• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

¼ cup butter, very soft for hand mixing, or cold and in small pieces for food processor

⅓ cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons rum

3 to 4 tablespoons chilled sweet white wine

Oil for frying

Powdered sugar or honey

To make by hand: Place flour on a wooden board and make a well in the center. Break eggs into well and beat lightly with a fork. Add butter, granulated sugar, rum and wine. Mix thoroughly with eggs. Using your hands, gradually add flour starting from inside of well and work into a ball.

To make using a food processor: Place flour, eggs, butter, sugar and rum in processor with a metal blade. Process until ingredients are blended. Add wine and process until dough forms a ball.

Wrap dough in waxed paper and refrigerate 20 to 25 minutes. Roll out dough ⅛ inch thick. Using a pastry wheel or a sharp knife, cut dough into strips ¾ inch wide and 6 or 7 inches long.Tie strips into bows.

Pour oil 2 inches deep in a large saucepan or deep-fryer. Heat oil to 375F (190C) or until a 1-inch cube of bread turns golden brown almost immediately. Using a slotted spoon, lower pasta bows a few at a time into hot oil. Turn bows. When golden brown on both sides, remove from oil with slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels.

Arrange drained bows on a platter and dust generously with powdered sugar, or drizzle with honey. Serve at room temperature.

BAKED APPLES WITH CUSTARD CREAM

Mele Cotte alla Crema Pasticcera

The combination of piping hot apples and custard makes this an ideal winter dessert.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

8 large Golden Delicious apples

4 tablespoons butter

½ cup Marsala wine or sherry

½ cup sugar

Custard Cream

2 cups milk

Few drops of vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

6 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Butter a large shallow baking dish. Core apples. Fill each apple with ½ tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon Marsala or sherry and 1 tablespoon sugar. Place apples in buttered baking dish. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until apple skins begin to split.

While apples are baking prepare Custard Cream: Bring milk to a boil with vanilla in a medium saucepan. In a large heavy saucepan off the heat, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Beat in flour until well blended.Very slowly pour in hot milk, beating constantly. Cook custard cream over medium heat 5 to 8 minutes, beating constantly. Do not boil. Custard cream is done when it coats the back of a spoon.

Place baked apples on a serving dish. Spoon hot custard cream over each apple. Serve hot or at room temperature.

BAKED APPLE, PEAR, DATE AND WALNUT ROLL

Rotolo di Frutta

This lovely dessert is a variation of the classic apple strudel, a typical dessert of the Trentino-Alto Adige region.

MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS

Sweet Pie Pastry, page 218

2 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled and thinly sliced

2 large Bosc pears, peeled and thinly sliced

8 ounces dates, finely chopped

5 ounces walnuts, finely chopped

2 ounces blanched almonds, finely chopped

Grated zest of 1 lemon

¼ cup rum

1 cup strawberry or plum jam

4 Amaretti di Saronno cookies, crushed

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Powdered sugar

Prepare Sweet Pie Pastry. Preheat oven to 375F (165C). Butter a 15 × 12-inch baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine apples, pears, dates, walnuts and almonds. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough very thinly.With a scalloped pastry wheel, cut the dough into a rectangle, about 20 inches long and 10 inches wide. Roll the dough quite loosely over the rolling pin and lift. Place a large kitchen towel under the pastry dough, then unroll the dough over the towel. Spread the crumbled Amaretti cookies over the pastry dough, leaving a 2-inch border on 3 sides, and a 4-inch border on the side nearest you.

Spread the apple filling evenly over the cookie crumbs. Fold the 4-inch border over the filling, then pick up the edges of the towel near you, and roll the pastry over loosely,