Desserts

The Cantuccini

It took me many trial and errors to get these exactly the way I want. In Switzerland and Germany, there is a brand called Alnatura, which sells these. They happen to be quite expensive in Switzerland (like everything, really), so I wanted to try to imitate them. These are different from classical Italian Cantuccini, as they are less sweet and made with whole wheat flour. I personally prefer these over classical ones, even the original Cantuccini Fiorentini (I understand I made myself a lot of Italian enemies this very moment). Hope you like them!
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Ingredients
  

  • 125 g whole wheat flour I use German "Dinkel" flour
  • 100 g white flour
  • 25 g coconut flour
  • some extra flour for dough kneading
  • 120 g sugar *see note
  • 100 g almonds, raw
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp amaretto
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • 1 package vanilla sugar
  • 2-3 drops almond extract
  • 2-3 drops vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 180°C.
  • Combine flours, baking powder, lemon and orange zest, salt, and mix well.
  • Whisk eggs, add honey, sugars, extracts, amaretto, and mix well.
  • Add flour mixture to wet mixture and mix until well combined, but still a bit crumbly. Add the almonds, mix it in well. At this point, put the dough mixture on a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth. Add some more flour, if needed, but make sure it does not end up too dry.
  • Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll them into logs that are approximately as long as the baking sheet, and about 2.5 cm wide.
  • Cover your baking sheet with parchment and add the logs. Flatten them slightly, so that they can take on their lengthy form. Place them in the oven for approximately 25 minutes.*
  • Remove the baking sheet from the oven and reduce the temperature to 160° C.
  • Place the logs on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut it diagonally into slices, about 1.5 cm thick.
  • Put the slices back on the baking sheet and back in the oven for about 5 minutes** per side.

Notes

* I do not like things very sweet, so for some of you, this might not be enough sugar. I saw Italian recipes calling for 150 g of sugar, and some Americans for 165, to give you some idea. The Italian “proper” recipes I saw do not have honey in it, so perhaps something in between makes sense. The honey makes them more flavourful and slightly less dry to me. 
** It took me a lot of trials to get the timing right. You want it to be entirely cooked on the inside and brown on the outside, but not too brown. If you take them out, I suggest cutting one log in half and checking whether the inside is still a bit raw. If that’s the case, stick it back to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. 
*** I tried to leave it in the oven shorter and longer, and my boyfriend and I had some disagreements here. He preferred the version with 2.5 minutes baked on each side, me the one 5 minutes – it makes it more crunchy, which to me Cantuccini should be. You can try two batches and compare. 

The New York Cheesecake

My go-to New York-style cheesecake recipe. Simple, creamy, delicious. This is the basic recipe I use, and the possibilities for flavour variations and toppings are endless! You can make half the filling of the Lemon Tarte or just pour caramel sauce on it. I once made a Thanksgiving version of it, where I simply mixed half of the filling with pumpkin purée and gingerbread spice. I also made it chocolate-y once. But it seems, the basic one still has the most success. Enjoy!
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Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 1 hr 10 mins

Equipment

  • Hand-mixer or KitchenAid
  • 23cm springform

Ingredients
  

Filling

  • 900 g Philadelphia cheese must be full fat, *see note
  • 120 ml sour cream can be substituted by heavy cream
  • 4 eggs *see note
  • 1 egg yolk
  • zest of one lemon
  • 200 g sugar
  • 1 tbsp Maizena (cornstarch)
  • 1 package vanilla sugar

Crust

  • 250 g ground Plazma cookies *see note
  • 65 g melted butter

Instructions
 

To make the crust

  • Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Wrap the bottom of a 23-cm springform pan with a baking sheet.
  • In a medium bowl, mix together the ground biscuits and melted butter. Mix until all is combined – it should look a bit moist. Press the mixture into the bottom and half way up the sides of the prepared pan to form an even layer of crumbs.
  • Bake for 8-9 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

