One of the most frequent questions I am asked the most in my baking classes is "Can I make this in advance?" And the next most frequent question? "Can I freeze these?" The holiday season is a very busy time and everyone is looking to get as much done ahead of time as they can, so understandably, these are great questions.

Some recipes work well for making ahead, others, no so much. For example, pizzelle don't do well if frozen, they just loose their crispness. If properly stored, in airtight containers, they will last about a week. Aluminum tins work great for storing pizzelle. Wrapping them in foil will not work well. 

My hazelnut butterballs also last a good week in an airtight container, but they too don't freeze well. They are best rolled in sugar while still warm, as such, it makes freezing them less than ideal.

Then there's biscotti and cantucci. If you're thinking of getting a head start on your baking, than by all means, opt for biscotti and cantucci. By the way, there's no real difference between the two. The term "biscotti" means any twice baked cookie, since the word bis means two or twice. That said, the word biscotto, or biscotti for plural, is also the word for any and all cookies in Italian. Go to any Italian sweet shop and ask for biscotti, and you might get any cookie or sweet treat.

This recipe here is a very traditional recipe that uses no butter or oil, so no added fat. Almonds are very traditional for cantucci, where biscotti can come in many flavors from chocolate to cappuccino to walnut and pecan. This holiday season, be sure to try our fruitcake biscotti or the pumpkin ones. They are a favorite of our students. And everyone loves the cherry, chocolate and orange soft biscotti! I admit, they are my favorites! (But I say that about all of them!) 

For this recipe, you will need very basic ingredients. Many of which you are likely to have on hand. You will want to work straight on a clean counter, no mixer or mixing bowl required. If that makes you anxious, because, as one student once said, her eggs were running "everywhere," than by all means, mix everything in a large bowl and just add the ingredients to a clean board for hand mixing the nuts. 

See below for tips on how to store them properly to extend their shelf life! 

Almonds are very classic, but another one of my favorite is hazelnuts. 

I gave the almonds a rough chop with a knife. You can save yourself a good 5 - 6 minutes by using the food processor instead, but then you're washing another appliance, so you select the method that best works for you. That's the zest of one large orange next to the chopped almonds. These are very orangy, and delicious!

Make a mountain on your island or work surface with the flour, sugar and one teaspoon of baking powder. That little hump on my flour is the baking powder. Using a fork or your fingers, mix these ingredients. 

Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the beaten eggs and orange zest. This is the one step that makes the novice bakers a bit nervous and they fear that the egg could run and "escape." Prevent this by making the borders of the well pretty high with the flour mixture, or just use a large mixing bowl if this makes you anxious. 

Using a fork, and eventually, your hands, blend all the ingredients to form a dough. Eventually, it will look like the picture below. 

I noticed my dough was a bit drier than I would have liked, this likely happened because my eggs were too small, or the fire I had going in the background dried out my dough! As such, I decide to add a few tablespoons of orange juice, from the orange I used in the zest. Depending on how large your eggs are, you may or may not need to add the juice. 

Add the chopped almonds to the dough and using your hands, mix well and incorporate the almonds into the dough. 

Once the nuts have been incorporated, divide the dough in half and shape into two even logs, about 12 inches long. Place logs on a prepared baking sheet. 

Once the logs are prepared, I brushed them with a beaten egg yolk and added some raw sugar on top. This step in completely optional, and actually, not typical for cantucci, but I find it adds a nice color (without the egg wash, the cantucci are a bit on the pale side) and a nice crunch on top. 

After baked, remove them from the baking sheet and cool completely before slicing them. If you attempt to slice them while warm, they will crumble and likely fall apart. Use a serrated knife to slice them. 

Sliced them to desired thickness, about 1-inch thick is right for me. You can go smaller, if you wish. 

Plate and serve! 

Orange and Almond Cantucci
Makes 24 - 28 Cantucci

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 large orange
1 cup hazelnuts or almonds, roughly chopped

Optional:
2 - 3 tablespoons orange juice (see above note)
Egg wash made from 1 egg yolk
2 Tablespoons raw / granulated sugar

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. On a clean surface, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt by stirring with a fork.
3. Make a well in the middle, and add the eggs and zest. Using a fork or your fingers, start incorporating some of the flour into the egg, little by little, until a dough is formed. (If the dough appears dry and is not coming together, add the orange juice noted above.) 
4. Add the almonds or hazelnuts and mix into the dough until well incorporated. Divide the dough in half and form 2 logs. Place them on the baking sheet several inches apart. (Optional: brush each log with egg wash and sprinkle some sugar on top.) 
5. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. Remove the logs from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.
6. Using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into slices, place them back on the baking sheet, cut side down, lower the oven temperature to 325°F, and bake for 10 to 15 more minutes, turning halfway through so they toast evenly. For crunchier cantucci, you can leave them in the oven longer, for up to 20 - 25 minutes. 

