pistachio

Amarena Wild Cherry Biscotti

September 7, 2018 by Marisa 15 Comments

Wonderfully delicious, lemon scented Amarena Wild Cherry Biscotti. A twice baked biscotti with a scattering of roasted salted pistachios are complimented with slivers of wild cherries bottled in syrup.

A little About Amarena Cherries

This is not a sponsored post but rather a product I enjoy very much!

For a truly memorable Italian experience, do try at least once the authentic Italian amarena cherry.

They are small, dark wild cherries which grow in the Bologna and Modena regions of Italy. Although somewhat bitter they have an incredibly deep cherry flavour.

These luscious cherries are bottled in syrup, masking their bitterness and making them perfect for home baking. They’re also equally wonderful for decorating desserts or garnishing drinks.

But really you can just as easily nibble on them whenever a craving hits for these bitter sweet jewels.

You can purchase these syrup soaked cherries at most Italian specialty shops or simply online.

Back To The Recipe

I fell in love with these cherries at first taste and I absolutely had too bake a batch of biscotti! They’re my go to treat whenever I’m craving a quick nibble to serve with coffee or tea.

As a switch up from the more standard almond and orange biscotti I usually bake, I chose pistachios to compliment the cherries. I also added the zest of a lemon to infuse a lovely citrus scent to the biscotti dough.

I baked the logs for 25 minutes, just until they are golden brown with a soft but firm touch.

After the initial first bake you’ll want them to cool for about 10 minutes. This will make slicing much easier and then you simply re-bake for an additional 15 minutes to allow them to crisp up.

They come out of the oven with a dark golden hue. They’re so irresistible that you’ll be biting into them before they even cool off!

You’ll find that they’re perfectly dunkable in your favourite hot beverage! They’re also quite tooth friendly and easily enjoyable simply as they are!

Enjoy the biscotti and happy baking my friends!

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

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Amarena Wild Cherry Biscotti

Lemon scented, twice baked Amarena Wild Cherry Biscotti studded with roasted salted pistachios are perfect for dunking in coffee or tea.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Amarena Wild Cherry Biscotti

Servings: Biscotti

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped I used roasted and salted pistachios
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup butter melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
lemon zest from 1 small lemon
3/4 cup amarena wild cherries drained and chopped
1 beaten egg white for brushing over biscotti

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Place the flour, baking powder and pistachios in a large bowl and stir to combine.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
Fold in the chopped Amarena cherries.
Divide the biscotti dough in half.
Dust your hands and work surface with flour and roll 1 portion at a time into a 12 inch log.
Transfer the logs to the prepared baking sheet.
Brush the biscotti logs with the beaten egg white.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Transfer the biscotti logs, one at a time, to a cutting board and slice diagonally to about 3/4 inch pieces.
Repeat with the remaining log.
Return the sliced biscotti to the baking sheet, stand them upright and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Remove the biscotti from the oven, allow to cool and enjoy with your favourite hot beverage.

Cherry Amaretto Chocolate Salami

December 14, 2017 by Marisa 16 Comments

Cherry Amaretto Chocolate Salami, a perfect no bake treat to offset the craziness that holiday baking can sometimes add to our long “to do list” during this busy time of the year! Made with 70% dark chocolate, studded with pistachios, crushed amaretti cookies and some plump amaretto soaked cherries…there is so much to love about this special dessert!

The long cylinder shape of this popular sweet treat has only a physical resemblance to an actual salami, I assure you!

When you slice it through you’re given a sneak peak inside this no bake dessert. Each chocolaty disk beautifully showcasing bright pieces of pistachios and crispy bits of crushed amaretto cookies with flecks of boozy soaked dried cherries.

You’ll find many variations to this delightful treat and you can just as easily adapt it to suit your very own tastes.

Not a fan of dark chocolate…then no worries! This is your playing field so simply substitute the dark chocolate with semi-sweet chocolate and add any nut or a combination of nuts that you prefer.

The amaretto cookies can also be substituted with any dry crunchy cookie of your choice. Choose one that would retain its crispiness when stirred into the melted chocolate. Having said that, I’m not sure how those soft spongier cookies would hold up in this dessert due to their high absorption capacity.

I had always made this type of dessert using mini multi colored marshmallows when my kids were much younger and of course, no liqueur! Those were much easier to slice due to its different texture from the soft marshmallows.

I find that roughly chopping the nuts and the dried soaked cherries yields cleaner disc shaped slices.

A better tip would be when rolling the chocolate mixture into logs. As your rolling and shaping the logs you’ll also want to compress them in order to release any air bubbles. This will avoid much breakage when slicing.

These yummy slices make a delightful no bake treat to add to any holiday cookie platter!

If making these Cherry Amaretto Chocolate Salami, remember to tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!

