Recipes - Desserts

Custard cream

Ingredients:
Ingredients: 1l Of milk, 250g of sugar, 8 egg yolks, grated orange peel, a sachet of vanilla flavouring, 100g of flour.

Preparation:
Boil the milk with half the sugar, vanilla flavouring, and orange peel. Whip the eggs separately with the remaining sugar and mix with flour. Wet the mixture with some milk, then pour into the pot. Boil constantly stirring with a whisk, then remove from the flame, pour in a large tray and let it cool before use.

Pasta frolla

Ingredients:
Ingredients: 1kg of flour, 600g of butter, 400g of sugar, 8 egg yolks, grated lemon peel, a sachet of vanilla flavouring.

Preparation:
Pour the flour on a working surface forming a fountain. In the center add sugar, softened butter, and egg yolks. Flavour with lemon peel and vanilla. Knead the dough quickly with your hands, or with the help of a spoon, finally add flour. Once the dough is smooth and springy, flour it and wrap it in a cloth or cling film. Let the dough rise for half an hour.

Rice cake

Ingredients:
Ingredients: 1/4 a measure of pastafrolla, 1/2 a litre of milk, 4 pistils of Saffron of San Gimignano, 150g of rice (Originario variety), 100g of sugar, grated peel of orange and lemon, 1/4 a measure of custard cream, 100g of raisins, 50g of mixed candied fruit, 2 eggs, a pinch of salt, a sachet of vanilla flavouring, 20g of icing sugar, 1dl of dessert wine (Vin Santo di San Gimignano).

Preparation:
Boil milk with vanilla and saffron, add rice and cook on a low flame, until it absorb the liquid. Add sugar and grated peel, cream and one egg. Blend carefully the mixture and add candied fruit and raisins at the end, after softening up into Vin Santo. Roll pastafrolla out and cover with it a round baking pan covered with butter and flour. Pour the rice mixture, level it out, and put into the oven to 160° for approx. half an hour. When ready, take it out of the pan, let it cool and sprinkle with icing sugar.

A very simple and mild cake, where saffron adds a more intense perfume.

Zuccotto with saffron

Ingredients:
Ingredients: three discs of pandispagna, 0,75I of fresh cream, 50g of mixed candied fruit, 5 pistils of saffron of San Gimignano, 50g of dark chocolate, 6 cherries, some syrup to wet the cake.

Preparation:
Cut pandispagna in regular slices, and cover with it a baking pan. Add ¼ of a litre of whipped cream and sprinkle with chopped chocolate, some crumbled pandispagna and mixed candied fruits soften up in some water. Wet the cake with the syrup, then add 1/4 of a litre of whipped ceam with saffron, obtained by mixing saffron powder with cream. Put some additional slices of pandispagna on top and put into the fridge. Turn out zuccotto, wet carefully with some syrup, then garnish with cream rosettes and cherries.

A new version of typical "zuccotto alla fiorentina", using saffron instead of cocoa. The final result is excellent, and it confirms the versatility of saffron.