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Posts Tagged ‘crema’

Colomba di Pasqua with mandarin chocolate crema

Posted in Dolce recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Colomba Easter Cake with mandarin chocolate crema.

Okay, so we happen to make this colomba and the chocolate crema spread, so we have a vested interest in this. But honestly there are few things more delectable than a slice of toasted colomba and a silky dollop of crema di cioccolato fondente. I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that this week Cathy came home early from work, looked at me strangely and pointed out that I had chocolate visible in the corners of my mouth. Busted.

Ingredients

Colomba Easter Cake – 1kg/2.2lbs

Dark chocolate and mandarin olive oil crema – 300g/10.6oz

Unwrap the cake. With its beautiful design by Mibo Studio, it’s worth keeping the paper for wrapping something in the future. Cut and slice, toast and slather with chocolate crema. Great for a decadent breakfast too.

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Ice cream made with lemon olive oil chocolate crema

Posted in Dolce recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Nudo's lemon olive oil crema ice cream.

It’s indulgent, it’s an aphrodisiac, it’s proof that you are a god or goddess in the kitchen. So it’s a no brainer for that indulgent or romantic dinner. The 30% cacao in our chocolate crema gives the gelato a rich chocolate taste and then you can choose if you want a lemon, mandarin or even chilli twist.

Ingredients for 4 portions:

Heavy/double cream – ½ cup

Whole/full fat milk – 1 ½ cups

Egg yolks – 4

Granulated sugar – ½ cup

Nudo chocolate fondente with lemon olive oil – ¼ cup

Bring the cream and milk to boil in a medium-sized saucepan, then immediately remove from the heat and set aside. With an electric or stand mixer beat the egg yolks and sugar, on the highest setting, until the mix triples in volume.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally to ensure thorough mixing.

Making olive oil chocolate crema ice cream.

Slowly add all the hot milk mixture to the egg/sugar mixture, and whisk constantly on a low speed until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.  Then add the chocolate fondente and mix thoroughly at a medium speed.

Chill the mixture for about 4 hours or overnight. Then add it to your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions for freezing. Stop the churning as soon as the gelato is just frozen.

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Chocolate Crema Cookies

Posted in Dolce recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2013 | 2 Comments »

Chocolate Olive Oil Crema Cookies

This time of year, with the final stretch of Winter delivering the last of the snow and pretending to be snuggled up next to a wood-burning fire is the only way to pull through the day, the humble chocolate cookie makes its appearance in the big glass cookie jar at home. Chocolate cookies can be all sorts of things – crisp, light, decadent, gooey, dark, spicy and so comforting dunked in warm milk or coffee. But this chilli olive oil chocolate crema cookie is almost all of that, in one crumbling bite. Inspired by my favourite new cooking duo discovery – Two Tarts – this little recipe should have you skipping to Spring in no time.

Ingredients for 30 cookies:

Chocolate crema with chilli olive oil – 175g/6oz

Plain flour – 1 1/4 cup

Organic cocoa powder – 1/2 cup

Baking Powder – 2 tsp

Salt, two pinches

Extra virgin olive oil – 10 Tbsp (use Nudo’s chilli oil for extra bite)

Raw brown cane sugar – 1 1/3 cup

Eggs – 2

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Milk – 1/3 cup

Icing sugar, for rolling

First, cream the sugar and olive oil together, then beat in eggs and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, organic cocoa and salt).  Add and blend the chocolate crema into the bowl with creamed sugar. Then add dry ingredients and bit of milk as needed. When this is all combined the dough will be quite sticky, like thick cake batter.  Before making the cookies, chill the dough for about two hours or until hard enough to scoop into balls.

Chocolate Olive Oil Crema Cookies perfectly goes with espresso or a glass of milk for dunking.

Once the batter is sufficiently chilled, heat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 5/350F. In a larger bowl, place some ice cubes and cold water. Float your mixing bowl in the ice water to keep the dough cool whilst preparing the cookies. Line a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper. Using two teaspoons, scoop out a spoonful of dough, shaping it between the two spoons to form ball (it would be more a dollop, really), then roll the ball into a bowl of icing sugar to coat it well. Line the balls up on the baking sheet, leaving sufficient space for the cookies to spread, and bake at or 12-15 minutes. The shorter the cookies are baked, the more gooey they come out. Enjoy with a little espresso or, if you like dunking, a big glass of milk.

