rotella di ananas. Versate sul tutto: la pastella che avrete preparato per la torta(si puo usare quella in
scatola o farla in casa con 450 gr. di farina.300 di zucchero, 100 gr.di
burro, 100 gr di latte, 3 uova,vainilla e lievito per dolci) Infornate e far cuocere per 35 min. (o fin cuando un coltello infilato
nella torta esce pulito) Far faffreddare per 5/10 min. e poi con cautela capovolgere la torta su un piatto (sarebbe consigliabile usare uno di quei ruoti che si aprono cuando la torta e' cotta) ***Se si desidera si puo' bagnare la torta con una miscela di rum e
il succo di ananas che avete separato dalle fette. |
Real authentic Italian housewife shares real homemade Italian recipes~Italian recipes~Italian recipes~Italian recipes ~Italian recipes Volete una ricetta in Italiano?contatta...alla pagina Contacts ITALIANS love to prepare their Italians traditional desserts during the holidays... Struffoli for Christmas and Pastiera for Easter.
CREMA PASTICCIERA= custard for cannoli Hello to my English speaking friends...you may wondering what is "Crema Pasticciera" posted by our friend Le Saucier in ciaobellacooking...so here is the translation if you like to make it: The custard is a key ingredient in making many sweets. It can be served as dessert, or used as a garnish or topping for cakes, sponge cake, cannoli, cream puffs, and various other pastries. The main ingredients are eggs, sugar, milk and flour.Ingredients 100 grams flour or cornstarch=4 oz. Sugar 250 grams=9 oz/ 8 egg yolks/ Milk 1 liter=1+3/4 pint /100 grams butter=4 oz/ at the end aromas Process Beat with a whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and flour with the spices in a little more cold milk. Heat milk in a pan on the stove or teflon with double bottom. . Once the milk is hot (not boiling) is added to the mixture and turn on the heat being careful that it does not stick and does not make lumps. Cook for a few minutes (93 °=194 F) and then add and mix the butter and pour into a dish, cover with plastic wrap. The butter is used to give a bright cream color. Let it cool in the refrigerator or whipped it before using it. Zeppole recipe  Zeppole
just like my mom used to make in Naples,Italy on San Joseph day... recipe for about 30 zeppole: Ingredients: 3 cups Flour, 1 cup mashed potatoes,1/3cup oil,1/3cup sugar 1 egg,2/4 oz yeast(2 bags)1/2 lemon zest, 1 cup milk (tepid )....veg.oil for frying In a bowl put the tepid milk and dissolve the yeast into it...add oil,sugar,2 cups flour, mashed potatoes,lemon zest...mix all with a big spoon...transfer to a floured surface and adding the other cup of flour knead until obtain a soft and elastic dough...divide the dough in equal parts and then shape them in rings...cover with a linen and let them rise for 1 hour....when ready fry the zeppole in hot(250 F.) oil until golden...dust them with sugar. tips: if the zeppole are too big after rising..using a little flour(this dough is very sticky)shape them again in smaller one or give them a flat shape. making zeppole.......... 
flat zeppole( we're creative) are good too and easier to make!!  The Purple Smoothie Whip in a blander 1 cup strawberry yogurt, 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 1/4 cup frozen blueberry. Refrigerate for a while. 
The Pink smoothie Whip in a blender: 3 bananas, 1 cup strawberry yogurt, 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 1 cup milk and 2 TBS honey. Refrigerate for few hours.
The "Alexander Smoothie" in honor of Alexander the Great who first discovered the banana in India... In a blender whip... 2 bananas, 1/2 cup strawberry yogurt,1/2 cup vanilla ice cream, 1/4 cup milk. Pour in 2 glasses, garnish with grated chocolate and refrigerate for few hours.
Ricotta banana Mousse In a blander whip: 3 cups ricotta 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 ripe banana and 1/2 cup cherries 1/4 cup coffee 1/4 cup rum(optional) garnish with grated chocolate Refrigerate for few hours
Recipe for quick bread PanettonE:
....add to flour mixture of 2 cups flour, 1 and 1/2tsp baking powder ,1/2 tsp baking soda....Stir until moistened...fold in 1 cup candied fruits and 1cup raisins. BAKE at 350 F. for 55min. (in a bread pan greased and floured)or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean... remove from pan after few minutes and let it cool... store in bread bag.
Neapolitan desserts recipes traditional and new in ciaobellacooking recipes notebook...details on homepage ***Make your own Italian masterpiece with Ciaobellacooking Italian recipes Notebook.... 
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