To make the filling

  • Lower temperature to 130°C (260°F)
  • Use a hand mixer or kitchenaid with paddle attachment to beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth and lump-free, 1-2 minutes. Add sugar, vanilla sugar, cornstarch, and pudding powder, and beat until blended. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until fully combined. Add sour cream and lemon zest and beat just until combined and smooth. IMPORTANT: The goal is NOT to overmix and add too much air (you will see small air bubbles if you do), but also not to undermix and not have things evenly incorporated. In both cases, the cheesecake will not come out as creamy as it should. Trust me, I had to learn the hard way.
  • Pour batter over cooled crust and spread evenly.
  • Bake the cake for 60 minutes (start checking it after 45 minutes…it should not be dark on top and there should not be cracks, in which case its overbaked). Turn off the oven after the 60 minutes and set a timer for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes are over, slightly open the oven door and leave it in for another 10 minutes (this will prevent the cake from cracking). The sides should be set, but the center still wobbly at this point. If your kitchen is very cold, you might need to increase both of those times.
  • Transfer the cake to a wire rack and allow it to cool to room temperature. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours.

Notes

*Important: eggs and milk products need to be at room temperature, otherwise your cheesecake will crack in the oven. Basically this cake is like a new-born baby, it will scream, if you expose it to sudden changes in temperature.
**Biscuit ground: the original New York cheesecake is made with ground digestive biscuits. I found the ground Lane (or Serbian Plazma) cookies which they sell in Switzerland at Migros/Coop to be perfect, no added sugar or anything required. But feel free to buy digestive cookies and grind them up, the butter amount should stay the same, perhaps just some added sugar is needed.
***The Philadelphia cheese needs to be full-fat. I tried with low-fat and it just is not the same, it ends up more spongy than creamy. So if you are a health-conscious person, you just have to sit down, have a conversation with yourself, agree that life is short, put that conversation into a box in your brain. Then go make the cake with 900g full-fat Philadelphia. 

The Lemon Tart

My version of the typical French Tarte Meringuée au Citron, with a sort-a healthy crust and added mascarpone. Basically what would happen, if a French, an Italian, and a hipster decide to go on a baking adventure together. Please note that the hipster is outnumbered, so clearly we are still talking lots of sugar and butter, which is indispensable to make this tart amazing!
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Ingredients
  

Shortbread

  • 100 g whole wheat flour I use rye flour
  • 100 g white flour
  • 50 g almond flour
  • 125 g grated butter When it's hard, right out of the fridge or even freezer, grate it using the larger side of the grater
  • 80 g sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • pinch of salt

Filling

  • 150 ml lemon juice from 3-4 medium lemons, depending on how lemon-y you would like the filling.
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 120 g sugar
  • 4 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp Maizena
  • 75 g butter
  • 250 g mascarpone

Topping

  • 5 egg whites
  • 75 g powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 180°C

To make the shortbread

  • Whisk the egg yolk with the sugar until creamy. Now add the rest of the ingredients and quickly knead it to a smooth dough. Ideally let it cool for 30 minutes in the fridge (though I have skipped this step before and it was fine)
  • Place the mixture into a tart tin and bake it for 10-15 minutes, until the sides are golden. Then take it out and let it cool completely.

To make the filling

  • Heat lemon juice and zest in a small pot to boil. Then reduce the heat to medium.
  • Meanwhile, mix egg yolks, sugar, and maizena
  • Add two tablespoons of the hot lemon juice to the egg yolk mixture and whisk consistently until it is well incorporated
  • Now add this back to the pot with lemon juice, while keeping it on low-medium and keep whisking. This is the most "technical" part of the recipe: you need to have faith in yourself and just keep and keep whisking until the mixture thickens, which can take 5 minutes. It will turn from boring liquid to beauuutiful and creamy.
  • Once it has reached the beautiful creaminess, take it off the stove and let it cool for a bit, around 5 minutes. Then add the butter and whisk whisk whisk until incorporated and even more beautiful. If you want the true French version of this recipe, you stop here. If you want my version of the recipe, let it cool for another 5 minutes, before adding the mascarpone and whisk whisk whisk until you have the queen of creamy fillings, like an elegant and slightly rebellious marriage of a French queen and her handsome Italian knight. Just imagine a French version of Downton Abbey. 🙂
  • Add the mixture to the cooled shortbread and put it into the fridge for a few hours to cool.

To make the topping

  • Whisk the egg whites and powdered sugar until stiff, around 3-5 minutes, then spread it on the cake with whatever design you wish. You can use a kitchen torch to burn the ends a bit, if you would like to make it properly French.
  • Last, but not least, watch a loved one devour half the tart in one go and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. 🙂