Heaven's truffles

Coconut - cocoa truffles
Ingredients:
1/2 pound (250 g) oro saiwa
1/2 pound (250 g) mascarpone / philadelfia mixed to quark / ricotta.
1/3 pound (150 g) + 1/6 pound (50 g) dried coconut
1/6 pound (50 g) sweetened cocoa powder
50 g sultanas
50 g almonds

Procedure:
Smash the biscuits in small part and mix them together with the mixed cream cheese and the cocoa powder. If necessary (because too soft) leave in fridge for one hour. Then divide the bat in 2 parts:
1) in one part, join the dried coconut leaving apart the 50 g; make small balls with your hands, fit in a sultanas and roll in the left coconut.
2) in another part, add amaretto liquor. Make balls, fit in an almond and roll on cocoa powder


White Chocolate - coconut truffles
Ingredients
1/2 pound (250 g) lady fingers
1/2 pound (250 g) mascarpone / philadelfia mixed to quark / ricotta.
1/3 pound (150 g) + 1/6 pound (50 g) dried coconut
(200 g) white chocolate
50 g marzipan
50 g chopped hazelnuts or almonds

Procedure
Melt the white chocolate paying attention that it does not get burn; let it cool.
Smash the lady fingers in small part and mix them together with the mixed cream cheese. Add the chocolate and all the 1/3 pound dried coconut.If necessary (because too soft) leave in fridge for one hour.
Get the marzipan, extract a small part (very small) and roll it in a small sphere.
Then make balls with the bat using your hands, and fit in the small sphere of marzipan.
Roll half of the balls on the dried coconut, the other half on the chopped hazelnuts.

Non traditional rose cake

Roses do not enter in the recipe..
The Rose cake is typical from the region where I come from, even though with a filling different from the one I used in this recipe.
To make the cake one needs two days, at least, which is actually longer than the time is needed to eat it, which means it is worthy!

Recipe:
dough:
4 cups white flour (some people mix it with manitoba.. never tried!)
yeast (a cube of fresh or equivalent dried)

1 cup lukewarm milk
1 cup sugar
Vanilla flavor or Vanilla flavored sugar (1 tbsp is enough)
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter


stuffing:
The traditional recipe foresees 1 cup butter + 1 cup sugar.
I already tried it and it is quite good, but this time I used 3 different creams:
- whitish: butter, sugar and cinnamon (for example: 1/2 cup, 1/2 cup, 1 tbsp)
- blackish: almonds powder, poppy seeds & marzipan, mixed with some lukewarm milk (for example: 1/2 cup, 1/2 cup, 2 tbsp, 1/4 cup)
- brownish: simply nutella, or make up a cream melting milk chocolate and adding some cream to make it softer.
As far as the quantity of each ingredient, it is pretty much up to your taste... the consistency must be creamy and spreadable (see below);

Procedure:
Prepare a "starter" for the dough mixing 1 cup flour with the yest melt in 1 cup milk.
Let it grow for some hours covered with a towel or some plastic pape (between 2 and 12... depends on the temperature: usually I do this recipe in winter, and since I am in Germany, I leave it for 12 hours).
When the starter has grown, join the remaining flour, the flour, the eggs, the sugar, and in the end the butter.
Let the dough grow for a few hours (at least 2), covered, in a warm place.
Prepare in the meantime the 3 stuffing types.
Divide the dough in 3 parts and flatten the three of them with the rolling pin until the thickness is about 0.5 cm. Spread on each a different filling and roll it. Cut it in pieces and place in a pan mixing the "roses" or setting them in a composition.. You can also cut the edges of each rose with a scissor. An option is to paint the roses with some milk.
Then let it grow again for 30 min -1 hour and cook it for 180 C (or 360 F ) for 30 min. Check the cooking point with a stick.

Vegetarian lasagne

To be truly, I believe I prepared this recipe for 6 people... since i needed to get rid of some dried pasta for lasagne.
I used 15 pieces of this pasta, placed in 5 layers x 3 (per layer). I believe that for 2 people 5 are enough, unless you are very hungry :).
The recipe comes from my friend cooker Pasquale (even if I modified it a little bit, as usual!).

So, I place here the recipe for 2 people (to make a lasagna 1/3 as big as the one in the picture).

Ingredients:
5 pieces of dried lasagne
for the bechamel: 3 tbls butter, 3 tbls flour, 3 cups of milk, salt, nutmeg
tomato sauce: 1 cup of tomato sauce, basil, red onions or/and garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, chilli.
different kind of cheese (all you have left in the fridge and you do not know what to do with)
parmesan
grilled vegetables (aubergines, zucchini.. )

Instructions:
Prepare the bechamel:
Heat the milk until very hot. Melt the butter (watch out it does not get brown).. Sift the flour in stirring with a wooden spoon. Add milk and go on stirring. Let the batter become a cream (takes about 10 min), still quite fluid (especially if you use dried lasagne and not fresh ones). For the bechamel I used a wonderful pot which as a double bottom which can be filled with water... in this way the risk of burning the sauce is very small.
Add salt and nutmed and taste it.

Prepare the tomato sauce:
prepare the "soffritto: onions and herbs lightly fried in (OLIVE) oil". Add some wine, let it evaporate and add the tomato. Let it cook for some minutes, add the basil, the pepper and the salt. Taste it!

Prepare the vegetables:
Grill aubergines and zucchini (no oil, no salt is necessary).
Boil for one minute or 2 the lasagne.
Mix a part of the bechamel with the tomato sauce.
Pour in a pyrex or terracotta dish some bechamel, the first layer of lasagne. Then since I like to try different things, I did half of the construction with the white bechamel and the other half with the red one. But you can choose one or use one or the other for a layer. So: add some bechamel, the grilled vegetables, pieces of cheese and some basil. Go on up to the last layer of lasagne, which you will cover with bechamel, mozzarella and parmesan. Now, the trick: leave the lasagne rest for one hour, then place it into the oven and cook for 50 min at 180 C.

Crepes with apple mousse and ..

Ingredients:
For the crepes (4 people):
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 egg
1/2 cup milk
a bit of salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

For the filling:
2 cups apple mousse (I bought it ;-))
1 or 2 apples
lemon juice
can sugar and cinnamon
almonds
raisins


Instruction for the filling:
Slice thinly the apple and roast on a pan with little lemon juice, until they are a bit brown.
Put apart and reduce to small pieces. Mix into the apple mousse and add cane sugar and cinnamon and (if you like) almonds or/and raisins.

Instructions for the crepes:
Whisk together the eggs and a little flour, until the dough has a soft solid consistency. At a certain point the dough will call for milk (do it and you'll understand!). Add in a little of milk, stirring continuously. Go on pouring in the flour and the milk, little by little, until these ingredients are finished. Add the salt and butter melted; beat until the dough is soft and creamy (like a yogurt).
Oil and heat a pan. Pour in some of the batter (this will be not a crepe, but it is a test).
when this is cooked, take it out and scoop a 1/4 of a cup for each crepe. Cook for each side about 2 minutes.
Take out the crepes and fill in with the filling for one half. Bend in crepe shape and eat :)