December Special Featuring "Cake Duchess"

Hello my friends, 


I hope everybody had joyful Christmas full of happy memories. Now another celebration worldwide will happen and I am so ready for 2012..are you?
Today is my last  December Special post and with great pleasure I am presenting my friend and amazing blogger Mrs. Lora aka Cake Duchess!
Like every single of my guest post- friends Lora is sweet, kind and extremely talented person. Her blog is full of delicious recipes, mouthwatering photos, and stories that you could just sit down with huge mug of coffee in your hands and get lost in her words. 
We got connected and started talking..well, you will start laughing when I tell you that we started to talk after nutella and Italy talk on twitter:)) Me "Italy crazy", and of course Nutella is always in my pantry...so you can see why we relate, plus she is a mom and like I said extremely nice!
I ask Lora of course few questions for those who are not familiar with her blog. Yes, she is one more blogger who I would love to have as a neighbor..she such a great person, and I am sure that everybody will agree with me!
So without further adieu, here is Lora......

1. Tell us little bit about yourself?

I bake and cook.All.The.Time. I’m always trying new recipes and talking about food. Unless you share the same passion for food that I do, you may find me quite boring. It’s a good thing that all my new friends are fellow food bloggers (like Sandra) :). I started Cake Duchess in the summer of 2010. I’m the mom of two kids under the age of 10. They are my main assistants and taste testers.;) I spent some of my childhood and a lot of my adulthood in Italy and my passion is Italian food.

2. What inspired you to start blogging?

Since I was always talking about food, I thought it was fine time to do this food blogging thing. I wish I had started blogging much sooner than that summer of 2010. It’s an ingenious way to keep track of my favorite recipes and to make new foodie friends so I can talk more about FOOD! ;)

3. Lora is there any ingredient that you wouldn't cook with?

Just one?;) With all the cake and bread baking I do, flour is pretty important.

4.What is your top 3 favorite dishes?

1) crostata di mele (Italian apple tart) has to be number one. I adore apple desserts.

2) my mom’s Hungarian crepes (palacsinta).

3) my Italian mother-in-law’s lasagne.

5. Do you have any advice for a new blogger?

Be true to yourself when you write your posts. Your readers will come to you for a recipe and also want to get to know you a little. Use social media to help promote your new blog. I utilize Twitter, Facebook, and Foodbuzz to connect with fellow food bloggers every week. I found my first supportive food blogging friends (like Sandra) through Foodbuzz. Writing a food blog is more time consuming than anyone may tell you. Be prepared to dedicate countless hours every week to your blog. 

Crostata di Cranberries-Cranberry Crostata

serves approx 6-8

Pasta Frolla recipe

• 300 grams (10.54 ounces)pastry flour
• 200 grams (7.025 ounces) unsalted butter
• 100 grams (3.512 ounces) sugar
• 1 whole egg and 1 yolk ( 60 grams eggs)

Filling:
 

• 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries 
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice 
• zest of one orange
• 1/2 cup sweet orange marmalade 
• 3/4 cup sugar

dough directions:

In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour and sugar and process a few times to mix together. Next add the butter and pulse a few times until the mixture looks like wet sand. Add the egg and yolk and process a few seconds more until the dough forms (this should be about 5-7 more pulses). Be sure to not overprocess the dough.

Dump the dough from the food processor bowl onto a lightly floured counter. Form the dough into a disk and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

filling directions:

Bring all the filling ingredients to a boil in a heavy medium pot. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling about 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries begin to pop. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Don't worry if every single cranberry does not completely pop. Set the sauce aside to cool.

baking the crostata:

Preheat oven to 375°F with a foil-lined large baking sheet on middle rack.

When dough is nicely chilled, remove from the refrigerator. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap into a 13-inch round about 1/8 thick.

Spray an 11-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom with baking spray. Gently wrap the dough over the rolling pin and place it over the tart pan; release the rolling pin and let the dough fall into the tart pan. Press the dough softly into the bottom of the tart pan. If some of the dough breaks while you press it into the tart pan, that's not a problem. Simply piece the dough together. Press the sides of the dough about 1/2 inch up the side of the tart pan. The rim of the tart should be lined with a slightly thicker layer of pastry than the bottom  (about 1/4-inch thick). Cut off the extra dough from the sides and keep these excess pieces to make the lattice topping. Place this tart pan in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes (or even longer if necessary) to chill.

When the dough is chilled and ready to fill, remove the tart pan from the refrigerator and prick the pastry bottom with a fork a few times.

Spread filling in chilled shell and arrange 5 strips 1 inch apart on filling.

Arrange remaining 5 strips 1 inch apart diagonally across first strips to form a lattice with diamond-shaped spaces. Trim edges of all strips flush with edge of shell.

Carefully place the crostata on top of the baking sheet.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes at 375 F, or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool completely before removing from tart pan. Best eaten the first day but makes a lovely breakfast the next day.

Bella Sandra-Thank you for inviting me to post on your delicious blog and for your kind words. It's been such a pleasure getting to know you this past year and I'm blessed to have you as a friend. Thank you for reminding me how we clicked originally over our Nutella love.;) I hope you all enjoy this delicious Cranberry Crostata. Happy baking and Happy New Year to all of you. :) xo

Wasn't that amazing post and delicious dessert..You really do need a napkin while you looking at those photos and reading recipe at the same time!:)

Thank you Lora so very much for taking your time to guest post today and making my blog that much special in December! Baci!

Please do Follow this wonderful lady 

@Cake Duchess-website

@Like her on Facebook

@Twitter of course

@Foodbuzz

@Stumble Upon

Wishing you all fantastic Week ahead..

Sandra

All the images and recipes are ©2011 Sandra's Easy Cooking and Cake Duchess. All Rights Reserved. 

You cannot copy, or republish without permission of the authors.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Licens