Q. Would it be possible for you to obtain the recipe for Italian savoiardi cookies, the type sold in the bakery department of Doris’ Market in Plantation? I have tried several recipes from my Italian cookbooks, but none is as pleasing as the ones sold at Doris’. All my recipes seem to have a sponge cake consistency, but Doris’ cookies are crisp and firm. I would appreciate your help or any tips you can give me. — Marian Parrino, Davie
A. Thanks to Salvatore (Sal) Carini, the bakery manager for Doris’ Italian Market in Plantation, 9739 W. Broward Blvd., 954-370-0335, as well as the markets in Hollywood, 2424 Hollywood Blvd., 954-921-9647, and Sunrise, 7818 NW 44th St., 954-749-3347, I have the recipe for Savoiardi Biscotti, which is carried in all three stores.
Savoiardi, also known as ladyfingers, have more of a soft, spongy texture used in many recipes, including that tasty dessert tiramisu. Biscotti (meaning twice baked), on the other hand, are those wonderfully crisp and hard “cookies” of endless variety, so good to dunk in coffee or hot chocolate.
Now, this combination aptly called Savoiardi Biscotti is made like ladyfingers as the dough is piped through a pastry bag. However, the dough is almost paste-like in texture (very soft) so that it spreads nicely into a rather flat-looking ladyfinger about 23/4 inches long and 13/4 inches wide.
The result is an extremely crisp yet tender cookie, which keeps well for up to a month if you hide them in an airtight tin. These cookies are not overly sweet and go well with morning coffee, afternoon tea or as an accompaniment to fresh fruits, ice cream, puddings and custards. They are also addictive when eaten alone.
The recipe calls for cinnamon oil, which is not readily available. You will have to check with your local gourmet shops or drug store for that ingredient.
As I mentioned, the dough is very soft and somewhat sticky, so filling the pastry bag and piping the dough is a challenge. However, you will be glad you persevered when you take your first bite.
Stuff a pumpkin for Thanksgiving
Q. Do you have any suggestions for out-of-the-ordinary dishes to serve for Thanksgiving? My husband and I are not crazy about turkey or chicken and we decided this year we would serve beef tenderloins. We are having two other couples who are bringing dessert and salad, so I want to do something different with vegetables, if possible. — Margaret Nichols, Boca Raton
A. If we are talking something dramatic, I have the recipe for you. First you find a blemish-free fresh pumpkin that’s about 10 to 12 inches in diameter. The rest of the instructions you will find in the recipe for Baked Stuffed Pumpkin given here.
It has been a number of years since I served this impressive dish, but you are sure to get raves. It will help round out your beef tenderloin meal since it includes both vegetables and starch. Another plus is that it can be made several hours ahead and refrigerated. Let it come to room temperature before baking or add an additional 15 or 20 minutes to the baking time.
Technically, pumpkin is a fruit, not a vegetable. Just don’t tell your guests.
Cake is made with canned tomato soup
Q. I am looking for a recipe for tomato soup cake. Some 50 years ago, my grandmother used to make it. It was deep, dark, rich and tasted like a spice cake. It was made with Campbell’s Tomato Soup. I have tried recipes from Campbell’s Soup and others from friends, but nothing has that deep, dark, spicy richness of the original. — Patricia Tranchese, Boynton Beach
A. I have what is supposed to be the original Tomato Spice Cake from the Campbell’s Soup people. Husband Guy’s deceased Aunt Jen passed the recipe along years ago. It is as spicy as you want it to be because you can increase the amounts of the various spices to suit. And those spices and the soup give it a nice rich color.
We like to bake it in a Bundt pan. All you need is a dusting of confectioners’ sugar before serving.
No better time for peanut butter cookies
Q. I don’t do much cooking or baking, but my grandchildren are going to be here for Thanksgiving and I would like to make some peanut butter cookies for them. Do you have an easy recipe? This seems like a simple matter, but I have given most of my cookbooks away and there isn’t a peanut butter cookie recipe in anything I have now. — Betty Lionelle, Pompano Beach
A. First of all, let me remind everyone that November is Peanut Butter Lovers’ Month.
As for an easy recipe, one of my favorites is called Peanut Butter Fingers. They are baked in a square pan so no dropping or shaping required. For added appeal, you can ice them with Peanut Butter Icing.
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COOKIES
DORIS’ SAVOIARDI BISCOTTI
THIS CREATES A VERY SOFT DOUGH, WHICH MAKES FILLING THE PASTRY BAG A BIT OF A CHALLENGE. TO KEEP THE PARCHMENT PAPER FROM SLIDING WHEN PIPING THE DOUGH, DAB A DOT OF DOUGH ON EACH OF THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE PAPER AND STICK IT TO THE PAN. THIS WILL ACT AS AN EDIBLE AND SAFE GLUE.
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
5 large eggs
1 small drop cinnamon oil*
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.*
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together well flour and baking powder.
Transfer to a piece of wax paper. In same bowl, beat sugar and eggs on high speed of an electric mixer 5 to 7 minutes, or until very thick. On low speed, add flour mixture and cinnamon oil. Continue to beat until mixture is like a very heavy paste. It should be soft when lifted with a spoon, but not so soft it flows off the spoon.
