Bernardini Danny - The Italian Baker

I have been a professional baker for more than six years now. Since my first attempt, a lot has happened and many cakes have been baked! I moved to Sarzana, a small town in the region of Cinque Terre in the north west of Italy and started my first bakery. Since Day One my aim has been to offer real food to real people. I searched for recipes from the area and revisited recipes picked up on my travels around the world, adapting them for Italian tastes. I bake every morning to sell in the afternoon, everything is prepared from scratch and freshly baked, and the recipes, change every day. This is so important to me it is the core of my business and my way of living. Thankfully, organic produce is widely available here and I am so lucky to be able to have constant access to some of the best products available in the region and throughout Italy.

Recently, we moved to a bigger site in Sarzana and I am now the proud owner of a tea room, right in the historic and charming city centre, called Melissas Tea Room & Cakes. It is a lifelong dream come true and I couldnt be happier to serve the wonderful customers who visit us every day in search of a moment of peace and delight.

I once found this quote left by a former flatmate in our flat in London: If we dont get lost, we will never find a new route. I have travelled many roads met many fascinating people and, learnt from them. This book is who I am, its what I love to do and, most of all, it is about how I see the world a place where style, flavour, authenticity and attention are the most important ingredients. I hope you have as much fun making these recipes as I did writing them for you.

Yours truly, Melissa.

RECIPE NOTES:

I recommend organic, unwaxed citrus fruits when using the zest. All eggs are large unless otherwise specified. Recipes were tested in a fan-assisted (convection) oven. Recipes give both metric and imperial/cup measurements. Please stick to one type of measurement when following a recipe and do not switch between metric and imperial/cups, as this will affect the results of your baking.

I scour the internet for old baking books and vintage magazines for my collection, and I found this recipe in an Italian food magazine dated 1955. You can find real gems in old publications; some recipes need adjusting, some can be changed entirely and improved upon, but many are precious just as they are. They speak of a time that no longer exists, bringing you back to old traditions and telling you so much about the baking world of those bygone years.

This recipe is reliable and versatile, and needed no adjustments, so here it is as it appeared in the original magazine. Use it as a base for different fillings and decorations, drizzle over a fruit pure to soak in, or serve it simply as it is. Happy vintage baking to you all!

Serves 1012

Ingredients

A little softened butter, for greasing

A little caster (granulated) sugar, for dusting

100g ( cup plus 1 tablespoon) plain (all-purpose) flour

95g ( cup) potato flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

10 egg whites (separated into 6 and 4 whites)

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

350g (scant 3 cups) icing (confectioners) sugar, plus extra for dusting

A pinch of salt

250g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) butter, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 180/350F. Butter the insides of an angel food cake tin, about 24cm/9 inches in diameter, (deep with a hole in the centre) and sprinkle caster sugar inside to coat.

Sift the flour, potato flour and baking powder three times into a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a mixing bowl and using an electric hand-held whisk, whisk 6 of the egg whites with the vanilla and icing sugar until stiff.

Put the remaining 4 egg whites into another bowl with the salt and, using thoroughly cleaned whisk attachments, whisk until stiff. Using a spatula, very gently fold this mixture into the egg white and icing sugar mixture until combined.

Now slowly start adding the sifted dry ingredients a little at a time, folding them very, very gently into the mixture. Finally, add the melted butter and fold into the mixture very gently. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 3040 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Once baked, leave to cool for 10 minutes in the cake tin before inverting on to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar, and/or fill or decorate if you like.

This Sicilian dessert, served for the feast of Santa Lucia on 13 December, has no translation, and I have included it for two reasons. The first is that Sicily is a cross between tradition and internationality; its well known that many Sicilians left Italy to move abroad and exported their cuisine all over the world. People from Sicily are proud people, proud of their heritage and yet open to the world at the same time.

The second reason is that the recipe was generously passed to me by a wonderful Sicilian who owns a restaurant, the Trattoria Marzocco, in a lovely Tuscan town called Pietrastanta, and it is one of my all-time favourite places to eat. It was his grandmothers recipe, and so should be cherished and respected. Thank you Pino!

Serves 1012

Ingredients

450g (1lb) ricotta cheese, ideally sheeps milk, or cows if sheeps isnt available

155ml ( cup) double (heavy) cream

2 tablespoons icing (confectioners) sugar

200g (7oz) mini chocolate chips (or chopped dark chocolate)

200g (7oz)