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  ©

This is the season for plums, and we also have a few last strawberries in the garden, enough to add to smoothies and make them sweet! In fact I love the fact that plums are a little tart, but they do benefit from the strawberry sweetness. As a base I used half apple juice and half coconut water. Perfect breakfast! And now a few things from my garden! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

This is a super fast dessert: whip some cream and fold in some grated dark chocolate, cannot really see it much as it blends with the cream but the taste will be like a light chocolate mousse. Then top with strawberries and raspberries. So much better than those packaged instant whipped desserts! And now for something that takes a little longer, but taste really good: artichoke risotto. I only had two artichokes and needed a meal for 4 people, and risotto was the ideal solution. Clean the artichokes and remove the outer leaves. Peel the stalks and cut into small pieces. Put everything in water with lemon juice while you work or the artichokes will become black. Finely chop a handful of parsley with a couple of garlic cloves and add salt. Stuff the artichokes with the chopped garlic and parsley and add a drizzle of olive oil. Place in a casserole, together with the stalks, and add 5cm of water. Simmer on low with the lid on for one hour or until cooked (the outer leaves will start...

Fresh pineapple, kiwi, banana, raspberries, mango, mandarin, blueberries and strawberries Nothing better than a colourful fruit plate for breakfast, dessert, or snack!  Berry fruit salad: strawberries, blueberries and raspberries Tropical fruit salads: pineapple, banana, mango and kiwi Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

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...

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...

Arantxa picked flowers from the garden: roses, lavender, sage, violets and nasturtiums   I made my trusted vegan chocolate pudding, and since we are in season I wanted to top it with some strawberries, and maybe some flowers too? So I asked Arantxa to look after this. For 4 puddings: 500 ml oragnic soy milk (I use  Vitasoy , either Original, Milky or Calci Plus) 2 tbsp raw sugar 1 heap tbsp cocoa (the better the cocoa the better the flavour, so don't go for cheap baking cocoa, but for 'hot chocolate' quality) 1 tbsp cornflour Natural Vanilla essence (or a little cinnamon if you prefer) Strawberries and edible flowers to finish. Dissolve the dried ingredients with a little soy milk to make a paste, then add the rest of the milk and mix well. Put on the stove on low and, always stirring, bring to simmering point. Make sure that you stir well, especially around the borders and bottom of the pot, so that the pudding has a smooth consistency. As soon...

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 Tawari) and fold. Divide the mascarpone into 4 cups and it is ready to be eaten or topped with what you fancy.  This time 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! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Crema di nocciola e vaniglia con gelatina di cotogne, fichi e alchechengi A few days ago I was in Christchurch where I bought some hazelnut flour ( Hazelz ). I love hazelnuts! For 4 verrines I used: 2 eggs 3 tbps sugar 1 tbsp (level) cornflour 400 ml full cream milk 1 drop real vanilla essence 1 tbsp (heap) hazelnut flour 1 tbsp  Frangelico liquor for the topping 4-8 tbsp quince jelly (see below) figs and cape gooseberries to decorate In a pot mix the eggs with sugar and cornflour and add the milk little by little. Simmer stirring constantly until a custard form, then add the vanilla essence. Pour 200 ml of this custard into a measuring jug (I used the same one I used for the milk) and set aside, then put the hazelnut flour and Frangelico into the remaining custard and stir well. Fill four verrines or glasses with the hazelnut cream (this will be quite thick) and then pour the (thinner) vanilla custard on top. Let it cool down then add the quinc...

 A fruit lunch box: grapes, melon, watermelon, strawberries and wild strawberries (these are from the garden), plum and apricot, plus some mini pikelets. Easy as! Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

What to do for dessert with some rhubarb and a few strawberries (regular and wild) in the garden?   I boiled the rhubarb with 1 tbsp of sugar, added a pinch of agar agar and made a jelly to be topped with a little yogurt, the strawberries and some edible violets. Easy! Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

This dessert has three layers, and the first is a velvety chocolate pudding made with 3 egg yolks, 3 tbsp of sugar, 500 mil of full cream milk and plenty of Peruvian cooking chocolate (milk or dark, I used milk here). I didn't measure the chocolate, but you should go by taste, not everybody likes really intense chocolate! Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and beat well, then put on bain marie (double boiling) and simmer slowly, adding the milk little by little. Use top milk, otherwise use 400ml milk and 100 ml cream. Stir until the mixture thickens (it takes a long time!) then add the chocolate and melt. Pour into glasses and set aside to cool. Refrigerate for a few hours. In the meantime clean and hull the strawberries and cut into small pieces. Add a tsp of sugar and one of lemon juice and set aside for a few hours. Before serving top the chocolate with the strawberries and finally with whipped cream. Decorate with edible flowers (I used borage). Photos and Recipes ...

Alpine (wild) strawberry smoothie Ingredients: All the wild strawberries you can find One banana Natural apple juice Photos and Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Quick post today, and a quick idea! I make fruit salad with watermelon and blueberries quite often, I really like the colours together, and there is no need for sugar. This time I also added some Cape Gooseberries and some Alpine strawberries from the garden, very effective, and a sugar free healthy dessert! I am entering this recipe in Sweet New Zealand, the monthly blogging event for Kiwi bloggers. Our October 2013 host is  Lucy from Lucy eats , click  here  to enter. Here you are Lucy, a sugar free dessert, perfect for Spring and Summer! Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

  Bence  and Judit are visiting from Japan (btw, they are Hungarians, not Japanese), and last night Bence made us a yummy strawberry risotto. He chopped half a onion and cooked it in butter and olive oil, then added 500g of carnaroli rice and a glass of white wine. He chopped a punnet of strawberries and added them to the rice and, always stirring, added about 1.5l of vegetable broth, ladle by ladle. At the end he added some grated parmesan cheese and topped the risotto with chopped parsley. More parmesan and some freshly ground black pepper were added to the plates. It was a super delicious risotto, thank you Bence! Recipe by  Bence Kovács, Photos by Alessandra Zecchini  ©