Storing and Make-Ahead Tip:
Place the cantucci in a zip-loc bag and place the bagged cantucci in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Freeze:
If you wish to bake them in further advance than 2 weeks, you can bake the logs in advance, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to two months. Defrost overnight in the fridge, follow with step 6 above. Easy Peasy! 

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There's a new loaf pan in the house that's begging to be used. This is what happens when there's one too many trips to Home Goods, "just to look," of course. Truth is, I can't remember the last time I walked into Home Goods and didn't walk out with several bags. There's no such thing as "just looking" when I go in there. I am puddy in their hands. And with the holiday season just around the corner, I foresee many more trips there. 

All in the name of "research," of course. My blog needs new recipes, I tell myself. In addition to their wonderful housewares, linens, trinkets and gadgets, there's the international food isle. They carry a large assortment of Italian chocolates, olive oils, spices and sweet treats that beg to be eaten. Rest assured, this isn't a sponsored post, I am not being paid to say positive things about Home Goods.

Although.... If someone from my favorite shop is reading this, please email me for sponsored posts! Haha! (I work off of gift cards, discounts and free products!) ;) 

Here's the loaf pan in question. It's from Le Creuset, it was $30.00 and I didn't need it at all. But I liked it and liked the shape and liked the color, and well, a loaf cake would look so nice in it! So she came home with me! 

Now, what shall we make in here as she makes her Maiden Voyage in the oven? 

I had a tub of ricotta on hand from a recent shopping trip. I also had lemons on hand and since other baking basics such as sugar, flour and butter are always in my household, I opted for my Ricotta Lemon Loaf. It seemed fitting to use two of my favorite ingredients (ricotta and lemons) to make a delicious loaf as the first treat in this new pan. 

A few basic ingredients are all you need for this quick loaf. And how cute is my spoon rest, which I used as a holder for my lemon zest? Can you guess where it comes from?

​This is a lot of lemon zest, it's 2 lemons but I like things very lemony, you could probably just use one. There's also lemon juice in it, so it's very lemony.

Mix together the dry ingredients with the lemon zest. Mixing the zest to the dry as oppose to the wet ingredients will assure you that the zest stays evenly distributed in the cake, and doesn't sink to the bottom. 

Here, we're mixing the butter with the sugar. I made this cake at the spur of the moment, so my butter was not at room temperature, which it should  be for most baking recipes. As such, I microwaved it for about 10 - 15 seconds. This just softened it up a bit, but careful here, you don't want to melt it!

Always break your eggs in a separate bowl, and not directly into the mixer. This is done in case you have a bad egg or drop any shells. It's easier to trash a bad egg from a separate bowl than if you've already added them in the mixer. 

I love this gadget! At first, I was like, do I really need a lemon juicer, I can just squeeze them by hand! But I was so wrong! You get so much more juice out of lemons by using this thing. It's amazing! And only a few dollars at, well, you know where!

As is typical with many cakes, just mix dry ingredients with the wet ones until combined. Avoid overheating the batter. It's just until combined. 

At the end, just mix the batter with the spatula, this will prevent overheating. 

This cake is dense. It is not a light, airy, loaf. It's a cross between a regular loaf and a dense ricotta cake. It remains moist in the inside, almost giving the impression that it's undercooked. That's the ricotta that gives it that impression. For lemon and ricotta lovers such as myself, it sure is a treat. All it needs is a nice cup of coffee to go with it! 

Ingredients
Cake
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
zest of two large lemons 
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup ricotta cheese (whole milk ricotta is always better, but you can substitute part skim)
¼ cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed from the lemons used in the zest)
1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional - you can leave it out if it's too 'lemony' for your taste buds)

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Sanding Sugar (optional) 

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. 
2) In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. 
3) In the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, blend together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until well combined, about 1 minute.
4) Add the ricotta, lemon juice, lemon extract and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
5) Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and beat until combined, do not over mix.
6) Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 minutes, test cake with a toothpick for doneness. Toothpick inserted should come out clean and dry. 
7) Remove cake from the oven and allow cooling in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a serving platter before glazing.

Glaze:
In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the glaze ingredients. Spoon glaze over the top and sprinkle with sugar crystals, if desired. Allow glaze to set for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. 

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'Tis the season to start thinking about your holiday dessert table! While it's far too early for Christmas decorations, music and movies, I for one, don't think it's at all too early to start testing out some delicious recipes!

I love ricotta. In fact, when I return home to Calabria in the summer, I pretty much eat it daily. I wish that was an exaggeration, but it actually isn't. There's nothing like still warm ricotta on crusty bread, with just a sprinkle of salt. There's this small, but oh so delicious, fresh cheese shop not far from my home in Calabria, and on my way home from the beach, I always stop to grab a fresh ricotta and fresh bread at the local bakery. I am in culinary heaven. Ok, I digress here...

​All the more reason why I am super excited about our September 2019 tour to Sicily. I'm sure I will have more than my share of ricotta while in this ricotta-loving region! 

