Lime and Coconut Ricotta Cake

Dear Avia Lovers, 

  A couple weeks back my son had a ski accident and is now recovering from a bruised lung, four cracked ribs and scapula.  It was a scary crash into the trees and I am very grateful for all the blessings of what could have been much worse and that he is healing up so well.  He will need about a 6 week recovery time and I am sure he will be back on the snowy mountain side by Springtime.  
As for me, well I looked for something to settle my nerves and ways to stay calm.  While I waited for everything to settle down I needed to keep relaxed, with a glance in my fridge I spotted the Ricotta cheese and thought it's time to go back to my Italian roots for this recipe.  I just needed to add some different flavours to create a new version of the traditional Sicilian Ricotta Cheesecake.  Ricotta cheese is creamy white in appearance, slightly sweet in taste, and contains around 13% fat.  It had been quite some time since I had baked one, then I remembered I was around the same age my son is now- 22, when I made my first one. Ricotta can be used in many ways and is lovely in sweet and savoury recipes.

When we experience a scare, we need to learn how to blend and embrace the powerful moments with an accepting heart. 
Creative ideas and baking helps me, so here is a little recipe for you to ease your heart when you meet the zingers in life.  It is good to know what, who, where and how you can hold a calm center to smooth out those moments.  
Begin with adding a good dollop of the rich creamy coconut milk,  this soft silky meal will wrap it's scent around you with an embrace that absorbs any tension you encounter.  It will surely turn all the zings into zen and with a little zest of love you will be carried across into a sweeter journey.  The coconut milk accepts and holds the lime lovingly and knowingly as it nurtures the other for the betterment of being together.  When we put the lime in the coconut we add a spirit medicine in our lives to experience our healing powers.  It speaks "go gently towards an accepting heart and fold me in with an ever so loving embrace." 

 Like the song "Put the Lime in the Coconut" she asks the doctor..."Is there nothing I can take to relieve this belly aching" and he replies "put the lime in the coconut and drink (eat) it all up! Call me in the morning."
So now, I say no need to call the doctor, just add this recipe filled with centuries of love and zest to all the zingers in your life and I promise you will feel better in the morning!

The quantities in this recipe have been cut into one third so the batter will only fill a 9' round cheese cake pan half way up, so double the recipe to fill the cake pan to the top.  Once again I have reduced the sugar quantity considerably.

500 grams of Ricotta cheese
2 tbsp of organic cane sugar
3 Eggs 
6 Tbsp of coconut milk
Zest of 3 Limes

This easy recipe takes minutes to blend together. Grease a 9 inch cheese cake pan and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  In a large bowl add all ingredients together and blend for several minutes until smooth and creamy.  Pour into cake pan and bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees for a final 20 minutes of baking.  Use a toothpick to test when it is done.  
Many blessing for a calm heart filled with love to heal all!  

Thank you and Buon Appetito! Mangia!

Ciao Tutti

Created & Written by Caterina Alberti 
February 1/2014

Orange Pound Cake ~ Sweet 16

Dear Avia Lovers,

Do you remember your Sweet 16th birthday?  My homestay student from Shanghai just turned 16 yesterday on January 4th/2014.  
I needed a plan for a birthday cake.  First I knew that I must use the best ingredients for such a sweet time.  What flavour celebrates this time in life and can be savoured throughout her special day to create a wonderful memory?  This ingredient is none other than the sweet, juicy and delicious orange. The pound cake in all it's versatility met my creativity and thoughts of sweetness with ease! I remember my mom's many versions of this cake, most of all the tart lemon icing drizzled all over the top!  I also felt quite certain that every other grandmother have made their own version on some special occasion. 
This cake with it's lovely dense texture will connect you to the earth and combined with the sweet orange scents, rise you up to the heavens!  This had sweet 16 written all over it! 

 It is no wonder how this simple cake recipe has traveled around the world, with variations in such countries as Britain, France, Germany, Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia and an American Southern version. The pound cake got it's name for it's measurements of 1.1.1. meaning 1lb butter, 1lb flour, 1lb. sugar, today of course the recipe has been adjusted and corrected in it's measurements.  Although I noticed most recipes still use up to 2 Cups of sugar, rest assured I have reduced the sugar in half in this recipe.

This cake is all about the sweet 16 and how the oranges meet this special time so beautifully.  Since my student likes both tradition and meaningful stories, she immediately realized that the orange was quite appropriate for her birthday. Quick to admit that turning 16 is much like this lovely floral sweet orange as it also contains it's opposite.  She is no longer a child and not yet a mature adult. As they say it is the time of "the coming of age" and with increased freedom comes more responsibility, awe the bittersweet.  

In Shanghai, most homes do not have ovens in their kitchens, so birthday cakes are often ordered from the many bakeries available.   Making her cake from home and from scratch was a sweet gift indeed, she was delighted!  Check out all our photos and birthday baking fun! 
Here it is, my version of the traditional pound cake at Avia Home Cooking.

