Italian dessert

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.

Italian Plum Almond Streusel Cake

October 9, 2018 by Marisa 16 Comments

An Italian Plum Almond Streusel Cake to delight your guests with its dense moist crumble, topped with pools of soft jammy plums and almond streusel topping.

First and foremost, my apologies dear readers for the confusion on receiving a repeat email for this Italian Plum Cake recipe. To keep it short, I have been transitioning from one Hosting platform to another. In the midst of it all, this latest recipe got lost in cyberspace through no fault of either Hosting platform. They were both tremendously helpful in resolving the issue. So here it is again…enjoy!

I’ve never actually baked with Italian plums before. These plums were always enjoyed plucked straight off my Zia’s tree, who so generously shared her bounty with us.

If memory serves me, it wasn’t an overly big tree by any stretch. Only reaching to about 10 feet in height, or so it seemed to my younger self. As this winter tree is now being enjoyed by another nurturing family, I contend myself with the store bought variety.

They’re just as wonderfully luscious as the ones grown in our own back yards. These Italian prune plums are also exceptional if you favour canning or even hydrating your fruits.

IS IT A PRUNE OR IS IT A PLUM?

They are actually Freestone plums, meaning that the pit easily separates from the flesh. These are the plums that are most often dried out to make prunes.

Available during late summer to early autumn, these prune plums have a distinctive oblong shape. Its skin is tinged a deep purple with a reddish blueish hue and reveals a firm juicy flesh when bitten into.

They’re quite the delectable fruit and you’ll find that they hold up well in cooking or even baking.

Once baked the purple hue is transformed to a fuchsia like brightness, crowning the cake in pools of soft and sweet jammy goodness.

The streusel topping and the sliced almonds are totally optional here and really just as wonderful without it.

However, I thought to put to use the extra streusel I had in my freezer after making these outrageously good Raspberry Crumb Muffins.

It adds such a lovely contrast in texture, not to mention how prettily they compliment this jammy cake.

Its rustic. Its simple and super yummy! Also…it makes tea time and coffee time that much more enjoyable!

Happy baking dear friends!

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

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Italian Plum Almond Streusel Cake

An Italian Almond Streusel Cake to delight your guests with its dense moist crumble, topped with pools of soft jammy plums and almond streusel.

Prep Time40 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time1 hr 25 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Italian Plum Almond Streusel Cake

Servings:

Ingredients

STREUSEL TOPPING

4 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed

FOR THE CAKE

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
2/3 cup brown sugar firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup almonds very finely ground
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
2/3 cup sour cream full fat
7 italian plums halved and pits removed
1/4 cup sliced almonds
powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

STREUSEL TOPPING

In a small bowl, mix together the CRUMB MIXTURE ingredients using your hands or a food processor just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Refrigerate till ready to use.

FOR THE CAKE

Grease an 8 inch round spring form pan, line with parchment paper then grease the parchment paper. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl beat together the softened butter with the brown sugar until fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time just until combined.
Stir in both the vanilla and almond extracts.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, finely ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternating with the sour cream, making 3 additions of the flour and 2 of the sour cream, just until smooth.
Scoop the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
Slice the plum halves length-wise into 1/4 inch slices and while keeping the slices together place them in clusters over the cake batter.
Sprinkle the streusel topping between and around the sliced plums and top with the sliced almonds.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before releasing it from the pan.
Once completely cooled dust the cake with powdered sugar, slice and enjoy!

Chocolate and Pear Crostata

August 29, 2018 by Marisa 61 Comments

An elegant and impressive Chocolate and Pear Crostata with a silky smooth filling of finely ground walnuts and dark chocolate. As a bonus it’s remarkably easy to put together.

This recipe was originally published October 1, 2015 and republished August 29, 2018 with updated content and photos.

Although it has been a couple of years since my dad passed away, his pear tree continues to flourish. A constant and wonderful reminder of how he passionately tended and nurtured his garden.

It lays mostly dormant right now except for this one majestic pear tree. This lone pear tree bears more fruit than we can possibly consume. Although, I must say the squirrels are certainly giving us a run for our money!

Its branches are now weighed down heavily and bursting with delectable fruits while some are strewn all over the ground, blanketed in green and gold.

These ripened sweet fruits are just about ready to be plucked off and sink ones teeth into. But since I have so many…well why not bake with them! Right?

What is a Crostata?

A crostata is essentially a rustic baked tart with a short crust pastry base. Its basically free-form and in my opinion far easier to make then a 2 crust pie.

This crostata is so outrageously good, it will take a lot of restraint not to devour the whole tart. It is made with a pastry crust much like shortbread and with a silky rich chocolate filling.

Part of the appeal of this crostata are the juicy pear halves which are sliced and nestled over the chocolate filling. They provide such an elegant appearance and are sure to garner many compliments.

But really, feel free here to add your own artistic flare and fan out the slices which ever way you wish!

Although you may use a mixer to make the pastry dough, I much prefer using my food processor. The dough comes together with such ease rendering it soft and pliable and making it very easy to pat down both over and around the tart tin.

