Monday, February 11, 2008

Panforte tartlets and Physalis cream

Luca, an Italian, is one of my husband's good friends in Barcelona. He married to a Dutch Italian, and had worked as a chef in a Turkish restaurant. These are not the things that make him interesting, but his enuthusiam in often inviting friends to explore new food, and to share speciality from his home country. This panforte morbido (photo follows) ... think of very dense, flourless, very spicy citron fruit cake... is what he particularly asked his wife bringing over to me from Italy a few weeks ago. I'm not sure how he reacts if he finds out I using it in pastries. My comment is, always love it as-is, but even more its versatility to be explored in modern cooking.

Panforte morbido from Siena, Tuscany - ingredients include candied orange peels and citron, sugar, almonds, honey, mixed spicy, and wafer

Panforte filled in tartlets, garnish with physalis fruit and physalis cream

These few weeks we call them "ski weeks". People, rich ones I bet, would take a week of vacation, getting out of this city to some ski resorts at where usually they own another house, just to grab a last chance to play with snow before it melts. I don't ski but have quite a few things lined up; any dessert that can be fixed in jiffy would be perfect for me. To do the panforte tartlets requiring not much work, simply take a few things out from pantry and just assemble them together. However, using an extremely high quality of panforte is a must.

To prepare the panforte tartlets - simmer little bit of dessert sweet wine with some mashed panforte for about 5 minutes. The texture got to be like thick paste. Let cool. Fill it up with manufactured mini puff shells, bake them over medium-hot oven until they turn bgolden brown.

To parepare Physalis (fruit) cream - mash up a few physlis fruit, well combine with vanilla yogurt and whipped cream.

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16 comments:

FH said...

Never heard of both of them but they sure look delcious!:))
Physalis, got to look at few photos.

Cakespy said...

Like whoa. That panforte looks wonderful...but the tartlets--so cute! And the cream. This is putting me on pleasure overload!

aminah said...

Hi Gattina, hope all is well! I was wondering whether you will be posting any ideas for Valentines day...I wanted to make D something special tomorrow and thought perhaps you could give me a few tips!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Nice recipe. I really like the flavors you have used here gatinna1

Piggy said...

they looks so yummy! but i've not heard of physalis, gotta google it later... :-)

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Do you think I could come Spain for some photography lessons with you, Gattina? Stunning. Truly.

Unknown said...

I love your photography as much as the panforte and tartlets. Never heard of panforte or physalis, but all of a sudden I want them!!

Cynthia said...

First time hearing about the cake but I love what you have done with reinterpeting it.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful way to enjoy panforte! I've only ever had it as-is, but this is a marvellous way to incorporate this treat into a new dish :)

Alpa said...

So innovative how you used the panforte. i'm sure your friend won't mind a bit.

sher said...

I always find myself crooning "ooh" and "ahh" and licking my lips when I look at your photos. They are just too lucious. And so perfect to show love to oneself and others! :)

Anonymous said...

Gattina, they look just perfect! I won't be needing any ski getaway after such a dessert that's for sure!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Heavenly flavors! I really love Panforte! Your pictures are stunning!

Cheers,

Rosa

Pirikenagyi said...

The middlephoto looks fantastic! Can we know the recipe?

Saffron said...

Darling, how are you?
I'm fine but so busy that I don't have any time left for cooking and ..blogging!
I see you're having a greta time in Barcelona!
Kisses to your daughter.
S.

Kajal@aapplemint said...

i must admit these items are new to me. Thanks for the enlightenment :)
they do look very tempting though !