Homemade Tiramisu

Hello everybody!

Today I'm gonna explain how to make a delicious Tiramisu: my mom taught me the recipe when I was a child, but year after year I improved it after some tests and thanks to some tricks.

Ingredients:

3 eggs 

3 table spoons of sugar

mascarpone (250 grammes) 

1 cup of coffee

2 packages of sponge fingers

Italian Marsala

A dash of milk

Sweet cocoa powder to sprinkle on top

Beat 3 egg yolks and 3 spoons of sugar and whisk the egg whites separately in order to make quite thick whipped cream.

Add the mascarpone and a little bit of Marsala into the yolk mixture until smooth and combine coffee and milk apart.

Using a large metal spoon, gently fold egg whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Dip some sponge fingers into the coffee/milk and put it in a container in order to make a first layer, then  cover it with the mascarpone cream and repeat layers ending with the cream.

Dust generously with cocoa and serve it the day after (not before, since taste totally change!).

My Top 5 Czech traditional dishes

Hello everybody!
Last weekend I went to Prague and I want to share with you my traditional food discoveries.
Since Czech food and taste are so much different to the ones which other European countries are used to and since sometimes menus can be kind of confusing in another language, I think it would be useful showing some suggestions on my blog for potential tourists like me.
Take notes, because here you can find some musts that you can't miss out if you go to Prague on holiday.

1. Chicken Schnitzel: crunchy fried chicken served with lovely mashed potatoes and cucumber salad.

2. Tasty pork knee roasted in dark beer with onions, garlic and a mixture of spices, served with mustard and fresh horse radish.

3. Traditional roast sirloin in creamy sauce, larded, served with homemade bread dumplings and wild cranberries: simply amazing.

4. Appetizing roasted homemade sausage served with mustard and horseradish and a very good potato pancake stuffed with Prague ham and sauerkraut.

5. Yummy sweet dumplings stuffed with strawberries and "trldo": a traditional sweet pastry roll wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar.

The restaurants I liked the most are Potrefena Husa (for a quiet meal in a modern interior design spot), Bily Konicek (for a relaxing and romantic jazz dinner) and U Dvou Sester (for a light lunch before a long visit to the city).

Miss Cupcake à Montmartre

Hello everybody!

If you like pink colour and cupcakes and you want to relax for a while after a visit to Montmartre area in Paris, well, Miss Cupcake is the place for you.

There are two Miss Cupcake in Paris (the other one is in the Marais area), but in my opinion this is the best one because in order to find it you have to discover some of the most characteristic tiny streets that get to the Sacre Coeur. 

The place is very small (there are only two tables), so I suggest you to go there a morning and not during the weekend because you risk to find it fully crowded.

The interior design is very cute and girlish and the atmosphere is perfect for a gossip time with your friends.

I've been to Miss Cupcake several time, so here you can see some photos of great banoffee cupcakes, vanilla ones and pumpkin ones (definitely the best one under Halloween period), but you can taste also delicious thick hot chocolates and simple but fresh bagels.

Prices are good and waiters are very friendly.

To try! 

Miss Cupcake

22, Rue de la Vieuville

75018 Paris

Le Comptoir du Commerce

Hello everybody!
Today I will talk about one of my favorite restaurants in Paris: Le Comptoir du Commerce.
It is situated in a very nice area where you can find typical delicatessen shops which expose their products also on the streets: Rue des Petits Carreaux and Rue Montorgueil are famous for their colors and flavors.
You can go to Le Comptoir du Commerce for a lunch, dinner or even just to have a dessert in a tiny and friendly place. The dishes are really good and you can choose among typical french "assiettes", burgers, the special duck (confit de canard) and, what I love the most, french "cassolettes".
The word "cassolette" refers to a porcelain container that can cook food in oven and, as you can see from the pictures, these containers are served directly to table.
These cassolettes are made of chèvre cheese and ham, emmental and confit de canard, homemade fois gras and cheese, vegetables ones and so on.
Le Comptoir du Commerce offers also a good list of wines, typical french cheeses and desserts.
My favorite dessert is crêpe à la crème de marron (chestnut cream) to which I always ask if I can add a small scoop of vanilla ice-cream: amazing!

Le Comptoir du Commerce

1 Rue de Petits Carreaux 

75002 Paris

Sunday brunch at "Le Club des 5"

Hello everybody!
Today I have realized that the best way to end Christmas holidays is having a good brunch with a friend.
My friend Evangeline suggested a very nice place called Le club des 5 in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, I didn't know it because it's at the very opposite side of my house, but I'm glad about this discovery.
We decided to take the brunch formula (26€ but worthy!) choosing a big cheddar cheeseburger with its homemade french fries (sooo good), an orange juice, a tea and a dessert - Oreo cheesecake for me and a Nutella/chantilly/banana sablé (a kind of soft cookie with cream on the top, definitely better than the cheesecake).
I really suggest you to go there, not only because of the food but for the interior design which is very funny and cute and it can be a nice alternative to the usual hipster place in Paris.
Be aware that you can't book a table for the brunch, so it's better to go there early if you are a group of people or you risk not to find a place since it's quite small.

Polpetteria Ciccilla - the Meatballs Paradise!

Happy new year everybody!
I hope last night you celebrated with loads of food, as I did!
Today I'm going to write about one of the best discoveries last year: a meatball paradise.
I love meatballs and I could eat them all the time. If you are like me and you are in Milan let me give you a tip: go to Polpetteria Ciccilla, the first place in Milan to find all kinds of meatballs. "Polpetteria" in Italian means a place that makes meatballs: this one masters the concept with organic ingredients (young people are taking a fast liking to it).
I had wanted to try Polpetteria Ciccilla for almost two years, but it was hard to find the time to check it out when I was home in Milan. Finally, when this time I was back for the holidays I had the opportunity and it totally met my expectations.
Polpetteria Ciccilla is located in the city centre of Milan next to a neighborhood called Moscova: its location is very cute and cosy, but since it's not a restaurant you can sit there for a fast meal or you can choose for a take away.
Prices are fair, the staff is kind and friendly and the menu offers a wide selection of meatball concoctions. Another innovative aspect is that patrons can opt to have different meatballs on one plate, so you can taste everything!
Here some photos of the location and of the meatballs we tried: beef and tomatoes meatballs, Kiev meatballs, vegetarians ones, curry and chicken ones, beer meatballs, Spirulina meatballs (a special healthy algae), and finally mushrooms and potatoes meatballs.

Cioccolatitaliani

Hello everybody!

If you are in Milan and if you like chocolate this post is for you. I'm gonna write about Cioccolatitaliani,  the best place ever where you can eat a dessert, a thick hot chocolate in winter or a great homemade ice-cream in summer.

This place is situated 5 minutes walking to the Porta Ticinese area, where you can find Colonne di San Lorenzo (one of the most ancient monuments in Milan), a lot of small independent shops during the day and loads of students during the evening thanks to cheap beer and cafés where you can taste the famous "aperitivo". 

In Milan there is another Cioccolatitaliani next to the Duomo, but I think that the location of the one in Via de Amicis is the best.

Cioccolatitaliani has a wide choice of different ice-cream tastes and kinds of chocolate and hot chocolates (the real thick ones), the atmosphere is vey nice and you can enjoy your dessert sit in a kind of veranda with your friends.

Here some photos of the location, the vanilla hot chocolate and the melted white and dark chocolate (a real pleasure for all the senses).