What I also love is Nutella, I mean, who doesn't? And you know what else I love equally as much as ricotta and Nutella? Easy desserts! No four-tier, fondant-decorated cake on this blog. I mean, really, might I remind you the name of the blog you're reading? 

That said, I still love homemade desserts far more than any commercially made ones. The taste is so fresh and there's nothing like grabbing a cup of coffee or tea, snuggling up with a book or good movie and enjoying the fruits of your labor. And this cake fits the bill. My favored ingredients, super quick to prepare, easily serves 10 or more, and makes a great accompaniment to coffee or tea. It's also great for those (dreaded!) office holiday parties! You don't even need an electric mixer! How easy is that! 

Easy Ricotta & Nutella Cake
​
Ingredients 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 15 oz container whole milk ricotta
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm 
Nutella - to taste 
Confectioners sugar, optional 

Instructions
1) Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.
2) Spray a 9-inch cake pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. 
3) In a medium  bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and set aside. 
4) In another larger bowl, combine eggs, ricotta, vanilla extract, and butter. Using a hand-held whisk, blend these ingredients until combined. 
5) Slowly add the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and using a rubber spatula, mix well, just until combined. 
6) Add batter into cake pan and spread evenly. 
7) Microwave the Nutella for just about 20 seconds. Using two coffee spoons, drop spoonfuls of Nutella on top of the cake and spread just a bit. (You can also opt to just leave the spoonfuls as is and not spread them out.) *See tip below.
8) Bake for about 48 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown. You can test for doneness by insert a toothpick until it comes out clean. Remove from oven to cool before dusting with confectioners sugar, if using, and slicing.
*Tip: I microwave the Nutella for just a few seconds. I do this so that the Nutella is not too heavy/solid and risk it dropping to the bottom of the pan. You can also skip this step and just mix the Nutella with a fork really well to loosing it up a bit. 

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Ready to make your 2019 Italian Travel Dreams come true? Consider joining us in one of our Culinary Adventures! We have three planned!
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A classic restaurant dish both in Italy and the US, this recipe is so easy to prepare that it’s no wonder it’s making its way into home cooking. This dish contains just a few simple ingredients and steps, so it comes together quickly, I would say easily in 30 minutes of less. You can make this gluten free by skipping the flour, if you so wish. The flour really is there to thicken up the sauce, but offers little when it comes to flavor. 

It's traditionally made with thin chicken breasts and white mushrooms. This is a take on that, with a slightly different recipe than my previous one. See here for a chicken version.  And while we're at it, why not use some baby Bella mushrooms instead? I find them to be just a bit more sturdier than the white button mushrooms and more seasonal to fall. This dish is delicious and very comforting for this time of year. 

Marsala is a brandy-fortified wine from the Sicilian town of Marsala. It’s a bit sweet and is used in savory dishes as well as desserts. (BTW: We're headed to Sicily next year, consider joining us, click here for more info!) 

Here are the basics for this dish. See that little silver-wrapped cube on top of the butter? That's my bouillon cube. I dissolve about 1/4 of that into a half cup of hot water. It's my replacement for canned chicken or vegetable stock, when I don't make my own. It's a "lazy" tip that I have no shame in promoting, as it's flavorful, quick and you're not wasting canned stock when you only need a small amount. It's my "mock-stock!"    

Prepping and chopping everything saves time and gets you organized. You can leave out the garlic in this one if you're not a fan. 

Here we have just the floured turkey cutlets in the oil. We are browning them and almost cooking them through. 

Turn a few times to get color on both sides. 

Looking good! Look at that lovely color! These are rather thick so they've been cooking for at least 8 - 10 minutes in the hot oil.

Remove the cutlets and add the mushrooms and aromatics. The mushrooms are going to cook down dramatically. They're mostly water so while they look like a lot, they're not! 

The mushrooms are cooking down nicely.

Add the turkey back in the pan. This will help thicken up the sauce and also reheat the cutlets, which likely cooled off a bit while we cooked down the mushrooms. 

How good do these look? 

Turkey Marsala

Ingredients 
4 thin turkey cutlets
Salt (to taste)
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons olive oil 
1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced 
1/4 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/2  cup "mock stock" 

Instructions
1. Sprinkle the turkey with salt on both sides, and lightly dredge them in flour, shaking off the excess. Discard any unused flour. 
2. In a large frying pan set over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the turkey and fry until golden, about 10 minutes, turning it a few times to brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside on a clean dish.
3. Add the butter, mushrooms, parsley, garlic and onion to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes.
4. Add the Marsala wine and cook down for a few minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil.
​5. Return the turkey to the pan, and simmer for a few minutes to allow the sauce to thicken to the desired consistency.
5. Plate the turkey and top with the sauce and mushrooms. 

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Ready to make your 2019 Italian Travel Dreams come true? Consider joining us in one of our Culinary Adventures! We have three planned!
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TUSCANY: MAY 1 - 8, 2019. Click here for all trip info and to sign up!
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