"Ravani Cake"

“Ravani Cake”

(Cake with lemon syrup)

By Angela Beretti

E’ Class

 Ingredients:

1 cup of fine semolina flour

1 cup of self-raising flour (farina)

6 eggs

1 cup of sugar

4 tablespoons of milk

3 tubes of vanilla powder (or 1 teaspoon extract)

a pinch of salt

for the syrup:

2¹/2 cups of sugar

4 tablespoons fresh butter

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of lemon zest

Butter a baking tray of 30cm in diameter and set it aside. Preheat the oven at 175̊C. Put the eggs and the sugar in your mixer bowl and whisk them for 10 minutes, or until white and fluffy. Keep on mixing and pour in slowly the milk, then the self-raising flour and finally the semolina flour, the vanilla and the salt. Pour the mixture in the baking tray and immediately put it in the oven. Let it bake for about 45 minutes or until it forms a golden surface, then check with a knife if it is ready. 

Take it out of the oven and cut it in diamond-shaped pieces. Let it cool in the tray. Meanwhile, prepare the syrup. In a saucepan, boil the sugar and the water for about 5 minutes. Add the butter, the lemon juice and the zest, and while it is still hot, drizzle the cake carefully in small doses with a tablespoon. Let it cool down completely and absorb the syrup. 

The “Ravani” cake is ready to eat!

Muffins with Chocolate praline

Muffins with chocolate praline

by Dimitra Pappa

A’ Class

 Ingredients:

4 eggs

2 glasses (500 ml) milk

2 glasses (500 gr) sugar

500 gr self-raising flour (farina)

4 small tubes of vanilla powder (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

1 cup (250 gr) butter

cinnamon powder

for the decoration:

readymade chocolate praline (such as nutella or merenda)

icing sugar

Put half the butter in a saucepan and let it melt in low heat. Put the melted butter in your mixer bowl, add the sugar, the eggs and the flour and whisk them for three minutes. Add the milk and the vanilla and whisk for three more minutes. Butter a tin baking tray for muffins, pour in the mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon powder. Put the tin in a pre-heated oven, at 180C, for an hour. Put the muffins on a clean surface and let them cool down. Cut them in half, open like a sandwich, spread the chocolate praline inside and close them again. Sprinkle with icing sugar on top and serve on a nice plate.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers

By Christiana Beretti

Proficiency Class

Ingredients:

500gr minced beef

1 cup rice

2 cups water

6 green bell peppers

1 tablespoon tomato puree

2 fresh tomatoes grated

¼ teaspoon oregano

1 onion finely chopped

Parsley or drill

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 200^O  C. After that place a pot on the stove , pour some olive oil, chop the onion and add it. Then add the minced beef and the tomatoes. Stir the mixture so as to avoid big lumps of meat. Reduce the heat, cover and cook the beef until evenly browned.After 10 minutes add the parsley or the dill and seasonings. Mix it and at the same time remove and discard the seeds of  the bell peppers but keep the tops and use them as a lid. Arrange the peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upwards. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each pepper. Put the lid back on the peppers and turn them upside down. Stir the remaining stuffing and pour it around the stuffed peppers. Bake it for 40 minutes in the preheated oven at 250^o C and the stuffed peppers are ready!

My Green pots are flourishing!

 My cherry tomatoes are on the way

The eggplant is following

Pizza Night!

The “dough” adventures continue relentlessly!

Homemade special pizza in a big baking tray for hungry families. For the dough you will need:

-        4 cups of plain flour

-        ½ cup of olive oil

-        1 cup of tepid water

-        1 sachet dry yeast

-        1 teaspoon sea salt

-        2 teaspoons sugar

Put the flour in a big bowl, sprinkle with the salt and make a well in the middle. Pour in there the water, the sugar the yeast and the olive oil. Mix with the flour and kneed until the dough doesn’t stick to your hands. Cover the bowl and let it rest for one hour. If you want to speed the things up, put the bowl in a preheated oven at 50C until the dough doubles in size. After that, take it off the oven and raise the temperature at 200C.

Meanwhile make the sauce:

In a small pot put 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 200gr of tomato passata, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and one teaspoon of dried basil (if you use fresh leaves take 3 or 4, thinly cut). Put it to the boil, add a teaspoon of sea salt and  some chili pepper if you like it hot. Let it simmer for 10 minutes.

When your dough is ready, put it in a baking tray and press with your fingers to make it expand until the brim of the tray. Pour over the sauce, add some ham, top with grated cheese (I use edam), and slices of bacon, mushrooms and peppers.

Put your tray at the second shelf from the bottom of your oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the dough at the edges takes that beautiful golden brown colour. Enjoy!