Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

   For the mousse you just need to beat and egg yolk with a tbsp of soft dark sugar until it is very very fluffy and pale. You can use white sugar, but brown or moscovado will give the mousse a little 'caramelly' flavour. Then fold in 100 ml of whipped cream (very whipped, a step beyond fluffy but before 'clotting') and, finally, the remaining egg white, beaten to stiff peaks. Divide into two or three glasses (you only need a little) and refrigerate overnight, or for at least six hours. Wash and cut a punnet of strawberries then add some clean rose petals (organic), add one tsp of sugar and one of lemon juice. Stir and let it sit in the fridge for one hour. Stir well and add to the chilled mousses and decorate with a fresh strawberry and roses petals.  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena goes well with fruit, and there is also a Balsamic cream you can buy which is less expensive and ideal to decorate plates.   Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Personally I am not a great fan of pavlovas, but they are so easy to make and a good way to use egg whites, so once or twice a year a make one. This is my easiest recipe so far. Ingredients:  3 egg whites  1 pinch of salt 1 tbsp white vinegar 1/2 tsp cream of tartar 200g white sugar Start the evening before. The most important ingredient is egg whites, use free range and possibly organic eggs for egg whites that have lots of proteins and beat into perfect standing peaks! Start beating the egg whites at high speed with a pinch of salt. Add the vinegar, then the cream of tartar, then the sugar (I add this in three-four goes, but quickly). Don't need to use caster sugar if you are beating at high speed and if the egg whites are really stiff. Sometimes I forget the cream of tartar so I add it after the sugar, nothing has ever happened. Some people add vanilla, but I like pavlova to smell and taste of meringue, not of vanilla! The vinegar takes away that...

This is my home recipe for a Vegan Monte Bianco so easy, (plus no cooking required) and one of my favourite desserts. Chestnuts are in my DNA, as they were the staple food of my ancestors, and mine to when I was little (we still have a chestnut wood in Italy). They are naturally sweet, low in fat and high in protein, but they are so difficult to find in NZ (please write to me if you have some!!). The original recipe calls for cream, but it seems that coconut cream goes really well with chestnuts too! Here are the ingredients: 1x 400ml can coconut cream, refrigerated for at least one day 1 drop vanilla 1 tbsp sugar 1 x439g Clement Faugier chestnut puree 1x 250g Clement Faugier Sweet chestnut spread Dark chocolate to grate (I used dark vegan Mexican chocolate) You can add a few drops of rum or Frangelico if you like. Scoop the coconut cream out of the tin (leave the water at the bottom) and beat until soft and foamy. Add sugar and vanilla. Set aside. Beat ...

I was back in the Italian Apennines recently and in the market I bought some fresh strawberries and some local ricotta which was so creamy it was almost like mascarpone, so I thought of 'marrying' the two. I marinated the strawberries with lemon juice and a little sugar for a few hours, long enough to make a nice sweet smelling strawberry joyce and enhance their flavour. Then all I had to do was to put a slice of ricotta in a dessert bowl and top it with the strawberries and their juice. Mmmhhh! It was so good I am still thinking about it! I also loved the colour combination, the red of the fruit with the snow white of the ricotta… which made me think of both spring and winter! In fact when I arrived in the mountains the fields and woods where full with flowers... …and after a few days I woke up in the morning to find everything covered with Spring snow! I was back in the Italian Apennines recently and in the market I bought some fresh strawberries an...

The Kahikatea trees in the bush are full of berries, and birds are singing happily. The berries ( koroī)  are edible, but the trees are too high to climb for me, so I can only pick what falls on the forest floor. It takes time, but foraging runs in my veins, plus it is a good squatting exercise! After picking you need to wash the berries well and remove the hard blue seeds, another time consuming job! After all this you are left with an handful of berries so it is easy to understand why you don't see  koroī jam around! In fact there are not many recipes with these berries, and this is my third one only (the other two are  Flan with Kawakawa cream and Kahikatea berries , and  Kahikatea Cupcakes .  The berries don't have much taste so I added one tsp of sugar and a tbsp of lemon juice and I let them marinate overnight. They day after they were yummy and ready to put on cereals, but I preferred  making a tart. I use quinces from Oratia, in season n...