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Cherry Amaretto Chocolate Salami

A traditional Italian dessert, this Cherry Amaretto Chocolate Salami is studded with pistachios, crushed amaretto cookies and drunken amaretto soaked cherries.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: dozen slices

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur or substitute with orange juice
1/2 cup dried cherries
340 grams 70% dark chocolate you can also use semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup pistachios roughly chopped
100 grams amaretto cookies crushed into small pieces (roughly 1 cup, crushed)
1/3 cup of icing sugar for rolling the salami

Instructions

Heat the amaretto liquor in a small microwave safe bowl for about 15 seconds.
Remove from the microwave and stir in the dried cherries then set aside to allow the cherries to plump and soften for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, fill a saucepan with about an inch of water and bring to a low simmer.
Roughly chop the chocolate and place the chocolate alongside the butter in a heat proof bowl and place the bowl over the saucepan. (make sure to use a bowl slightly bigger then the saucepan so that it does not touch the simmering water)
Stir occasionally while the chocolate and butter melt.
As the chocolate melts, drain the cherries and chop into small pieces.
Once the chocolate and butter has melted remove the bowl from the heat.
Stir in the pistachios, crushed cookies and chopped cherries into the chocolate mixture.
Divide the mixture evenly onto 2 sheets of waxed paper.
Fold one end of the waxed paper over while rolling and shaping into logs of about 2 inches in diameter.
Twist ends like a candy wrapper.
Wrap the rolls in aluminum foil and chill for 15 minutes.
Remove from the fridge and keeping the salami in the foil, roll and shape the logs while compressing it slightly to release any air bubbles.
Return the logs to the fridge and chill for 2 hours.
Unwrap the logs and roll them in the icing sugar, rolling to coat all over.
String up the salami with kitchen twine if you wish or simply slice into 1/4 slices and serve.
Store in an airtight container, in a cool and dry place.

Almond Pistachio Loaf Cake

October 9, 2017 by Marisa 21 Comments

If you love nut based cakes then you’ll simply adore this Almond Pistachio Loaf Cake with its citrusy lemon scent.

This loaf cake is utterly delicious! After quickly devouring one slice I found myself dabbing on the lingering crumbs clinging to the bottom of the plate. It’s that amazing!

There’s a very small amount of white flour used to bake this cake and it mostly consists of finely ground almond and pistachio nuts.

You will however need to grind the nuts as finely as possible without having them turn into a nut butter. I did so with my food processor and if your processor is the mini kind, you can simply grind the nuts in small batches.

Almond Pistachio Loaf Cake with Lemon Syrup

As this sweet loaf cools and while still warm, it’s lavishly drizzled with a lemon syrup. The cake soaks up all those sweet juices and renders it extremely moist with a damp like texture.

In fact it’s so moist and delicate you’ll have to take care when releasing the cake from the pan.

I strongly suggest greasing the pan first and then lining the pan with parchment paper while making sure the parchment paper extends a couple of inches above the rim of the pan. This will allow you to remove the cake from the pan effortlessly.

Trust me on this, I learnt the hard way!

I hadn’t lined my pan and as I turned it upside down to release the cake only half of it came off the pan. The other half, to my horror stayed stuck inside!

I stared at it in dismay wondering what to do! I truly thought that I might just have to bake it all over again to get some decent photos. But no worries, the cake was so moist I was actually able to piece it back together with no one being the wiser. But now you all know…lol!

As you can see from the photo above, you can’t tell at all!

How To Decorative a Loaf Cake

Although pretty all on its own with the vibrantly green colours of pistachios, I served the loaf with sliced Greek black figs.

I picked them up at the market and decorated the loaf with some pretty edible orchids for a show stopping dessert. Just for you!

However you can just as easily crown the cake with candied lemon slices if figs are not your thing. Or simply enjoy as is!

This recipe is adapted from the wonderful Cafe Italia cookbook by Liz Franklin. A must have in your repertoire of cookbooks!

If you make this recipe do take a picture and tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!

Happy Baking!

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Almond Pistachio Loaf Cake

Extremely moist lemon scented Almond Pistachio Loaf Cake, lavishly drizzled with a lemon pistachio syrup and crowned with fresh figs.

Course: Dessert

Servings: -12 slices

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

FOR THE LOAF CAKE
16 tablespoons butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs beaten
3/4 cup finely ground almonds
2/3 cup finely ground pistachios
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
grated zest from 2 lemons
FOR THE PISTACHIO TOPPING
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
freshly squeezed juice from 2 lemons
1/2 cup pistachios chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan and line with parchment coming up the sides of the pan while surpassing the pan by a couple of inches (this will allow for easy removal of the cake).
Beat the butter and the sugar together in a medium sized bowl until smooth.
Slowly add the beaten eggs, a little at a time while continuing to beat until they're fully incorporated.
Stir the ground almonds and pistachios, the flour, baking powder and the lemon zest into the batter.
Transfer the batter mixture to the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and place the loaf pan on a cooling rack.
Meanwhile, for the pistachio topping, place 5 tablespoons of granulated sugar and freshly squeezed juice from the 2 lemons into a small microwave safe bowl.
Heat in the microwave on high heat for 1 minute then stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
Alternately you can heat the sugar and lemon juice on your stove top.
When the sugar has completely dissolved, stir in the chopped pistachios and pour the mixture over the cake while making sure to evenly distribute the syrup.
Let the cake cool in the pan and then carefully remove from the pan.
Slice and serve as is or along side some seasonal fresh fruit.

Notes

Recipe is adapted from the wonderful Cafe Italia cookbook by Liz Franklin. I decorated the loaf cake with fresh figs since they are very much in season now as well as edible orchids. However you can simply serve the cake as is.

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.