chocolate

Chocolate Orange Ricotta Tart

March 25, 2019 by Marisa 30 Comments

A simple yet elegant Chocolate Orange Ricotta Tart. This Italian treat is made with a crumbly pastry crust, a silky smooth filling of ricotta and mascarpone cheeses. The zest of mandarines with its juices adds a lovely citrusy scent. And of course some grated semi-sweet chocolate simply because chocolate does indeed make everything better.

This post was originally published April 14, 2017 and updated with new content and photos March 25, 2019.

Italian Easter Tart

Growing up Italian in a predominately french city, there never was any lack of desserts after a fine celebratory meal.

Easter Sunday was no exception especially after a mandatory and traditional simple roast of agnello or rather lamb.

Desserts as well never wavered far from the customary sweets from way back home in Italy.

One in particular which graced our table each and every Easter was la casata. A typical tart from my home town made with ricotta, sheep’s milk cheese and chocolate which utilizes many eggs. It always had mamma and her sisters vying for the coveted spot of who used the most eggs.

It’s not unusual to use anywhere from 20 to 30 eggs when making la casata from my Paese in the Lazio region of Italy.

Although not my mamma’s casata this chocolate orange ricotta tart still pulls at my heartstrings. It’s somewhat similar in taste to the one I grew up on but way much lighter and not as dense.

Making Short Crust Pastry

We begin with a a crumbly short crust pastry that is really quite easy to make. It’s then rolled out and used to line the tart tin.

You’ll find it to be quite forgiving if any breakage occurs and can be remedied by working it back together with either your fingers or the back of a spoon.

You’ll want to pierce it with a fork before filling it with the ricotta mixture so that no humps occur while baking.

I used a 10 inch tart tin with a removable base but you can also use a 9 inch tart tin.

You will however want to divide the pastry dough in half while using one half and freezing the other to use at a later time. Or you can make some pretty cut out cookies with the remaining dough and use to decorate the tart.

You’ll also have to compensate for the slightly smaller tart tin by reducing the amount of time baked.

Orange and chocolate are one of my absolute favourite pairings.

Since I had so many sweet mandarins lying around I decided to use both the zest and the juices from this sweet fruit.

You can however substitute the mandarins with the zest of an orange.

All that’s needed is a light or generous dusting of icing sugar just before serving.

This creamy and dreamy tart is especially delightful with your favourite cup of coffee or tea!

Enjoy while still warm or cold.

If you make this recipe remember to tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!

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Chocolate Orange Ricotta Tart

Chocolate Orange Ricotta Tart is a light Italian torta made with a pastry crust, ricotta and mascarpone cheeses, grated chocolate and scented with orange zest.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Ricotta, Tart, Crostata, Italian dessert, Easter

Servings:

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

FOR THE PASTRY CRUST
12 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk from a large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
RICOTTA FILLING
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs beaten
grated zest from 3 small tangerines or 1 large orange
2 tablespoons tangerine juice or orange juice
2 ounces grated semi-sweet chocolate
icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

MAKING THE PASTRY
In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and the sugar until smooth.
Add in the egg yolk and beat until thoroughly combined.
Stir the flour into the mixture.
Transfer the mixture to a work surface and work the dough with your hands until you get a smooth pastry dough.
Roll out the pastry dough on a lightly floured work surface and carefully transfer the dough to a 10 inch round tart tin with a removable bottom.
Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and start making the filling.
Place the ricotta and the mascarpone cheese in a large bowl and beat until smooth.
Add the sugar, eggs, orange juice, zest and beat until thoroughly combined.
Fold in the grated chocolate then pour the mixture over the prepared pastry dough.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the filling is set.
Remove the tart from the oven and let cool in the tin.
Once cooled dust with icing sugar and serve.

Notes

Recipe is adapted from Cafe Italia cookbook by Liz Franklin with a few switch ups. I substituted the lemon juice and zest with mandarin juice and zest and added 2 ounces of grated semi-sweet chocolate.The original recipe called for using half the pastry dough, baking it in a 9 inch tart tin for 45 minutes.I used a 10 inch tart tin, used the whole amount of pastry dough and therefore increased the baking time by almost 15 minutes to compensate for a bigger tart.

Amaretto Biscotti

March 1, 2019 by Marisa 9 Comments

Delightfully tender and crumbly, these Amaretto Biscotti are chock full of roasted almonds, chocolate coated almonds and drizzled with more chocolate.

This Amaretto Biscotti post was originally published January 12, 2015 and republished March 1, 2019 with updated photos and content.

I have a love affair with biscotti! My guilty pleasure! Well…one of them, I may have a few more.

This Italian, twice baked cookie is very popular in coffee shops.

Why buy them though, when you can just as easily make your own! They’ll be far more superior to the store bought ones.

I always feature at least one flavour on my sweet table or cookie platter during the holidays. But then again, I really don’t need much of an excuse to bake them any time of the year.

Nowadays I much prefer one flavour of biscotti or another rather then a chocolate chip cookie.

They’re really not complicated to make at all and perfect for beginners.

You can slice and bake them into long and elegant shapes or shape, slice and bake them into mini morsels as I have done with this recipe.

Unlike some rock hard biscotti which require dunking in milk, coffee or even wine, these are made with butter and have a more tender bite but still remain crunchy.

They’re simply wonderful all on their own.

However, a light drizzle of both the dark and white chocolate adds an extravagant touch of elegance.

Brew a fresh cup of coffee and enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures.

TIPS FOR PERFECT AMARETTO BISCOTTI

First off, I prefer to roughly chop the both the almonds and the chocolate covered almonds. This allows far easier slicing with cleaner cuts.

After the initial first bake do allow the biscotti logs to cool for about 10 minutes for easy slicing. This makes the biscotti more pliable to a sharp knife.

Make sure you’re on a steady cutting board. With the tip of the knife pointed downwards, slice at a diagonal in one fluid motion.

I prefer to stand the biscotti slices upright for the second bake. This allows them to crisp on both sides without having to turn them over and risking breakage.

Allow the biscotti to cool completely before drizzling them with the melted chocolate. This helps the chocolate set much quicker. However, you can just as easily place the chocolate drizzled biscotti tray in the fridge if pressed for time.

They’re at their best stored in an air tight container for about one week and freeze well.