I have tried a couple of brands of coconut yogurt and it is quite nice, although I am not sure 100% if I can call it Vegan. One of the two labels it as Vegan, but the live bacterias (a part from being 'live', if you see what I mean) could come from dairy products, as usually lactobacillus originally do… so if you know more about it just tell me, I really like to find out!* Another thing that I have noticed is the price of coconut yogurt… so expensive!!! Around $10! So before finishing the second jar I have filled it up with a can of coconut cream (only about $2.50) and after two days in the hot water cupboard followed by two days in the fridge I got my own coconut yogurt (albeit a bit more runny than the bought one). I am trying the second lot with a thicker coconut cream and I'll let you know if it works. The ice-cream One cup of frozen mango Half a cup of coconut yogurt Blend with immersion blender I am glad I remembered to take a photo before t...

I like to use lavender for dessert, but the flavour has to be delicate, not too overwhelming.  Ingredients:  one small bunch of Lavender 3 tbsp caster sugar 1x400ml can coconut cream + same amount in boiling water to rinse the can 1 tsp agar agar to serve: blackberries and lavender Pick the lavender from the garden and make sure it is clean, or rinse lightly and pat dry with a clean tea towel. Put in a container and cover with the caster sugar. Put a lid on and leave for 2-3 days. The sugar will absorb the aroma of the flowers.   Place the coconut cream in a pot, fill the can with the same amount of boiling water to rinse it and add into the pot. Remove the flowers from the sugar (it will be crumbly and moist) and add it to the mixture. Add a tsp of agar agar and bring to the boil stirring constantly. You can add a few petals of lavender if you like, but don't overdo it - not everyone likes to find 'bits' in such a smooth puddin...

Strawberries, nectarines, pears, blueberries and kiwi fruit, a drop of lemon juice and some coconut water. No sugar.  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

First a confession: I am not a fan of Pavlovas, not at all. But I love meringues, and ever since I have heard of the aquafaba meringue, or meringue made with the water from a can of chickpeas (very popular in Italian blogs, and not necessarily Vegan blogs, everyone is making it!) I couldn't stop thinking about it!  "Vegan baker Goose Wohlt coined the term  aquafaba  ("bean liquid") to describe the liquid, which French chef Joël Roessel discovered could be used in recipes much like egg whites." Source; Wikipedia  Well, what a success!! Basically all you need to do is to drain a can of chickpeas, keep the liquid and then beat it. Don't do it by hand though, unless you have strong harms, it takes longer that egg whites. But wow doesn't it peak! And white and fluffy too! I got quite emotional seeing it, like a wonderful chemistry experiment. After beating for 3-5minutes After 7-8 minutes After adding sugar and cornflour Taaa-daa...

Homemade mascarpone with Tawari honey, pistachio and dried strawberries Making mascarpone at home is one of my favourite occupations these days! A part from the 'magic' of it, and the resemblance to a chemistry experiment (I made this with Max, actually, he made it with me in the background giving instructions and liked doing it!) it is also so much cheaper, fresh and delicious that the one you buy!  For the mascarpone recipe just click   here , it is easier that you may think! When the mascarpone is ready just add a tbsp of honey (I used  Airborne Tawari Honey ) and fold. Divide the mascarpone into 4 cups and it is ready to be eaten or topped with what you fancy.  For this recipe I just toasted a few pistachios in a pan, then I rub them with a tea towel to take away loose skins and chopped them coarsely. Then I also added some  Fresh As  dried strawberries, crunchy and full of flavour and aroma. A simple dessert that everyone loved...

Would you like t make a tiramisù style dessert without coffee? Are you a fan of lemons and limoncello? I had a jar of lemon curd to finish, so I made up this lemon version, and it worked wonders: in fact it tastes so good that no one will be believe that it is so easy to make! Of course I used NZ best limoncello,  Limoncello Sovrano .  Ingredients: 3 tbsp of lemon curd 300 ml cream 1 small glass of  Limoncello Sovrano  thinned with a little water 12 savoiardi biscuits Edible Flowers to decorate Smooth the lemon curd with 3 tbsp of cream, then whip the rest of the cream and fold with the lemon curd mixture. Place the Limoncello in a deep plate and add a little water to thin it down (or use just limoncello - I prefer to thin it down so that my kids can also eat this). Quickly soak the savoiardi biscuits in the limoncello, one side only, then place them in a serving bowl, soaked side up.  Add some cream and lemon curd mixture and ...