italian baking

"Many classic Easter sweets hold a precious spot in my heart, but a favourite is a type of orange-scented, enriched bread called Treccia Dolce (or sweet braid)." - Silvia Colloca

Silvia Colloca's Treccia Dolce (Easter Braid)

bakers flour

soft butter, cubed

cinnamon

castor sugar

dry yeast

milk

1tbs honey

orange

(80 milliliters) of milk

tbs brown sugar

A GOOD LEMON RICOTTA CAKE

olive oil

lemon zest

lemon juice

eggs

150 g caster sugar

250 g self-raising flour

ricotta cheese

Icing sugar (to serve)

milk of choice (optional*)

Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).

Grease and line a 7-inch round and deep cake pan with baking paper.

Add olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs and caster sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat for 3-4 minutes until pale, creamy and voluminous.

Add flour and ricotta cheese. Mix very gently with a wooden spoon until the batter is just combined, ensuring there are small lumps of ricotta intact in the batter. At this point if you feel the batter is too stiff (it should be the consistency of a thick paste but not soft and runny), you made add 2-3 tablespoons milk of choice to loosen it up in order to get the perfect crumb after baking.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes until golden and cracked on top.

Remove from oven. Cool for 10 minutes. Dust with icing sugar, cut and serve.

This traditional Italian cake is moist, zesty and will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days, so it’s great to have on hand for a mid-morning pick me up with coffee. You could also serve it with ice-cream or thick cream for an indulgent dessert.

Best-ever Italian lemon cake recipe

butter, chopped,

(3/4 cup) caster sugar

20.00 ml finely grated lemon rind

fresh ricotta, crumbled

(2/3 cup) self-raising flour

(1/3 cup) polenta

salt

https://resources.newscdn.com.au/cs/video/vjs/stable/build/index.html?id=5348771529001-5770890463001&=domain=taste

5348771529001-5770890463001

My no-knead focaccia dough recipe has a crispy, bubbly outer crust, a fluffy inner crumb, and a delicious flavor from an overnight rise in the fridge.

Crispy and Fluffy Focaccia (No-Knead) Recipe

flour

instant yeast

g diamond-crystal kosher salt

450 g room temperature water

g extra-virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, combine 600 g high-protein 00 flour or bread flour, 3.2 g instant yeast, and 18 g diamond-crystal kosher salt using a wooden spoon.

Make a well in the center of the bowl, and pour in 450 g room temperature water and 30 g extra-virgin olive oil. With a wooden spoon or your hands, slowly begin incorporating the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Continue mixing until fully incorporated and no dry bits remain, about 3 minutes. The dough will feel very wet and sticky.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest, covered, for 20 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation: Perform four sets of stretch and fold every 30 minutes  over the course of 2 hours (see recipe post for visual demonstration). After each set of stretch stretch and fold, keep the dough covered with plastic wrap, allowing it to rest in between each set. If the dough feels too sticky, moisten your hands with water for easier stretching.

At the end of the 2 hours, the dough should have risen slightly and shown some signs of bubbling/yeast activity. If it doesn&#39;t show any signs of activity, let sit at room temperature for another hour.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then chill in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours up to 72 hours.

After allowing the dough to ferment, remove the bowl from the fridge. Generously grease the entirety of your baking pan with at least 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil.

Punch down the dough with your hands. Then, using a bench scraper or your hands, tilt the bowl and scrape the dough onto the oiled pan in one piece. Coat the dough with the oil from the pan on all sides. Ensure the smoother side of the dough remains face-up.

Stretch the dough gently towards the edges of the pan. It will likely resist a lot of stretching initially. Stretch the dough approximately every 20 minutes until it stretches all the way to the corners of the pan, about 1 hour.TIP: I often place my hands on the underside of the dough to stretch, as I think it stretches more easily and evenly.

