Jam crostata (tarte) with spelt and olive oil crust

Happy new year everyone! I wish you all the best for the just welcomed 2015 and hope that you enjoyed the festive season, whether you spent this time of the year with your loved ones, your friends, never met before people or even on your own.
Christmas of 2014 was my real first Christmas in Dubai; last year, in fact, I had recently arrived and spent most of the Christmas period relocating from the residence where we stayed for about two months to the apartment where we are living now; and the 31st of December was the day when we actually moved to our apartment... I can say it was a peculiar Christmas. This year, on the contrary, we had a more "normal" Christmas - even if anyway much different than the kind of Christmas I was used to when living in Italy (where Christmas mainly meant gathering with my family in my home village, eating my mom's traditional recipes - I misses them this year - and having a rest from work). This year we decorated a Christmas tree, part of my husband's family came to Dubai and spent the Christmas period with us, my son enjoyed for the first time in his life the experience of finding and opening the presents left for him by Santa (or whoever on his behalf) under the Christmas tree, we appreciated some of the many different things that can be done in this city during the festive season and we enjoyed the lovely weather spending time and dining outside (our guests appreciated this much more then me and my family....). I enjoyed this time very much. And I also had the chance to go around the city as a tourist, which I like very much.

Buckweath and chocolate cookies

I like to use non-wheat flours when I bake. With a different flour a recipe can completely change: the texture, the taste, the smell and the color also. And for a more intense and rich flavor I like whole grain flours instead of refined ones (and they are healthier too). One of my favorite grain is spelt (even if my blog is very young I have already published a spelt apple cake and a no-knead bread where spelt flour is used) but I love also rye, barley, and buckwheat which is not a grain but a pseudo-cereal from which it is possible to produce a flour suitable also in a gluten-free diet. I like buckwheat's deep dark color, its intense flavor and nutty taste and I use it sometimes also to make bread.
In these buckwheat and chocolate cookies I used a combination of buckwheat flour, whole grain spelt flour (for an even nuttier taste), and cocoa powder (for enhancing the color and the chocolate flavor) to make a very original and unusual version of chocolate chip cookies. Since whole grain flours tend to produce a dough on the dry side, I used brown sugar to increase moisture. For flavoring, I added vanilla extract and a pinch of cinnamon that can be substituted for other spices (for example cardamom or nutmeg) or even nothing). Swapping spelt flour for a gluten-free one (like rice or almond or corn or other of your preference) makes these cookies completely gluten-free.
They go well with a cup of tea, especially if flavored (cardamom, cinnamon, ...), with coffee or with a glass of milk, then they are perfect for an afternoon tea but also as a guilt-free sweet treat.

Apple - spelt flour cake

I confess I have never been a big fan of apple cakes or tartes. Probably because those I tried or I was offered always turned out to be far from my tastes: now too sweet, then too buttery, now with too much cinnamon (which I'm actually not really fond of), then so humid to be difficult  to swallow. And this is why when it comes to choose which cake to prepare, apple cakes are usually at the bottom of the list.
But this time I felt like making an apple cake to eat at breakfast, since I and my child love to eat something sweet in the morning and I like that this treats are healthy. I had a look at the note book on which I write down inspiring recipes and, among the very few apple cake recipes I have taken note of, I found one containing spelt flour in the batter. Since I love the texture and taste of  spelt flour and in particular the whole-grain one, I wanted to give a chance to apple cake. I made some changes to the original recipe (I hadn't even taken note of the source so I cannot mention it) and came out with this recipe which I - and also some guests who tried it - did really like and think it's worth sharing.

Spelt no-knead "twisted" bread

Some preliminary remarks, listed in a not relevant order.
1) We always have bread on the table, when having lunch or dinner.
This is a peculiar Italian habit and, at least with regard to bread, my small family does not differ from the average Italian family and therefore needs bread at any meal.
2) We want good bread.
And good means that it is not chewy like gum, or so dense and humid and heavy like fresh cement, or even flacky, but that it smells of flour and yeast, has a golden crust and an airy texture, and above all is pleasant in the mouth. It doesn't go without saying that shop brought bread is really good.
3) I do not posses a stand mixer (even if it is in my wish list and hopefully will arrive soon)
And I have skinny and weak arms, but I am not disposed to reinforce them now in order to make heavy dough.
4) I am developing a passion for baking, both savory and sweet things.
It is easy now to understand that I am very much interested in testing all types of bread which do not require to be kneaded. For sure kneaded dough produces a bread with a different texture and flavor (as soon as I get the machine I will try), but this recipes, that I found in a nice Italian blog and slightly adapted, produces a soft and tasty breads. And the final bread is also nice to see for the twisted shape of the loaf.
Since it requires a short rising time and no kneading, I make it as a last time bread, when I don't have any dough rising in the fridge (I will write about another easy and good no-knead bread which instead necessitates a long rising time).  The only handling requested to strengthen the dough is a sort of twisting that also gives to the loaf its peculiar shape. This operation is not easy, in particular the first time you make it, since the dough is very wet; but no worry, the bread will be tasty even if the final shape is not perfect and beautiful. If you try you will make it again and at any time your twisting ability will improve.