Photo by Charlotte Bland
If, like me, you loved Letitia Clark’s first book, Bitter Honey: Recipes and Stories from the Island of Sardinia, then you too will be rejoicing at this, her second. It is more than a delightful and delicious compendium of recipes — though it is that, most definitely — it is also a rousing and reassuring call to the kitchen. As she writes in her introduction, “Cooking should never be a drama, a trauma, or something you feel you just can’t do. Baking, for some bizarre reason, has so long been described or portrayed as either some sort of divine gift or a hallowed science — something some people can do and some simply can’t…..Well, that’s simply not true.... Anyone and everyone — whether self-confessed ‘baker’ or not — can produce something magnificent.” A woman after my own heart!
The book divides into chapters on Biscuits (Cookies), Tarts, Cakes, Sweets by the Spoon (the Italian Dolci al cucchiaio), Yeasted and Fried, Gelato, and Gifts, and within each chapter there are recipes for varying levels of confidence and experience. And within these pages you will find a simple recipe for homemade Amaretti; a gorgeous Fig and Red Wine Crostata; Caramelised Apricot, Almond & Orange Blossom Upside-Down Cake; Whipped Coffee & Ricotta Instant Mousse; Cannoli; Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream with Mascarpone; Salted Caramel Truffles, and so many others that sing their sweet song so seductively that I really could go on and on.
The recipe I’ve chosen to share with you today was just irresistible. It’s the Tiny Peach & Almond Cookies with Ricotta Cream (you’ll often just find them referred to as Peaches in Italy) which are sandwich-cookies formed and decorated to look like peaches. They are quite enchanting! I’m sure you can see why I had to bring them to you here.
La Vita è Dolce by Letitia Clark (Hardie Grant, £26).
Photography ©Charlotte Bland.