I tried this crostata once using almonds and another time using walnuts. I must say, my husband and I both prefer the walnuts, but they are easily interchangeable. Whichever nuts you choose, this recipe is a real keeper!

As with all fabulous desserts, do savour every single bite accompanied by a very good espresso of course!

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Chocolate and Pear Crostata

Chocolate and Pear Crostata with a silky smooth filling of finely ground walnuts and dark chocolate makes a rustic, elegant dessert.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Chocolate Pear Crostata Recipe

Servings:

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

For the Pastry

3/4 cup or 12 tablespoons butter cubed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 cups all purpose flour

For the Chocolate Filling

14 tablespoons butter cubed
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs beaten
1 1/3 cups walnuts, lightly toasted finely ground
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate, melted I used 70% dark chocolate
4 ripe firm pears
powdered sugar for dusting
9 inch round tart tin with removable base

Instructions

Making the Pastry

Place the butter and sugar together in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Add in the egg yolk and blend again until it is thoroughly mixed.
Next, add in the flour and pulse intermittently until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
Divide the dough in half and freeze one half for later use. A half portion of this dough is enough to line a 9 inch baking tin.
Line the greased tart tin with the dough by patting it down in the tart tin while spreading it out with your fingers.
Chill for at least 30 minutes.

For the Filling

Beat together the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs, ground walnuts, flour and beat until smooth.
Stir in the melted chocolate.
Spoon the mixture over the pastry and smooth it gently with a pastry knife.
Peel the pears and cut them in half length-wise.
Remove the cores and slice each half length-wise into thin slices.
While keeping each of the sliced halves together, place them over the chocolate filling. (As seen in the photo)
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F, for about 45 minutes or until the walnut mixture is firm and the pastry is golden brown.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool then dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

Notes

You will only need half of the pastry dough to make a 9 inch crostata. The remaining half can be frozen for later use. However, if your tart tin is 10 inches round do use the whole amount of pastry dough. I've done so successfully without changing the amount of filling.

Recipe is adapted from a favourite cookbook, Cafe Italia Cookbook and only switching almonds for the walnuts as a personal preference.

Italian Spumoni Cake

May 13, 2017 by Marisa 28 Comments

Delicious flavours of the ever popular Italian ice-cream better known as simply Spumoni! Here it’s revisited in a three layered spectacular Italian Spumoni Cake that is sure to impress!

Crumbly cake layers of strawberry, chocolate and pistachio are stacked together while separated by strawberry preserves and pistachio cream. Frosted with a vanilla scented buttercream, sprinkled with some crushed pistachios and then decorated with spumoni flavoured french macarons for a truly celebratory dessert.

Every once in a while hubby will surprise me with the latest Bake From Scratch Magazine, packed full of drool worthy baked goods that can easily be replicated at home. A true baker’s delight in every sense of the word.

This latest issue has some of the loveliest naked cakes or rather nearly naked cake recipes and the one that caught my eye was the Spumoni Cake. I love it for its pretty trifecta of colours which takes me back to those lazy hot summer days, happily sitting outside while enjoying some yummy spumoni ice-cream.

Although I’m not a baker by profession and have only ever baked a few layered cakes in my lifetime, I found this cake not difficult at all to put together and I’m sure you will too.

While you’ll basically be baking three separate layers, it’s really one cake batter divided among three separate bowls.

One bowl will have strawberry preserves folded into the batter, the second bowl will have cocoa mixture folded in while the third bowl gets some delicious pistachio paste.

You’ll want to begin assembling the cake directly on its serving platter lined with 2 pieces of parchment paper joined at the centre.

You then simply pull out the 2 sections when you’re done frosting for easy clean up.

Since decorating this beautiful Italian Spumoni Cake is where the fun really begins, do know that you can truly use your imagination here so feel free to add your special touch.

Although, the original recipe called for freeze dried strawberries to garnish the cake, they were really hard to find and I had absolutely no luck in finding them. However, I did come across some adorable french macarons looking simply perfect and I new they would adorn this cake quite beautifully.

I used a little dab of buttercream on one side of the macaron so that they adhered to the cake and I must say they added such a lovely touch to the overall look! Who would not want to sink their teeth into a slice of this delicious goodness…right?

Actually, hubby and I did just that! Day after day and just until there was not a crumb left. But please don’t judge, you would have done the exact same thing, I’m sure of it!

Worth mentioning here is how this cake actually tastes better the following days. Partially due to the preserves and pistachio paste nestled between the layers which keeps the cake very moist and also enhances the flavours of this visually stunning cake. As a result, this cake is an excellent make ahead dessert for those busy and extremely chaotic occasions which we all have from time to time.

Pistachio cream can also be made ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can therefore really pace yourself by making a few steps ahead of time which is always a win win in my book.

Most of all have fun.

