Happy Easter everyone

I hope all of you are spending a relaxing and peacefull Easter, with family or friends, at home or travelling or visiting.
We're having my husband's family over, but except today, I won't be actually cooking a lot. We decided we'd spend some time out, visit some neighbouring town in Emilia Romagna or maybe even spend a day at a seaside, although it's still far from bathing season. After some really beautiful summery weather during the past few weeks, we had rain last night and it's a bit fresh outside.
So I can't really say I'll be cooking or baking following either Italian or my home country (Bosnia and Croatia) traditions, even though I'd love to.
Kids are so happy to be spending some time with their grandparents, and they are looking forward to chocolate eggs hunting tomorrow morning.

This Orange and Almond Cake, also called Middle Eastern Orange and Almond Cake has origins in Sephardic tradition of Morocco, Mediterranean and the Middle East. It is a classic Passover dessert. Although most recipes I've seen around the net have neither vanilla extract or Cointreau among ingredients, I think they fit in just fine (I'd easily put vanilla extract everywhere, literally).
I made this cake way back, in January, but as you can see, the recipe stayed put until today. Perfect timing, right?

I can heartily recommend everyone to try it. It's so delicious. And it is flourless so even if you suffer from celiac desease you can eat it and enjoy happily.
Delicate taste, moist and delicious, that's all I can say and remember.

My personal note about it is just this: if your oranges are particularly bitter (sometimes they are), you may need more sugar (I did). Or one more trick when boiling oranges in order to get rid of bitter taste - once the water starts boiling, drain the oranges, add fresh water and then boil them as per recipe, until soft.

Happy Easter!

Orange and Almond Cake


2 oranges (absolutely organic)
280 g blanched almonds, finely ground
250 g sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Cointreau
6 eggs
for serving: powdered sugar, whipped cream and fruit of your choice

Brush the oranges carefully under running water to remove all the impurities.
Put the whole (unpeeled) oranges into a pot with enough water for oranges to be completely covered. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook the oranges for about 40 minutes or until completely soft.
Drain them, cut in half, remove the seeds and let them cool down.
Turn the oven on to 180°C.
Put the oranges into a food processor with blade attachment and mix until you have a smooth mixture.
Add the finely ground almonds, the baking powder, the liquour and the vanilla extract. Pulse until homogeneous.
Add the eggs, lightly beaten and mix everything shortly.
Pour the batter into a 24-26 cm round spring pan, buttered and lined with the baking paper. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer inserted in the middle, the cake will stay quite moist, however.
Let it cool completely in the pan.
Before serving dust generously with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream and fresh fruit (berries, mango, etc.)

Felice Pasqua a tutti!


Torta all'arancia e mandorle (senza farina)
(dal libro Muffin e dolcetti)


2 arancie (assolutamente non tratate)
280 g di mandorle pelate
250 g di zucchero
1 cucchiaino di lievito in polvere
1 cucchiaino di estratto puro di vaniglia
1 cucchiaino di Cointreau
6 uova
per servire: zucchero a velo, panna montata e frutta a piacere


Lavate bene le arancie sotto l'acqua corrente per rimuovere qualsiasi impurità. Mettetele intere in una casseruola larga, aggiungete acqua sufficiente per ricoprirle. Portate lentamente l'acqua a ebollizione, quindi abbassate il fuoco e cuocetele per circa 40 minuti o finché non deventano molto morbide.
Tagliate le arancie a metà, togliete i semi e lasciatele raffreddare.
Accendete il forno a 180°C.
Rivestite una teglia da 24-26 cm di diametro con la carta da forno, imburatela e infarinatela.
Mettete le arancie nel contenitore del mixer e lavoratele fino a ottenere una polpa omogenea e liscia.
Aggiungete le mandorle tritate, lo zucchero, il lievito in polvere, l'estratto di vaniglia e il Cointreau. Lavorate utilizzando il tasto "pulse" fino a ottenere un impasto amalgamato..
Unite le uova e mescolate ancora per amalgamare il tutto, ma non lavorare l'impasto ecessivamente.
Versate l'impasto nella tortiera preparata e cuocete la torta nel forno già caldo per circa 50 minuti.
Lasciatela raffreddare completamente nello stampo
Prima di servirla cospargetela di zucchero a velo, e accompagnatela con la panna montata e frutta fresca.

Sretan Uskrs


Torta od naranče i badema


2 naranče (obavezno neprskane)
280 g mljevenih oguljenih badema
250 g šećera
1 žličica praška za pecivo
1 žličica ekstrakta vanilije
1 žličica Cointreaua (ili drugog likera od naranče)
6 jaja
za posluživanje:
šećer u prahu
tučeno slatko vrhnje
voće po želji


Naranče dobro operite četkicom da odstranite prljavštinu.
Stavite ih u širu posudu i dodajte toliko vode da naranče budu skroz prekrivene. Stavite mali tanjur preko njih da ih drži potopljenima.
Zagrijavajte polako vodu dok ne prokuha, a onda smanjite vatru i ostavite da se kuhaju otprilike 40 minuta dok potpuno ne omekšaju.
Prerežite kuhane naranče i izvadite sjemenke. Ostavite ih da se ohlade.
Uključite pećnicu na 180°C.
Kalup za tortu (klasični s prstenom, promjera 24-26 cm) namažite maslacem i obložite papirom za pečenje.
Stavite ohlađene naranče u mikser (multipraktik) i izmiksajte da dobijete glatku smjesu.
Dodajte mljevene bademe, šećer, prašak za pecivo, liker i ekstrakt vanilije. Izmiksajte u kratkim intervalima (pulse) da se sastojci povežu.
Dodajte malo razmućena jaja i opet kratko izmiješajte u kratkim intervalima (ne miješajte dugo, tek toliko koliko je potrebno da se sve poveže.
Sipajte smjesu u pripremljeni kalup i pecite oko 50 minuta - provjerite drvenim štapićem ubodenim u sredinu. Ostavite tortu da se ohladi u kalupu.
Prije posluživanja pospite je šećerom u prahu i poslužite uz tučeno slatko vrhnje i voće po želji (maline, šumsko voće, mango itd.).