Get ready to be transported straight to the canals of Venice with just one bite of mine delicious Baci in Gondola. This Venetian delicacy is made up of two crispy yet airy meringue kisses that hug a rich and indulgent dark chocolate filling. The name itself means “kisses on a gondola”. It is a nod to the iconic gondolas that gracefully glide down the city’s waterways, often carrying couples in love, making baci in gondola the ultimate nostalgic and romantic Venetian treat. It’s no wonder these treats have been a staple in Venetian bakeries for ages. They are a match made in dessert heaven! I s ..read more

Yesterday evening I realised there was no sourdough bread left in my freezer. Needed some for dinner next day. No panic, right time to go for my seeded overnight no-knead loaf recipe, inspired by a method popularised by food writer Mark Bittman (but with just some tweaks here and there of course). And…bread was on the table right on time. Yes, you read it right. No bread kneading required, very little effort, this recipe is going to become one of your go-to pre-party staples or (almost) last minute bread-needing-dinners. Ok, I am a purist. Or at least I think I am. I always try to make-bake-c ..read more

Sometimes I find myself trying a recipe and then, for some reason, doing nothing with it and leaving it in the drawer for later use. That’s what happened with this lemon and rose drizzle mini cakes. I tried this recipe as a loaf cake probably more than a year ago, I liked it and then absolutely did nothing about it. Until recently when I was trying to find something sweet to bake for lunch to offer to the lovely people who attended my Christmas baking class. To make it prettier, I tweaked the recipe, turned the loaf into individual mini cakes (thanks to this amazing baking tray from Masterclas ..read more

It has been a while since I made some sourdough bread. In the last months I quite neglected my starter Kevin due to very irregular feeds. It was time to make amends. Brought my starter up to speed and make this delicious tomato and olives sourdough boule. Thinking back, I really enjoyed the times when I made bread with some fillings. So I thought to make a loaf using my favourite thing in the world to go into bread dough: olives. This goes back many years. When I was a kid the bakery where my mom used to buy bread made some small soft bread rolls packed with olive pieces inside. And also some ..read more

Naan is a type of bread found in many Asian cuisines and in the Caribbean. It’s one of my favourites accompaniments to make a curry dinner even more special or served alongside all sorts of dips. The texture is usually quite soft and chewy, a bit bubbly here and there, and that final touch of melted ghee or butter brushed on top when still warm makes it even more lush – so much that I could eat tons of it on its own. And the bonus thing is that it’s incredibly easy to make. You will need just a few ingredients: flour, salt, yeast, yoghurt, a pinch of sugar, water, plus some nigella seeds ..read more

If an upside down cake can only be made by using fruit, that definitely sounds like my type of cake. I love using fresh fruit in my recipes, they are so versatile, good looking and delicious, the options are endless. I decided to make a peach upside down cake because peaches are possibly my most favourite fruit and I have been trying to find a good recipe to celebrate them for a while now. It turns out, fresh peaches are not the easiest fruit to bake with. They are very juicy, which can be a problem sometimes, and their flavour is not an easy one to maintain and convey in a dessert. After many ..read more

A British classic, but with an Italian twist. Scones with baked strawberries and mascarpone cream. I love a good scone. I love the simplicity of it, the texture, the filling(s). And it even comes with some controversy about how to serve it, the long debate about cream first or jam first. Not-so-controversially, I like it both ways. For this recipe, I decided not to change the traditional one too much as it just works so well, but I gave it my own twist by slightly tweaking the fillings. This year was a great one for English strawberries and they have been available and at a very good value for ..read more

In partnership with Vico Food Box,  Italian food at low prices with free shipping throughout Europe This summer has been a very hot one in many parts of Italy. Also here in London we had a few extraordinarily hot days, with temperatures touching 40 C for the first time in history. For this reason, I decided to post the most delicious no-bake, no-struggle, it-is-too-hot-to-do-anything dessert: pistachio and amarena cherry panna cotta. Panna cotta is an absolute classic Italian dessert. Funny thing is, most people don’t know that it is actually ridiculously easy to make and to personalise w ..read more

In collaboration with Brixton Windmill and using their organic wholemeal flour A simple and super easy ham and pea savoury tart. It’s an amazing flavour combination. Ham, peas and cream is one of my most favourite pasta sauces ever. And it works amazingly well as a tart or quiche filling too. I came up with the idea for this tart for the baking classes I’m setting up in collaboration with Brixton Windmill. For this reason, but also given the fact that it carries a deeper rustic flavour, the tart case is rigorously made of whole wheat flour.  The ham, peas and cream combination works well ..read more

In partnership with Vico Food Box,  Italian food at low prices with free shipping throughout Europe There are few things better than a slice of freshly baked homemade stuffed bread. This ‘nduja and provolone sourdough bread combines the best of the worlds I live in: hearty sourdough bread from Britain and some of the most amazing ingredients from Italy, giving you the most delightful stuffed loaf.  Brits love their bread and Britain has a long baking tradition, going back centuries. Something I realised in recent years is that Brits actually love stuffed and flavoured bread. I guess ..read more