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Crepe with chocolate crema and strawberries

Posted in Dolce recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Crepes with Nudo lemon chocolate olive oil crema and strawberries

At some point on Sunday mornings, the yell comes out from Cathy ‘Anyone want pancakes?’ We’ve all been waiting patiently, as if unsuspecting. ’Yes!’ comes the chorus of replies. Pancakes – or crepes if we want to sound posh – have become our family Sunday ritual, a shared treat that eases us towards the end of the weekend. Cathy slices up heaps of fresh fruit – strawberries, bananas, blueberries – and gets flipping. There is a mild fight about who gets the first one. For their last crepe, the children are allowed the full decadence of lining it with rich, creamy Nudo chocolate crema.

Ingredients for 4 people

OO flour – 4 tbsp

Buckwheat flour – 2 tbsp

Eggs – 2

Milk – 2 cups/480ml

Butter – 100g/4oz

Nudo chocolate crema with extra virgin olive oil stone-ground with lemons – 80g

Strawberries – a dozen

Put the flour and eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk as much as is possible (it’ll be too thick and sticky to do it properly). Then start to add the milk and continue whisking. Stop when the batter is the consistency of single cream.

Heat the butter in a non-stick frying pan over a medium flame. Cool a little, then pour the melted butter into the batter and whisk it in. Wipe the pan with some kitchen towel so that there is very little fat left, and when it’s slightly steaming pour in enough batter mixture so that the pan is covered. Cook for a couple of minutes then ease it over (air flip if you’re feeling cocky) and cook the other side.

Crepes with Nudo's lemon chocolate olive oil crema and strawberries

Take the crepe out, spoon on some chocolate crema, spread it as best you can and add some chopped strawberries.

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Mascarpone cream and olive oil chocolate tarts

Posted in Dolce recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 16, 2012 | 1 Comment »

You can’t go far in Venice without chancing upon a window display of sweets and cakes so decadent that they would make Marie Antoinette blush. In one such establishment we were served a sweet, rich tart with a hidden layer of chocolate fondant in the middle. I’ve tried to recreate it from memory and am rather pleased. I think Mrs Louis XVI would like it too.

Ingredients for 12 tarts

Short crust pastry sheet – 320g/11.3oz

Mascarpone – 1 cup/250g

Heavy cream/whipping cream – 130g/ 1/3 cup

Sugar – 50g/¼ cup

Strawberries – half a dozen

Raspberries – a dozen

Nudo Chocolate Crema with Mandarin olive oil – 1 jar

Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. First you need to blind bake the tart shells. Cut the pastry into circles which will fit your 12-hole tart tray. Lightly grease the tray, put in the pastry and then fill the hole with baking beans, separated by a circle of parchment paper.

Bake the shells for 10 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for 10 minutes more, until the crust is golden and crisp.

In a bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer beat together the mascarpone, cream and sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. When the shells have cooled down spoon in a thin layer of chocolate crema and then a much thicker layer of the mascarpone cream. Top off with a strawberry half and a raspberry.

Serve with tea and feel rather posh.

 

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The story behind the olive oil crema

Posted in Stories from the Olive Grove, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 16, 2012 | 1 Comment »

In the 1960′s Carlo and Alfreda set up a little patisserie in the town of Ponte a Egola, half way between Pisa and Florence. It was a family affair, with the children growing up in and around the shop, unconsciously learning the trade. When Carlo and Alfreda were ready to hang up their baking gloves, their son Riccardo was more than ready to don them. His passion was always for the chocolate side of the business. Over many years he honed his skills and he is now well known in the region and far beyond as a skilled chocolatier.

Now Nudo is launching a new range of dark chocolate cremas made with a winning combination of Riccado’s artisanal chocolate expertise and our delicious flavoured extra virgin olive oils. The dark and delicious spreads, which all boast 30% dark cocoa, make the most perfect stocking fillers and dessert accompaniments. Get some before it’s gone.

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ROUX’s Chocolate Lemon Cake

Posted in Dolce recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 16, 2012 | 1 Comment »

This simple but decadent cake recipe I found whilst visiting my family in South Africa earlier this year.  There’s a big old lemon tree at the top of my father’s lush garden heaving with big, bright lemons ready to add a delightful citrusy edge to this rich dark chocolate cake.

Ingredients
Dark chocolate 250g/1 cup
Butter 250g /1 cup
Caster sugar 270g/9.5oz
Lemons 2, juiced and zested, plus extra zest to garnish
Free-range eggs 4
Cake flour 300g/10.5oz
Baking powder 2 t
Greek-style plain yoghurt 2/3 cup

Nudo Chocolate Crema with Lemon olive oil 1 jar, for icing

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Grease and line 2 x 9 inch/22 cm cake tins. Melt the dark chocolate in a glass bowl over boiling water and cool until lukewarm.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy, then add the lemon zest. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding 1 t flour after each egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Transfer the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Sieve the remaining flour baking powder and fold into the batter.


Mix the yoghurt and lemon juice and fold into the mixture. Lastly, fold in the lukewarm chocolate until well combined. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 1 hour. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto rack to cool completely.

To ice the cake, spread the chocolate crema to cover the top of each cake. Carefully place one layer on top of the other, keeping the cake with the most crema for the top layer. If you feel extra indulgent, round off the icing by spreading a layer of crema around the sides of the cake also. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped pistachios nuts and lemon zest. Also lovely served with a dollop of whipped cream.

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Baci di dama (lady’s kisses)

Posted in Dolce recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

On my way to work in Rome, I used to stop at the same café every day for my morning cappuccino. The choice was partly habit, partly location, partly a judgement of the great coffee – but the main thing tugging me back was the delicious little biscuit which the barrista would (sometimes! Brilliantly, only sometimes) nestle onto the saucer, under the curve of the cup. I later learned that these heavenly rich and crumbly little treats are called ‘lady’s kisses’ – and they certainly had me coming back for more. In this recipe I’ve used our amazing chocolate fondant as the kiss that unites the two biscuit ‘lips’.

Ingredients for about 120 biscuits (60 baci)

Skinned hazelnuts – 100g/3.5oz

Ground almonds – 100g/3.5oz

Caster sugar – 65g/2.3oz

Plain flour – 165g/5.8oz

Salted butter – 175g softened/6.2oz

Nudo Chocolate Crema with Lemon olive oil – 1 jar

Preheat the oven to 180oC/350oC/GM4. If you can’t find skinned hazelnuts toast some unskinned ones and whilst they are still hot rub off the skins in a kitchen towel.

Grind the skinned hazelnuts in a blender and put them into a mixing bowl with the almonds, sugar and flour. Cut the softened butter into cubes and mix with your hands into the dry ingredients. Once it’s well mixed line a baking tray with parchment paper, take a small piece of dough and roll it into a 2cm diameter ball (a bit wider than a dime).

Press the ball onto the baking tray to make the bottom flat. Make sure you spread the balls well out on the tray as they will expand. Once you have a tray full (you should get about 120 of these little babies) pop them in the oven for about 15 mins or until they start to go golden.

Once they’re cooked, let them cool on a rack. Then you can start cementing two similar sized biscuits together with a decent dollop of chocolate crema. Any passing children will usually be happy to help.

Serve with coffee. These will keep for a couple of days in a sealed container.

 

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Mandarin, Beetroot and Chocolate Cake

Posted in Dolce recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Throwing together an unusual mix of flavours can end in disaster (what was I thinking with that lager jam?) or self-satisfied triumph. This is one of those fortunate latter occasions. It was also one of those days when I needed a bit of luck. Our discerning foodie friends Guido and Claudia were coming for tea, and there was no room for error.

Ingredients

Beetroot -200g/7oz

Cocoa powder – 30g/1 oz

Plain flour – 115g/4 oz

Baking powder – 1 ½ tsp

Salt – pinch

Caster sugar – 150g/5.3 oz

Eggs – 3 beaten

Plain dark chocolate -100g/3.5 oz  chopped

Extra virgin olive oil stone ground with mandarins – 210ml/7.1 fl oz

Butter – for greasing the tin

Chocolate fondente with mandarin olive oil – 50g/2 oz

Wash and trim the beetroots, put them whole in a pot of cold water and boil until cooked through.  Run under cold water and grate them. Preheat the oven to 375oF/190oC/GM5.

Sieve the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing  bowl, then add the sugar and mix. Beat the eggs and add them, then chop up the chocolate and add that. Finally add the grated beetroot, and olive oil and mix it all really well. Grease a 7” cake tin with butter and line with greaseproof paper then pour in the cake mix.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack. Once it’s cooled a little, spread a thin layer of chocolate spread on top and serve with a dollop of crème fraiche.

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