Orange Pound Cake 

 Ingredients:
2 C All Purpose Flour                   
1 C Garbanzo Bean Flour             
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 C Organic Cane Sugar
3 eggs
1/2 C Plain Yogurt
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Grated Orange rind
1 C Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice (4- 6 juicy oranges)
2 C Homemade Cranberry sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, add orange rind, mixing all just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.
   
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto your serving plate and cool.

Orange glaze icing
1 Tbsp Grated Orange Peel
1 C Icing Sugar
3 Tbsp of Orange Juice
 Mix together to reach a consistency that can drizzle over the cake.  


Thank you and Buon Appetito! Mangia!

Ciao Tutti

Created & Written by Caterina Alberti
January 4th/2014
Serve cake with a spoonful of homemade cranberry sauce! 
Happy Birthday Sweet Yushu!  

Winter Ginger Muffins

Dear Avia Lovers,

Today, it's time to bake more muffins, instead of buying all the costly and sweet energy bars to give to my kids for snacks, I made a vow to bake healthy muffins instead.  Kids will be back to school soon and this creative recipe is just in time to provide all the energy for kids to get through their morning classes. 

 I am still exploring with various flours, such as Garbanzo Bean flour.  It is a nice discovery and works quite well and at the same time provides an alternative for healthy eating.  Adding a little wheat germ will supply more Vitamin E in our diets. "Wheat germ oil is one of the most concentrated natural sources of vitamin E" according to the US department of Agriculture." 

This muffin is a little meal for on the go kids and adults and the ginger flavour warms and tucks you in just right for the Winter weather.  You will notice there is no sugar in this recipe, a small amount of dark chocolate chips brings all the flavours together for everyone to enjoy!


Winter Ginger Muffin 

Ingredients:

1 C Garbanzo Bean Flour
1 C Oats or Grain Blend
1/4 C Wheat Germ
1/4 C Pumpkin Seeds
1/4 C Dark Chocolate Chips
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp of grated ginger
1 large grated carrot
1 small grated zucchini
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup milk or water
1/4 C Sunflower Oil
 
Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl and mix all wet ingredients together in a small bowl, then add wet ingredients to dry mixing gently.  Add pumpkin seeds, grate in zucchini, ginger and carrot and fold each in until all is absorbed and blended well, be gentle.  Makes 12 medium sized muffins, spoon into greased pans. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes at 350 F.

Thank you and Buon Appetito! Mangia!

Ciao Tutti

Created & Written by Caterina Alberti
January 4th/2014

The secret ingredient is in the name!

Dear Avia Lovers,

The world needs more than just food to feed itself, it needs Avia's.  Which means grandmothers in Latin. It is not just that the Latin word Avia is a beautiful word with a warm meaning. Latin is like the grandmother of most languages spoken in the Western world.  Imagine your grandmother in your kitchen cooking and filling your heart with love, this is the best way to nourish and refuel yourself physically, mentally and spiritually! The secret recipes are the ones filled with the medicine for a long, happy and peaceful life.  I have been experimenting with various recipes from my Italian mother and from the Italian regions of my roots, all these treasures passed down from my grandmother's!  My mom, Maria, cooks, preserves and bakes everything under the sun and the morning ritual when you wake up in her home is to ask "what's for dinner?"  Growing up she was always in the kitchen preparing our main meal for the day many hours before any of us awoke.  

When I decided to title my blog I knew that the best healing I can share are the recipes of love passed down from our grandmothers, one day I hope to pass these to my grandchildren.  Each grandmother is original with their own stories blended from the soil and circumstances of their life's.  They have come from different times, what seems like different worlds, their experiences are rich in both abundance and in the times of great loss and scarcity.  Each grandmother has passed down their lifetime filled with the ingredients of unique experiences through many generations.   My International student from Shanghai, China tells me that " the flavours of each sour, sweet, bitter and spicy are the idiom for life experience. Our life experience is mixed into each dish while we are cooking."

Cooking dinner was always an all day affair for my mom, with something brewing on the stove to fill with flavour in time for all the family to meet around the table.  I am sure now when I reflect upon my mom's home cooking over the years that she made every traditional dish completely from memory.  My mother brought with her all she had learned before immigrating to Canada.  She arrived without any papers that represented her great skills. We forget that most recipes were passed down by memory from mother to daughter and so on, they were not sourced from any cook book.  Many recipes have been lost over the years, so the ones that remain are a great treasure.  These are the original and authentic meals made from the heart with the hands of time and then and only then are we also able to experience the unique exquisiteness in them! 

 I want to share both my mother's recipes and some of my own creations that express my unique life experiences for you to enjoy.   I hope you will journey with me at Avia's Home Cooking Blog and get ready to roll up your sleeves!


Thank you and Buon Appetito! Mangia

Ciao Tutti

Created & Written by Caterina Alberti
January 4th/2014