When I put Dolce Italiano on my Christmas list (because I had already read it cover to cover in Barnes & Noble), I also was wise enough to put the mini bundt cake pan from Williams-Sonoma on my list too. Brad LOVES grappa, so I figured he'd want me to make these enough to pop for the pan as a "stocking stuffer". My plan worked!
I decided to try out three different flavors:
See that pretty bottle of grappa? I once HAND CARRIED two of those suckers home from Italy. One was a gift for my cousin, Gary. The other, I figured would make a lovely centerpiece when empty with a single stem Casablanca lily in it.
The cork was stuck. I tried a corkscrew (too fat). I tried an ice pick (no luck). I tried a skewer, and ended up with half a cork and the skewer attached in the bottle!
I made three syrups:
I added a vanilla bean to the grappa, and lemon zest to the limoncello.
My batter grew to a huge amount. I divided it equally into three bowls. I added grappa to one, Amaretto to the second, and limoncello and zest to the third before folding one-third of the egg whites to each. I ended up with 22 mini cakes! All three cakes were delicious, but the lemon was voted #1, with the Amaretto a close second place. Next time I may try Frangelico.
Here they are:
Grappa:
Amaretto (with ice cream, another splash of Amaretto and toasted almonds)
Limoncello (with lemon curd, whipped cream and zest)
Comments (7)
Palma, you have outdone yourself! They all look fabulous. Thanks again for choosing this recipe.
Posted by Krista | May 4, 2008 10:30 AM
Posted on May 4, 2008 10:30
They look beautiful Palma. I was thinking of using Frangelico too - I think that would work very well.
Posted by teaberry | May 4, 2008 10:41 AM
Posted on May 4, 2008 10:41
Wow, Palma, they all really do look fantastic. Since I'm mad for anything lemon-y, I think I have to try your limoncello twist on the sponge cake recipe.
Posted by Sandra | May 4, 2008 2:52 PM
Posted on May 4, 2008 14:52
Looks beautiful. And I love how you had the whole plan worked out for Christmas!!
Posted by Chiocciola | May 4, 2008 7:50 PM
Posted on May 4, 2008 19:50
I'm sure you had to twist everyone's arms to try all three. They all look so wonderful! I probably would go for the lemon ones also.
Posted by girasoli | May 4, 2008 10:55 PM
Posted on May 4, 2008 22:55
I would happily be a taste tester for ya honey!
Posted by Judith in Umbria | May 5, 2008 1:43 AM
Posted on May 5, 2008 01:43
See, I can blog AND read AND bake, well, at least this week I can try. I think I will try using lemoncello next time - good idea.
Posted by Marcia | May 6, 2008 2:02 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 14:02