Apple cake

for 6 persons

1 kg renett apples
200 gr. sugar
1 lemon
2 eggs
60 gr. butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
50 gr. icing sugar
200 gr. plain flour
1 glass milk

Wash and peel the apples, cut them into quarters. Make some small slashes across each quarter, place the apple quarters on a plate and pour the juice of 1 lemon over them.
Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, using a wooden spoon. Gradually beat in the egg yolks, the juice of half a lemon and grated lemon peel. Gradually fold in the flour together with the baking powder and then the milk, mixing well.
Using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites until firm and gently fold into the mixture. Grease a cake tin with a small amount of butter and pour the mixture into it. Place the apple quarters on top of the mixture with the slashed parts top up. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 40 minutes.

Marble cake
For 4–6 persons

100 gr. margarine
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 eggs
250 gr. plain flour
150 gr. sugar
16 gr. baking powder
150 gr. milk (1 glass)
cocoa powder

Beat the yolks with the sugar, add the margarine, which has been previously softened, and the oil. Add the flour and the milk a little at a time, always stirring in the same direction. Whisk the egg whites until firm and fold into the mixture. Dissolve the baking powder in a little milk. Remove a third of the mixture and put it into another bowl adding the cocoa powder (sweetened or bitter). Grease a cake tin and sprinkle flour over the greased surface, shake to remove the excess flour. Pour, first the plain mixture and then the cocoa mixture into the tin, blending the two together with a wooden spoon.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 45 minutes.

limoncino

1 litre of alcohol
700gr. sugar
1,5 litres water
8 biological lemons

Peel the lemons taking care to use only the yellow part and leave them to soak in the alcohol for at least 15 days (twice a day, turn the container upside down).
Boil the water with the sugar. Mix and leave to cool. Add the alcohol after having removed the peel.
Freeze.

Chocolate salami

For 10 persons

250 gr. margarine
5 eggs
250 gr. sugar
500 gr. plain biscuits
1 glass Amaretto di Saronno
75 gr. bitter cocoa

Beat the eggs with the sugar, add the liqueur and the softened margarine. Add the cocoa and the biscuits, which have been previously crumbled. Mix well and form a salami roll with the aid of transparent film. Place in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

Piadina Romagnole style

For 9 persons

900 gr. plain flour
150 gr. lard

Heat ½ litre or more of water; add a tablespoonful of salt and a pinch of baking soda (optional). The water can be replaced partly or wholly by milk.
Sprinkle the flour onto the baking board. Form a hollow in its centre and pour the warm water into it adding the lard, which should slowly melt. Draw the dough together and knead well until you obtain a smooth pastry.
Divide into 9 parts and roll into circles about ½ cm. thick.
The piadina should be cooked on the special flat, iron pan (sold in local ironmongers). The griddle should be pre-heated and the piadina should be cooked first on one side and then on the other.
To be served with ham, creamy cheese, cooked green vegetables, chargrilled fish or meat. Some even like it with the Nutella, a creamy chocolate spread!
A good piadina is excellent cold too.
If at first you don’t succeed then remember: practice makes perfect!

Miacetto (typical Christmas cake in Cattolica

1 litre sweet wine
½ kg. toasted almonds
300 gr. sugar
300 gr. walnuts
200 gr. honey
½ kg. sultanas
the peel of 3 oranges, 2 lemons (dried in the oven)
100 gr. olive oil
500 gr. semolina
100 gr. pine kernels (optional)

Pour the wine into a large dish; add the chopped almonds, the sultanas (washed) and the chopped walnuts and then all the remaining ingredients.
The cake should be prepared at least 5 hours before cooking.
Bitter cocoa can be added to make it a darker colour.
The mixture should be soft, add water if necessary. The tins should be greased and coated with breadcrumbs (with sides about 3 cm. high) and should be baked at 180°C (pre-heated) for about 50 minutes.
Decorate with pine kernels and icing sugar.

Rum and Chocolate cake

300 gr. plain flour
150 gr. sugar
150 gr. butter
3 eggs
6 tablespoons milk (60 ml)
3 tablespoons rum (30 ml)
40 gr. dark chocolate
16 gr. baking powder

Sift the flour and baking powder together. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Cream the butter with the sugar and add the flour and baking powder a little at a time in order to obtain a creamy mixture, add the milk and the egg whites, which have been whisked until firm.
Pour in the rum and add the dark chocolate, which has been chopped into small pieces.
Pour the mixture into a cake tin, which has been previously greased and floured.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 40 minutes.

Stripy pizza

400 gr. plain flour
70 gr. butter
2 tablespoons lard
1 glass milk
pinch of salt
150 gr. smoked bacon
150 gr. mortadella
3 eggs

It’s not a real pizza but a sort of fancy bread.
Chop the bacon and mortadella into cubes. Mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
Place in a cake tin and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C.
Serve tepid.