Small, Sweet, and Italian: Tiny, Tasty Treats from Sweet Maria’s Bakery
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About this ebook
In her newest baking book, everyone's favorite Italian baker, Maria Bruscino Sanchez of Connecticut's Sweet Maria's Bakery, takes the mini-sweet-treat trend on an eye-opening Italian vacation as she highlights classic Italian treats in small sizes for scrumptious small bites while offering readers a trove of new recipes that are hers alone—cappuccino hazelnut or Bellini cupcakes, tiny Torta Caprese and bite-sized almond cakes, individual pear crostatas, mini Italian cream horns, and a one-serving version of Zia Ann's delicious Chocolate Ricotta Pies. Sanchez fills tiny parfait glasses and baking dishes with Arborio Rice Pudding Parfaits, Tiramisu Bread Pudding, and Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Crushed Amaretti and Berries. Small, Sweet, and Italian includes more than seventy–five recipes with easy-to-follow instructions that will turn any kitchen into a Sweet Maria Kitchen. So, think "small, sweet, and Italian" when you're looking for small, scrumptious desserts with an Italian twist!
Maria Bruscino Sanchez
MARIA BRUSCINO SANCHEZ is the author of The New Lasagna Cookbook, Sweet Maria's Cookie Jar, Sweet Maria's Italian Cookie Tray, Sweet Maria's Cake Kitchen, and Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts. She is the owner and baker at Sweet Maria's in Waterbury, Connecticut.
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Small, Sweet, and Italian - Maria Bruscino Sanchez
Introduction
Most everyday Italian desserts are fresh fruit, nuts, a simple biscotti, espresso, or a glass of sweet wine. Our famous fancy pastries are usually tied to a specific holiday or saint’s feast day, meant to be shared in a big way. Desserts like cannoli, cassata, and rum baba are usually bought in pastry shops and not baked at home. With many of the recipes here, I’ll guide you to have your own personal pasticerria a casa or pastry shop at home.
I’m sure our grandmothers would be proud that traditions can be kept in new, interesting ways and in new proportions to fit our lifestyles and palates. Maybe not everyone in the family wants a piece of the 10-inch Easter Wheat Pie you slaved over. By baking them into tiny tarts you can keep the tradition alive and serve them at your Easter feast, a sweet way to connect the generations.
This book is not meant to be a dictionary or travelogue of all Italian sweets. With so many regional specialties, my advice is to eat your way from the top to the boot and try them all. Rather, this collection is a tasty sampling of my favorites from family and friends, and sheer inspiration from fresh simple ingredients. Small desserts, but big flavor and big traditions. Now that’s a taste of the sweet life.
INTELLIGENTI, OR BAKE SMART
TIPS
Many of the recipes are tagged with Intelligenti, or bake smart
tips. These tips can help you utilize ingredients and time more efficiently. For example, if you are using four egg yolks for a pastry cream recipe, why not bake smart and save the egg whites to bake a batch of meringues or angel food cakes?
Wheat-free recipes are tagged with an asterisk.
INGREDIENTS/PANTRY
FLOUR
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
All-purpose flour is used for most of the recipes in this book, unless otherwise specified. It is readily available and most major brands work fine in these recipes.
CAKE FLOUR
Cake flour gives cakes their light texture and fine crumb. It has less gluten than all-purpose flour. Try not to use self-rising cake flour. This is flour that already includes baking powder. I prefer to add my own amount of leavening.
DOUBLE ZERO FLOUR 00
Doppio Zero or 00
flour is an Italian flour used mostly for pasta, pizza, and bread making. It is a very refined, soft flour, but with a high amount of protein. Many brands imported from Italy can be expensive and hard to find. A good substitute is half cake flour and half all-purpose flour. This combination will give you the same results as double zero flour. I recommend it for making Traditional Sicilian Cannoli shells.
SUGAR
GRANULATED SUGAR
Regular granulated sugar is fine for these recipes. It has great flavor and blends easily with butter and other ingredients.
CONFECTIONERS’ SUGAR
Confectioners’ sugar is powdered sugar. It is graded according to how finely it’s ground. 10-X and 6-X are readily available and blend well with other ingredients for smooth icings and glazes. A dusting of confectioners’ sugar on top of desserts is a simple way to finish them.
BROWN SUGAR
Brown sugar is granulated sugar processed with molasses for a rich flavor. It comes in light brown and dark brown, and you can use either in these recipes. Be sure to lightly pack it when measuring and break up any lumps before adding it to a recipe.
EGGS
Extra-large, grade A eggs are used for these recipes.
EGG WASH
Egg wash
is a professional baking term for a glaze made of lightly beaten eggs with a bit of liquid added. I use 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of water. Beat lightly with a fork and brush on baked goods before baking as directed. This will give you a professional GBD
look to your sweets—GBD
is a Sweet Maria term for golden brown and delicious.
Egg wash can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 1 to 2 days.
BUTTER AND OILS
BUTTER
Always use unsalted butter for baking. It is fresher and offers the fullest flavor. It’s easier to control the amount of salt added to each recipe. With salted butter you are never really sure how much has been added.
NONSTICK BAKING SPRAY
Always have a can of nonstick baking spray handy. You will need it to spray pans, cannoli tubes, and more for easy removal of baked goods from pans. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick baking spray, then line it with parchment paper.
VEGETABLE OIL
Some of the recipes use vegetable oil in the batters or doughs. A simple, neutral-tasting oil, such as canola or soybean oil, is fine.
CANOLA OIL FOR FRYING
Many of the recipes in this book are for fried pastries. Canola oil has a clean, neutral taste and will let the flavor of the pastry come