Let dough rest, uncovered, for an additional 2 to 4 hours until it reaches room temperature, doubles in size, and appears quite bubbly. About an hour before the dough has fully risen, adjust the oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 500°F/260°C.

Once the dough has risen, drizzle another 2 tablespoons of olive oil evenly over the top. Generously top with flaky sea salt (or kosher salt), and add any toppings.

Moisten your hands with a bit of olive oil. Dimple the dough by gently pressing your fingers into the top of the dough.

Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until golden brown on top.

Rotate the pan 180°, then reduce the heat to 450°F/232°C and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown on the top and bottom. Note: To test if the bread is browned on the bottom, I remove it from the oven and use a metal spatula to carefully lift it up and check the coloring. As long as the pan is non-stick (or lined with parchment), it should lift up relatively easily. If you find the bottom is browning too quickly compared to the top, you can move the pan to a higher rack. If the top is browning too quickly, tent with foil. If both sides are browning too quickly, turn heat down to 425°F/218°C.

Remove from the oven, then drizzle with a bit more olive oil (about 1 to 2 teaspoons).

Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer focaccia to a cooling rack or cutting board to cool completely before slicing.

Once cooled to room temperature, slice the bread as desired and enjoy!

Prove your baking skills this Christmas with a fluffy, lighter-than-air classic Italian sweetbread, packed with festive flavours and candied fruit

Panettone

tbsp milk

sachet fast-action dried yeast

caster sugar

butter

tsp vanilla extract

lemon

strong white bread flour

raisins

sultanas

tbsp dark rum

almonds

tbsp caster sugar

tbsp icing sugar

Grease a panettone tin (see Tip) or a 20cm deep cake tin, or use a panettone case.

Place the warm milk in a bowl and add the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar and leave for a few minutes.

Put the remaining sugar in a large bowl and beat together with the butter and vanilla extract until really light, creamy and pale.

Stir in the lemon and orange zest. Add the eggs a little at a time until all are well incorporated. Spoon in a tablespoon of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle and beat this in with the eggs.

Place the flour in a large bowl and mix with a good pinch of salt and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture then the butter and egg mixture, folding in with a large spoon to make a soft dough. Knead for 5 mins in the bowl until it all starts to come together. It will be a pretty sticky dough at this stage.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a further 10 mins, until everything has come together and you have a very soft and stretchy dough. Add a light sprinkling of flour to the surface and your hands as you go to stop the mixture sticking, but try not to add too much. Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover. Place in the fridge overnight to prove.

Place the raisins and sultanas in a small saucepan with the rum and heat gently for 5 – 7 mins until the fruit has absorbed the liquid and is plump and juicy. Set aside to cool.

When the dough is risen, tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for another 5 mins. Gradually knead in the soaked raisins, sultanas and chopped candied peel. Shape the dough into a ball and pop into the prepared tin. If using a 20cm cake tin, wrap a layer of baking parchment around the outside of the tin, to come up about 5cm above the rim, and secure the paper with string. This will help contain the dough as it rises. Cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise for 3-4 hours depending on your room temperature, until it has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Adjust the oven shelf to the right height. Mix together the almonds, caster sugar and egg white for the topping and gently brush over the top of the panettone. Place in the oven and bake for 40 - 50 mins until golden and risen and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before dusting lightly with icing sugar and cutting into wedges to serve.

Top 5 italian baking recipes from across the web

The most viewed italian baking recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Silvia Colloca's Treccia Dolce (Eas...

A GOOD LEMON RICOTTA CAKE

Best-ever Italian lemon cake recipe

Crispy and Fluffy Focaccia (No-Knea...

Panettone

Top 5 italian baking recipes from across the web

The most viewed italian baking recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Silvia Colloca's Treccia Dolce (Eas...

A GOOD LEMON RICOTTA CAKE

Best-ever Italian lemon cake recipe

Crispy and Fluffy Focaccia (No-Knea...

Panettone

The most viewed italian baking recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine