Italian Almond Fingers

My current read is a small bright orange paperback published back in March last year and written by some guy named Steve Ettlinger. It's called "Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats". Each of the 25 plus chapters delves into the origins of sometimes surprisingly commonplace ingredients, other not so commonplace or at least recognisable substances ranging from anthocyanins to deltadodecalactone, methyl ethyl ketone and xanthan gum, and the generic processes by which they are all magically transformed by human intervention into totally edible ingredients which are now widely used in processing plants all around the world.

It's an educative and quite enjoyable read (I mean who knew that the highly explosive element chlorine with which we use to disinfect water and to make plastic pipes is also pumped into flour for its bleaching action, mimicking the natural albeit much slower process of aging and oxidation?). If you have been at some stage engrossed by other books such as "The Taste of Sweet", "Moveable Feasts" or "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles", then "Twinkie, Deconstructed" is one that you will most certainly appreciate.

These almond fingers or ditti di mandorle as they are known in Italian, hide a bounty of strangely processed ingredients like almonds, eggs and butter (shock! horror!). This is a recipe staight out of Gina De Palma's "Dolce Italiano: Desserts From the Babbo Kitchen" which works a real treat.

Italian Almond Fingers
from "Dolce Italiano" by Gina De Palma

250 g unsalted butter, chopped
125 g castor sugar
3 g salt
1 lemon, zested
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
1 egg, separated
250 g flour
80 g almond meal
1 g baking
powder
200 g sliced blanched almonds
icing sugar for dusting

In an electric mixer with paddle attachment beat butter, sugar, salt, lemon zest and vanilla seeds until creamed.
Add egg yolk and beat until thick.
Combine flour, almond meal and baking powder in a bowl.
Mix thoroughly into butter.
Divide dough into 3 equal pieces.
Roll each on a floured bench into logs about 2 cm thick.
Cut logs into pieces 5 cm long.
Brush each log in lightly beaten egg white and coat with sliced almonds.
Bake on a lined tray at 165ºC for 16 minutes or until golden.
Cool on tray and serve dusted with icing sugar.

Lemon Ricotta Cake

I found a recipe for almond lemon cake with roasted plums whilst browsing the Gourmet Traveller recipe index. It's from Andrew Cibej of VINI - a cosy white brick Italian hole-in-the-wall on the corner of Devonshire and Holt in Surry Hills. The new Sous chef at work was their Sous previously which was a good enough reason as any to go check it out on Friday night. Unfortunately the locals have staked their claim on the tables at this popular little restaurant and arriving 30 minutes after opening, they were only able to offer us a table in the third sitting 3 hours later. Maybe next time.

This cake if made without the addition of ricotta is exactly like the lemon polenta cake which was on the menu at Catalonia which is a Spanish restaurant funnily enough. The recipes for both originated from a River Cafe cookbook no doubt. I actually prefer the ricotta version. By george does it weep fat in the oven but the taste is not so cloyingly sweet as it is without.

A little something on the side, something slightly tart would be the perfect foil for this cake. At Catalonia we would serve it with a scoop of sheep's milk yoghurt sorbet. Here I tried Andrew's version with roasted nectarines instead of plums with a peppered red wine sauce.

Lemon Ricotta Cake
adapted from VINI

225 g unsalted butter
225 g castor sugar
5 g sea salt flakes
3 eggs
225 g almond meal
113 g fine polenta
2 lemons, zested
1/2 lemon, juiced
200 g ricotta
24 g honey

In an electric stand mixer with paddle attachment cream butter with sugar and salt.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each until thick.
Mix in almond meal and polenta.
Fold through remaining ingredients.
Bake in a lined 8" cake tin at 160ºC for 1 hour.
Cool to room temperature then refrigerate before slicing.

Sheep's Milk Yoghurt Sorbet

100 g water
150 g liquid glucose
50 g castor sugar
25 g lemon juice
500 g sheep's milk yoghurt

Combine water, glucose and sugar in a small pot.
Bring to the boil, stir to dissolve then refrigerate until cold.
Empty yoghurt into a medium bowl and add the lemon juice and syrup.
Whisk until smooth and churn immediately.

A Midnight Snack

I'm sporting a couple of new burns after Mother's Day. Roasted Blue Eye Cod ran on the specials list last night which involved a lot of sweating, swearing and severe depletion of Chinese cabbage mid-way through service. Dagnabbit.

Although Mother's Day this year wasn't quite what we had all anticipated after hearing horror stories of the years gone by it still left me feeling tired, drained and in need of a warm treat for dinner by the time I got home after midnight.

I suppose normal people would probably consider oatmeal breakfast food but whatever. Do what you please. Meals need not be confined to societal norms and such and I for one take great pleasure in doing all the things I know I shouldn't.

This recipe makes just enough for one person. The addition of ricotta gives this dish a definitive lightness and I stir it in, but just enough so that it is still quite lumpy. When I close my eyes I imagine that I'm tasting the clouds.

Spiced Banana Oatmeal

40 g oats (I used Uncle Toby's)
250 g milk
5 g honey
a pinch of salt
a pinch of ground cinnamon
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1 banana, sliced
50 g ricotta
5 toasted almonds, roughly sliced
15 g honey, extra for drizzling

Combine oats, milk, honey, salt and spices in a small pot.
Bring to the boil then reduce heat to low and cook for about 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir through half sliced banana and ricotta.
Spoon into a serving bowl then top with remaining banana slices, slivered almonds and honey.

Maple Syrup Swirl

This recipe for the featured maple syrup swirl (my submission for Culinarty: ORR) was born from a craving for something sweet a few nights ago. Leftover pâte sablée cried out for some lovin' from the dark depths of the freezer and as usual I had plenty of almonds on hand.

­

What I didn't have as I should have though was regular unsalted butter. I rummaged through the fridge and managed to find some soft butter - spreadable straight from the fridge; containing roughly 22% canola oil which acts as the softener due to its lower melting point. The addition of canola oil also acts to create a slightly more moist and tender crumb.

­

I added a little of this and a little of that then dumped it into a tart pan, chopped up some frozen pastry and sprinkled it on top, alternating with roughly sliced almonds and a drizzle of maple syrup. The results were wonderfully homely, something Rick Stein would be proud of, not to mention absolutely delicious served warm from the oven with a drizzle of single cream.

­

Maple Syrup Swirl

106 g soft spreadable butter (or 83 g unsalted butter and 23 g canola oil)
90 g castor sugar
3 g salt
2 eggs
120 g almond meal
35 g maple syrup
80 g self-raising flour
25 g soy milk
150 g pâte sablée, roughly chopped
30 g almonds, roughly sliced
14 g maple syrup, extra

Cream butter, sugar and salt in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment.
Add eggs one by one and beat until thick.
Beat in almond meal.
Beat in maple syrup.
Fold through flour.
Fold through soy milk.
Pour batter into a 20cm fluted tart pan.
Sprinkle chopped pastry over the top in a swirl pattern.
Sprinkle sliced almonds over the top.
Drizzle maple syrup in between.
Bake at 180ºC for 25 minutes.