Double limoncello poppy seed cookies + homemade limoncello

Trying to solve the boozy cookbook problem I thought that it would be nice having a bottle of limoncello at home – it seemed to be the perfect alcoholic acquisition for a person like me. Unfortunately that idea was discarded the minute I saw how much a bottle of limoncello cost. :S
Luckily for me, there was a recipe for homemade limoncello in Francine Segan’s beautiful book and it was super easy to make: the only tricky part was having to wait 4 weeks to taste the liqueur – which turned out to be quite strong and very lemony, indeed – and to make these delicious cookies as well.

Double limoncello poppy seed cookies
from the adorable The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets

Cookies:
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
2 teaspoons limoncello
1 1/3 cups (185g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Glaze:
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
2 tablespoons limoncello
hot water, if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Cookies: beat butter and sugar together until creamy and light. Add the egg, zest and limoncello and beat until combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix in low speed just until combined. Mix in the poppy seeds.
Form 1 ½ heaping teaspoons of dough into balls and place onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until golden around the edges. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the glaze: sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Gradually add the limoncello, stirring until desired consistency (add the water only if necessary). Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and set aside until set, about 15 minutes.

Makes about 40

Homemade limoncello
from the lovely Dolci: Italy's Sweets

6 lemons
2 cups (480ml) vodka
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
3 cups (720ml) water

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the yellow zest from the lemons in long strips. Put the peels and vodka in a 1.4 to 2 liter sealable glass container and set aside in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks.
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan and stir in the sugar. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved, then remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Pour the sugar syrup into the container with the zest and vodka. Seal and store for another 2 weeks in a cool place. Pour through a fine sieve and discard the peels (I did not do that - I kept the peels in the bottle).
Keep in the freezer.

Makes about 5 cups (1.2 liters)

Coconut and raspberry cakes

I love baking with coconut - it's an ingredient I always have in my pantry. I had other plans for the coconut used in these adorable little cakes, but when I saw them on the magazine I could not resist. The cakes tasted great and were super tender, and it was also an opportunity to use the mini Bundt pans I hadn't used in ages; while unmolding the cakes I remembered why: it is always so difficult to remove them from the pans! Luckily the raspberry glaze covered some of the damaged parts, and it was so delicious I want to make it again to serve with vanilla ice cream or panna cotta.

Coconut and raspberry cakes
from Dish

Cakes:
280g unsalted butter, room temperature
280g granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (100g) unsweetened flaked coconut
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
about 2 ½ cups frozen raspberries

Raspberry glaze:
200g frozen raspberries
200g raspberry jam
½ cup (120ml) water
2 teaspoons icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Generously brush eight 200ml capacity mini Bundt pans with melted butter.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt over the mixture, add the coconut and fold the ingredients in along with the milk and lemon zest.
Fill the cake pans halfway full. Top with 5 raspberries, then spoon over the remaining batter. Top with 4 raspberries. Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool over a wire rack for 15 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Cool completely.
Make the glaze: put the raspberries, jam and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture is thick and reduced. Remove from the heat and tip into a fine sieve over a medium bowl, using the back of the spoon to press the mixture until only the seeds remain in the sieve. Discard the solids. Add the icing sugar to the glaze, mix to combine, let cool then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Spoon the glaze over the cakes and serve.

Makes 8 – I halved the cake recipe above, used 1-cup capacity mini Bundt pans and got 4 cakes; ¼ of the glaze recipe was enough to glaze all the 4 cakes

Marzipan brownies

I might be someone who loves sweets (and this blog is proof of that), but even I know there’s a certain limit to be considered: to avoid the risk of eating the marzipan left from the berry muffins I set up to find other delicious recipes to use the marzipan in, and after reading something about a chocolate marzipan cake somewhere – I am getting old and I don’t remember where, sorry – I thought that marzipan brownies would be a fantastic idea; since I wanted fudgy brownies and not cakey ones, I reached for Alice Medrich’s chocolate bible – because I was almost out of dark chocolate, I used her fabulous and super famous cocoa brownies as a vehicle for the marzipan; a tiny bit of almond extract, a sprinkling of flaked almonds and voilà: some pretty good marzipan brownies.

Marzipan brownies
adapted from the amazing Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate

210g unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons (375g) granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups (120g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
3 cold large eggs
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour
100g marzipan, chopped in small cubes
3 tablespoons flaked almonds

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line the bottom and sides of a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Butter the foil.

In a medium heatproof bowl, add the butter and set on top of a large sauce pan with barely simmering water. Melt the butter, then add sugar and salt, and stir until well combined. Next add the cocoa powder and stir until mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.
Stir in the vanilla and the almond extract with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Spread the marzipan pieces evenly over the batter, then cover with the remaining batter. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.
Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Makes 24

Provolone and lemon pasta

I don’t know if the same happens to you, but sometimes I keep certain recipes in my head for a long time – it’s completely unintentional and there are times it takes me forever to actually make the recipe. I first saw this provolone and lemon pasta recipe several months ago (I believe it was last year) and thought it would be very tasty: a pasta sauce made of cheese and lemon? Perfect. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago: I was buying some cheese for a salad and right in front of me, on the counter, was a package of provolone dolce, which is a kind of cheese I’d never tried before. My mind raced like crazy and I immediately remembered the recipe, which turned out to be a delicious and super quick pasta dish – the only problem was not eating all the cheese before actually cooking lunch. :D

Provolone and lemon pasta
from the always wonderful Australian Gourmet Traveller

Lemon and thyme crumbs:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
50g coarse fresh breadcrumbs
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons thyme leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pasta and sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ large onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 cup (240ml) dry white wine
finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 ¼ cups (300ml) pouring cream
160g provolone dolce, finely grated
2 tablespoons thyme leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g dried casarecce, capunti, strozzapreti or other short pasta

Start by making the thyme crumbs: heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, add garlic and sauté until fragrant (1 minute). Add breadcrumbs, sauté until golden (2-3 minutes), add lemon and thyme, season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and set aside.

Pasta and sauce: cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente (6-8 minutes) – while the pasta cooks, make the sauce: heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add onion and garlic and sauté until tender (2-3 minutes). Add wine, lemon zest and juice, simmer until reduced by half (2-3 minutes). Add cream, simmer until reduced by half (2-3 minutes), then add provolone and thyme, stir until smooth and combined (1-2 minutes), season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Drain the pasta, reserving ¼ cup (60ml) of the cooking water. Return pasta to the saucepan and add the cream sauce, stirring to coat. Add a little of the cooking water to loosen up the sauce (you might not need all the water). Serve hot, topped with lemon and thyme crumbs.

Serves 4

Oreo and peanut butter pie

After several posts with fruit-based sweets I now bring you something extremely sinful: crushed Oreo cookies, topped with peanut butter and chocolate. I know, I know, this is not what we would call a light dessert, but certain moments call for decadent, over-the-top sweets – and on all the other days you can have an apple after lunch. ;)

Oreo and peanut butter pie
slightly adapted from the brilliant Delicious - Australia

Base:
20 Oreos (or other chocolate cream cookies)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling and topping:
250g crunchy peanut butter
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
150g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
75g unsalted butter

Finely crush the cookies in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Press into the base and sides of a lightly buttered 24cm loose-bottomed tart pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Using an electric mixer, combine peanut butter and icing sugar until smooth. Spread in the tart base. Refrigerate while you make the topping.
Place chocolate and butter in a clean bowl over a pan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Stir until melted, then cool for 15-20 minutes. Spread over the peanut butter layer and chill for 30 minutes until firm. Cut into slices and serve.

Serves 8-10