Monday, August 16, 2010

Ciambella with Summer Berry Compote




Psst - anybody still out there? I sure hope so. It's been a long time. I know, I'm sorry. It is not easy balancing everything I'm working on these days but I am going to really try to start blogging again more regularly. So I'm going to get right to it.

This weekend I made a Ciambella with a Summer Berry Compote for my dinner group. It's a ring shaped cake but it tastes more like a cookie. It tastes similar to the anisette cookies that I make, a one baked biscotti (so it's technically not a biscotti because that means twice baked.) This dessert could not get easier. In fact, I made this years ago and it was one of the first Mario Batali recipes I ever tried. It all gets done in the food processor and pretty much just gets thrown together. That's the kind of dessert I like to make since we all know how often I ruin desserts! lol

The only changes I made to this recipe was that I left out the blackberries. I think it was just as good with the raspberry, blueberry combo. I think I will brush it with an egg wash next time. Just so it looks shiny and pretty. It is pretty rustic looking and I think if I cooked it longer it would have dried it out.
Let me know if you try this!




Ciambella with Summer Berry Compote
by Mario Batali


Ingredients:

1 pint blueberries
1 pint blackberries
1 pint raspberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons cold sweet butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice plus 1 tablespoon
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup cold milk


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, combine berries, lemon juice and sugar. Place over medium heat and cook until just boiling, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place flour, sugar and baking powder in a food processor and pulse quickly to blend. Add cold butter and pulse quickly until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. In a separate bowl, beat egg, almond extract and milk until smooth. With food processor going, add liquid all at once and blend 10 to 15 seconds, until just forming a ball. Remove dough from processor to a well-floured cutting board. Shape the dough into a log about 14 inches long and 1-1/2 inches tall. Grease a cookie sheet with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and lay the log in a round in center. Place in a preheated oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove and allow to cool to room temperature. (I served it cold which I liked better than warm or room temp) Cut into slices about 1-inch thick, top with 2 tablespoons of berry compote and serve.


Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

6 comments:

teresa said...

what a beautiful summer dessert!

Bob said...

You're back! The cake sounds fantastic, I bet it would be good with any berry combo.

Patti T. said...

So great to see a new post from you and what a delicious dish. Definitely printing this one out, would be great with so many summery fruits!

Joe Ambrosino said...

Welcome back, Kiddo! Mario is one of my cooking heroes, so I'm already predisposed to try this!

Ciao Chow Linda said...

Oh yes, I'm still here and glad you're back. I love a good ciambella and with those berries it takes it to an even better place.

Unknown said...

This ciambella looks very similar to a cake my husbands grandmother used to make. It was nice with a cup of tea ( which we often used for dunking!)Glad to see you back! But yes, I understand it is very hard to get around to blogging sometimes.