You are my Catcher Block I’m your Barbara Novak

You are my Christian I’m your Satine.
You are my Norman Warne I’m your Beatrix Potter.
You are my Lincoln 6 Echo I’m your Jordan 2 Delta.
You are my Frank Churchill I’m your Jane Fairfax.
You are my Jerome I’m your Nagiko.
You are my Renton I’m your Diane.

I was never, and never will be, one of those beautiful women people turn to watch in the streets, but you turned for me.
I was never, and never will be, one of those girls all smiles and “yes darling”, but that’s what you love about me.
I was never, and never will be, one of those women that will celebrate Valentine’s day, but you don’t care either. And you don’t mind if I have a meeting (to organize this) for tonight.
I was never, and never will be low maintenance, but that’s why you love me.
I always was and will always be a major pain in the @#§*, but that’s WHY you love me!
And, “It doesn't take a Nazi rocket scientist to figure *that* out”!
And I will always be the girl that makes you laugh, that makes you smile and that makes you a chocolate cake!!!

And this year, a chocolate, ricotta, yoghurt and ginger spoon cake, all for you, with all my love!

P.S. This post is part of the series "Only 10 people in the word understand my quotations, one of whom is me, one my husband and the other the subject of them, but he doesn't read my blog, better, he doesn't know I exists". For the rest... Well, I won't tell you my "secret": guess it! ;)

Torta al cioccolato e pistacchi

About once a month we dine with a couple friends of ours. We host alternately and each time we try our best and most extravagant recipes to please each other: we always try something new, from a different country, a challenge for the palate and the cook's skills (me and the hubby of the other couple)! When we go to dine at their home we usually bring wine and dessert. Last time my friend looked at me and told me: "Mmmhh, you have a chocolate tooth, eh Sara?" I realized only then that I brought them something like 5 or 6 different chocolate cakes in a row!!!
Yeah, ok, I'm keen on chocolate... So??????? ;-D
As usually my favourite chocolate cakes come from few sources, one of which is Nigella Lawson's How to be a domestic goddess...

For the cake
150 g chocolate
150 g sugar
150 g pistachios
150 g soft butter
6 eggs, separated
Pinch of salt

For the icing
150 g chocolate
150 ml of cream
few drops of orange-flower water

Preheat the oven at 190° C.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave and let it cool. In a food processor, dust pistachios with 50 g of sugar. add the soft butter and another 50 g of sugar. Add the egg yolks one a the time, pulsing after each add. Add then the melted chocolate.
In a bowl, whisk the egg white with the salt until they produce soft peaks. Slowly add the rest of the sugar and keep whisking until it's shiny and thick.
Add 1/3 of the whites to the chocolate mixture and pulse. Add then the chocolate mixture to the whites and mix carefully but firmly. Add the batter in a 24 cm cake pan, lined with greaseproof paper and cook for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180° C and keep cooking for another 20-25 minutes, until the cake comes away from the sides.
Allow to cool.

Prepare the icing, melting the chocolate with the cream in the microwave. Add the drops of orange-flower water, let it cool in the fridge for 30 minutes. When it's cooled, begin to whisk it until you obtain a slightly thick glaze. Ice the cake and let it rest in the fridge until 30 minute before serving.

The best chocolate ever?

I don't know if this is (was) the best chocolate in the world, but for sure is the best chocolate I've ever tried...
Pierre Marcolini is a well known Belgian chocolatier and this carré was a present from a dear friend that went to Bruxelles and thought of me... I normally prefer dark chocolate, but I have to say that this incrusté of milk chocolate with pecan nuts and subtle perfumes of caramel was just astonishing!!! So wonderful that all I can show you is the beautiful box but not the chocolate, as it disappeared very quickly...