Fit a pastry bag with a Number 8 tip (about 5/8 inch across). Twist pastry bag just above tip to keep dough from oozing out when filling bag. Pipe dough about 2 inches apart (it will spread) in 21/2 inch lengths onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake in center of oven about 10 minutes, or until edges are brown and tops are very firm. Remove entire parchment paper with cookies to wire racks and let cool 5 minutes before removing from paper to wire racks. Cool completely. Repeat until all dough has been used. Store these, when cool, in airtight containers and they will last a month or more. Makes about 100 cookies.
Per cookie: 24 calories, 11 percent calories from fat, .57 gram protein, 5 grams carbohydrates, .05 gram total fiber, .30 gram total fat, 11 milligrams cholesterol, 11 milligrams sodium.
*Cinnamon oil is available in gourmet shops and some drug stores. Parchment is available in gourmet shops and some supermarkets.
VEGETABLE
BAKED STUFFED PUMPKIN
YOU CAN ASSEMBLE THIS SEVERAL HOURS AHEAD AND REFRIGERATE UNTIL TIME TO BAKE. BRING TO ROOM TEMPERATURE OR ADD 15 TO 20 MINUTES TO THE BAKING TIME.
3 large carrots, cut into 1/4-inch dice
Water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 cups long-grain rice, such as Basmati for a nice flavor
1/2 cup apple juice
5 cups chicken broth (canned or 5 teaspoons granules dissolved in 5 cups hot water)
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
1 medium pumpkin, about 10 to 12 inches in diameter and blemish-free
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 scallions, white and 2 inches of green, coarsely chopped
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into about 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups canned and drained red kidney beans
3/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
Cook carrots in water to cover about 4 minutes, or until barely tender. Drain and set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt 5 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Saute onions and garlic about 2 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Add rice and stir until coated with butter. Add apple juice and chicken broth; stir well. Season with salt and pepper, going easy on salt if your chicken broth is not low-sodium. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cut a top about 7 inches across from top of pumpkin. Remove all seeds and stringy pieces from both top and inside of pumpkin and discard. Sprinkle inside of pumpkin with 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and some salt and pepper. Let stand about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat remaining tablespoon of butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Saute scallions about 2 minutes.
Add eggplant and cook about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper and remaining teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Stir in carrots.
In a large bowl, combine rice mixture, eggplant mixture, kidney beans and seeds. Fill pumpkin with mixture and replace top. Place pumpkin in an ovenproof serving dish so pumpkin does not have to be transferred after baking. You can, of course, use a baking pan. Pumpkin can be made ahead to this point and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking or add an additional 15 to 20 minutes cooking time.
When ready to serve, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake pumpkin about 1 hour, or until flesh is very soft. Makes 8 servings.
Per serving: 482 calories, 36 percent calories from fat, 15 grams protein, 64 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams total fiber, 19 grams total fat, 23 milligrams cholesterol, 540 milligrams sodium.
DESSERT
TOMATO SPICE CAKE
WE LIKE TO BAKE THIS IN A BUNDT PAN, BUT YOU CAN BAKE IT IN A 13-BY-9-BY-2-INCH PAN 35 TO 40 MINUTES IF YOU PREFER.
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 (10-ounce) can Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup
1/2 cup shortening (we used Crisco)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease well and lightly flour a 12-inch nonreactive Bundt pan.
Measure dry ingredients into a large nonreactive bowl. Add soup and shortening and beat at low to medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes. Scrape side and bottom of bowl often. Add eggs and water and beat an additional 2 minutes. Again scrape side and bottom of bowl frequently. Pour batter into pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Cool right side up in the pan 15 minutes, then invert it onto a wire rack, remove pan and let cake cool completely. Sift the confectioners’ sugar over top before serving. Makes 12 servings.
Per serving: 290 calories, 31 percent calories from fat, 4 grams protein, 47 grams carbohydrates, .8 gram total fiber, 10 grams total fat, 35 milligrams cholesterol, 416 milligrams sodium.
COOKIES
PEANUT BUTTER FINGERS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firm-packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
Peanut Butter Icing (recipe given)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch-square baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Transfer to a piece of wax paper. In same bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla; mix well. Lastly stir in flour mixture and oatmeal.
Spread batter in pan and bake 20 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan and frost with Peanut Butter Icing. Cut into 3-by-1-inch bars (or fingers). Makes 16 fingers.
Per finger (with Peanut Butter Icing): 235 calories, 42 percent calories from fat, 4 grams protein, 32 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram total fiber, 11 grams total fat, 29 milligrams cholesterol, 126 milligrams sodium.
DESSERT
PEANUT BUTTER ICING
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
Combine all ingredients well, adding only enough milk to make a nice spreading consistency. Makes about 3/4 cup.
Per (1-tablespoon) serving: 72 calories, 35 percent calories from fat, 1 gram protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, .31 gram total fiber, 3 grams total fat, .35 milligram cholesterol, 26 milligrams sodium.