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Italian Spumoni Cake

All the flavors of the ever popular Italian ice-cream better known as simply Spumoni, is revisited in a three layered spectacular Italian Spumoni Cake that is sure to impress.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE LAYERS
1 cup unsalted butter softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 3/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt I used fine sea salt
240 grams or 1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup strawberry preserves divided
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pistachio paste recipe below
vanilla buttercream recipe below
chopped pistachios for garnishing
macarons to decorate spumoni colors, chocolate, strawberry and pistachio OPTIONAL
PISTACHIO PASTE
2 cups roasted pistachios
2 tablespoons of honey
1/4 water
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt I used fine sea salt
9 cups confectioner's sugar icing sugar
6 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions

CAKE LAYERS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Grease and flour 3 (9 inch ) round cake pans.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together at medium speed just until fluffy.
This should take about 3 to 4 minutes and if your using a stand mixer, you'll want to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.
In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, 1/4 cup all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
With your mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the milk while starting with the flour mixture and ending with the flour mixture.
Beat just until combined between each addition.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
Divide the batter evenly among 3 separate bowls.
In the first bowl, fold in a 1/2 cup of well stirred strawberry preserves and the remaining 1/4 cup all-purpose flour.
Combine the cocoa, 1/4 cup of boiling water and baking soda in a small bowl.
Fold the cocoa mixture into the second bowl of cake mixture.
In the third bowl of cake mixture, fold in a 1/2 cup of pistachio paste.
Spoon the cake batters into the prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
Test to see if its done by inserting a wooden skewer in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean then the cakes are ready.
Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
ASSEMBLING THE CAKE LAYERS
Place the strawberry cake layer onto your serving platter and pipe a ring of vanilla buttercream all around the inside edge of the strawberry cake layer, creating a border.
Spread the remaining 1/2 cup strawberry preserves over the strawberry cake layer making sure to stay between borders.
Carefully place the chocolate cake layer over the strawberry layer and pipe a ring of vanilla buttercream around the inside edge, creating a border.
In a small bowl stir very well together 1/2 cup of the vanilla buttercream with the remaining pistachio paste and spread this over the chocolate layered cake while staying within the border.
Carefully top the pistachio cake layer over the chocolate cake layer.
Spread the remaining vanilla buttercream over the top and sides of the 3 layered cake. (I used a buttercream icing smoother to create the naked cake look)
Garnish with chopped pistachios and chocolate, strawberry, pistachio macaron cookies if desired.
PISTACHIO PASTE
Grind pistachios as fine as you can using a food processor or better yet a spice grinder if you have one.
Stir together the grind pistachios and honey in a small bowl.
Stir in 1/4 cup of water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the paste has a consistency of peanut butter.
Pistachio paste can be made ahead and stored in an air tight container at room temperature up to one week.
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
Place the butter in a large bowl and beat at medium speed just until creamy.
Beat in the vanilla and the salt.
Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the confectioners sugar.
Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until smooth.
Beat in the milk one tablespoon at a time until the buttercream frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.

Notes

Recipe is adapted from Bake From Scratch Magazine.

Affogato

May 29, 2016 by Marisa 46 Comments

Affogato, in Italian literally translates to “drowned.” It is a classic Italian dessert!

One where hot meets cold and creates a luscious, dreamy concoction that is just perfect for those searingly hot and sticky days, such as the ones Montreal has been experiencing this past week.

The freshly brewed deep and rich aromas of my parents stove top coffee, always had me up and out of bed early when I was younger. Once seated at the table my mamma would serve me a bowl of my favorite cereals with milk and a little splash of her morning coffee. It certainly had me feeling all grown up. I suppose this is how my love of coffee began and still continues to this day.

A traditional affogato is served with one scoop of ice-cream and a shot of espresso. My version here is somewhat more indulgent. I initially wanted to make this a two ingredient recipe, however, I could not resist adding some of my freshly baked chocolate anise biscotti. To compliment the anise flavor of the biscotti, I added a shot of Sambuca. This makes for one very delicious and heavenly affogato!

To achieve the very best results, do use a good quality coffee and not the instant variety. It just will not do in this recipe! Also it bears mentioning to chill your serving glasses before scooping in the ice-cream and pouring in the coffee. Better yet, prepare ahead of time by placing 1 scoop of ice-cream in a freezer proof serving glass, sprinkle with crushed biscotti and top with another scoop of ice cream and place in your freezer. When ready to serve remove from freezer, pour warm coffee and the Sambuca over the ice-cream and sprinkle with more crushed biscotti.

This is one easy and super creamy Affogato! Try it, you will in love it…

What is your favorite coffee drink? I would love to hear from you!!

I have had quite a few recipes lined up for this month but it has been super busy these past few weeks as I have been catering platters of cookies for various occasions. As much as I enjoy baking for family and friends, I do miss my baby blog!

Coming soon is my Chocolate Anise Biscotti recipe so do come back!!

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Affogato

Affogato, a classic Italian coffee and ice-cream dessert, with a shot of Sambuca and sprinkled with crushed chocolate anise biscotti.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 0

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

4 generous scoops of vanilla ice-cream
4 ounces hot espresso coffee
2 ounces Sambuca
1/2 cup crushed biscotti (approximately)
2 chilled dessert glasses or cups

Instructions

Place 1 generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream in each well chilled dessert glass or cup.
Sprinkle each scoop with some crushed biscotti.
Top with a 2nd scoop of ice-cream.
Pour 2 ounces of hot espresso into each glass.
Pour 1 ounce of Sambuca into each glass and sprinkle with remaining crushed biscotti