SHF#27, Chocolate by brand: Cranberry and chocolate cookies

For this month Sugar High Friday, hosted by chocolate master David Lebovitz, the theme is (obviously) chocolate, not in general terms, but by brand.
As I grew up near the Italy-Switzerland border, my entire childhood has been surrounded by chocolate of different kind and shapes: Lindor all year long (bought by kilos…), bunnies end huge eggs for Easter, bars of any flavour (my favourite is the big bar of milk chocolate with whole hazelnut!!!), many different kind of pralines, truffles, orangettes covered with chocolate… One of my friends’ mother worked at the Lindt factory and her house was constantly filled with chocolate of any kind: we had it after lunch, for the afternoon break and often while we studied!
But variety doesn’t always mean quality! Lindt chocolate is good quality chocolate, with a high percentage of cocoa and I was lucky enough to have tasted some good quality chocolates in Torino and France. But recognising quality doesn’t always lead to use it to cook a chocolate cake or cookie! I’m guilty as charged: when I want to make a chocolate dessert at home I go for the cheapest chocolate. Why? Laziness? Probably… Greed? Probably too… I realize that if you use Valrhona your cake sure tastes better, but when you cook 2 or 3 chocolate cakes a month (because your friends are so incredibly voracious) you forget about high quality and you choose the cheapest with the highest percentage of cocoa!
And so it was for those cookies! The original recipe (from Nigella Lawson’s Feast, for the memory of which I have to thank THE Cream Puff: I’ve almost forgot how amazing that book is!!!) stated only white chocolate, but as white chocolate is often not even considered chocolate, I used half white and half dark.
The white is Lindt (which produces the best white chocolate you can find in supermarkets) and the black is Zaini, a brand produced in Milan, with 50% minimum of cocoa. Zaini has the main advantage to sell 400 g bars, which are quite handy when you use a lot of chocolate. I wouldn’t recommend it for a chocolate tasting night, but it’s fair enough to cook with.
And now, the cookies!!!

125 g of very soft butter
75 g of vergeoise brune
50 g of sugar
50 g of brown sugar
1 egg
140 g of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
75 g of flaked or rolled oats
100 g of dried cranberries
50 g of walnuts, roughly chopped
70 g of white chocolate, roughly chopped
70 g of dark chocolate, roughly chopped


Preheat the oven at 180° C.
Beat butter and sugars together, until you obtain a soft cream. Add the egg and beat until smooth. Then add the dried ingredients, beating constantly. Fold in cranberries, walnuts and chocolates. Let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Cover two baking sheets with greaseproof paper. Lay spoonfuls of batter, far between, and squish them down with a fork. You should have approximately 30-32 cookies.
Cook for 12-15 minutes, until golden. After cooking, let them cool on the baking sheets.

The gooiest cake in the world…

I already made this cake, back in June, but as I did some adjustments and as it's one of the simplest yet most luxurious and satisfying cake in the world, I thought it was worth writing about it again!
I had some kumquats (or Chinese mandarins) in the fridge since ages, waiting for a nice duck breast. But as we are on diet, and duck breast is not really allowed, I decided to do something else with them… Albeit I think this cake too it’s not allowed in our diet… Anyway…
To add the kumquats in the cake I candied them and the result was even moister and gooier then the first time!!!
I honestly think it’s the best chocolate cake on this book!!! If not in the world!!!

For the kumquats
15 kumquats
150 g of sugar
250 ml of water

For the cake
200 g of dark chocolate
200 g of butter
200 g of sugar
5 eggs
1 tablespoon of flour

Cocoa for dusting

Begin with the kumquats. Wash and clean them. Put them in a saucepan filled with cold water, put it on the fire and let it boil for 1 minute, than drain the kumquats and repeat this operation at least twice.
Place the kumquats again in the saucepan and add sugar and water. Bring slowly to the boil and let it boil for 20 minutes. Drain the kumquats and leave them to cool on a grid.

Turn on your oven at 150° C. Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave. Let it cool slightly, and then add the sugar. Mix well and begin to add each egg, one at the time. Add the flour, and last the candied kumquats. Transfer it in a 20 cm diameter cake mould and bake for 25 minutes. Let it cool and let it rest in the fridge until the day after.
Dust with cocoa before serving.