Let's start from a proper base, the sponge cake

I started to be backing addicted when I was a teenager (now after several years I almost managed to stay on a reasonable level) and one of my biggest achievement has been at this time the sponge cake. My life changed in fact when I received a recipes book from the famous company Cameo – Dr. Oetker where several backing technique where explained very clearly and one of them was the sponge cake.

The sponge cake is really a must to learn because it is very flexible, a great base and it is also a cake with a small content of fat, so perfect for home preparation. And with few tips it is not even so complicated as you could imagine, just few steps have to be done with care.

So far as I know, the sponge cake should have no rising agent because the air bubbles trapped in the mass will guarantee a good final sponge consistency and softness. Never the less, to be on the safe side, I always use a bit of baking soda to be sure of the final result.

Another ingredient not used in the sponge cake is the fat. Anyhow I like to add a bit of melted butter or oil to make it less dry, and in any case the amount is much below then most of the butter cakes. So I like to think to the sponge cake like a healthy one! ;-)

For the preparation I recommend the usage of a food processor.

This recipe below is fine a for 20x30cm tray or a classic round shaped one.


4 eggs
4 spoons of hot water
150g sugar
1 tbs of vanilla sugar
100g flour
100g potates or mais flour
2 ts baking soda
100g melted butter or 4ts oil
salt

Fold the bottom of a tray with the baking paper. Only the bottom and not the walls.

Warm up a half cup of water until boiling point. Break and separate the eggs.

Add 4 table spoon of hot water spoons to the yolks and beat until you have a nice mass with a lot of air bubbles.

Now add slowly 2/3 of the sugar and beat again until you have a nice cream a bit more white and less yellow than in origin. If you pour a spoon of the cream it should create ribbons which last for a short time frame on the surface.
Add in small amounts the fat (cooled down melted butter or oil) and the aromas.

Beat the whites until stiff with a small pinch of salt. 
Mix together aside wheat flour, patato/mais flour and baking soda.
Now make next steps very gently to not compromise the good result you achieved so far. So pour gently the whites on the cream (better if you transfer it with a spoon to not remove the air) and on the top of it sprinkle the dry mix (flour etc) with the help of a strainer.

 

Now you have to mix with a wooden spoon. Do it extremely gently as I said to not lose the air trapped in. The right movement is in circles from the bottom to the top, like every recipe where you need to add the stiff whites to a preparation.

Bake in in the lower part of the oven at 180° for aprox 30minutes

Different gnocchi: semolina dumplings

The most well known italians dumpling in the rest of the world are the gnocchi made with potatoes. Never the less we have some other very popular and tasty dumling. They are made of semolina and we call them "gnocchi alla romana", i.e. dumpling at the Roma style.

I have always loved them since I was a child and nowsadays they

are still very approciated at home :)

But now that I prepare them by my own I make a small variation to the traditional recipe and I add some ham to make them if possible even more yummy. If you want a vegetarian dish just skipthe ham.

For 2

½ l milk

125g semolina

30g butter

1 egg

Parmesan

3 ham slices

Salt

Ground nutmeg

Heat the milk with butter and a pinch of salt until boiling.

In the while wet a baking paper sheet and squeeze it. Fold with it a medium size baking tray (20x30cm).  
 

When the milk is boiling add the semolina and go on in cooking and stirring. At the beginning it will be very liquid but after few minutes the mix will start to get thicker. Wait until you have almost a solitd mass and it is not sticking to the pot walls any longer. 

 

Now remove from the heat and mix in while stirring quickly nutmeg, egg, parmesan and the ham cut in small pieces.

 Pour in the tray and level with your hands wetted by cold water.  Let it cool and solidify (approximately 30-60min).
 

In the while take out a smaller tray  and fold it with backing papaer or spread a bit of butter.

When the semolina mix is hard cut in your favourite shape (my Mom always cut them in round shape with a glass, but I am an engineer so I cut it in squares for space optimization) and arrange them in an other tray overlapping a bit each raw to the one before. Finish with some butter and some parmesan.

 
Oven bakeat strong heat  in the higher part aproximately other 20minutes or until crunchy

Whops.. I was too late for the final picture ;-)