Pineapple Saturday #1: I Heart Pineapple Cake

i got a beautiful pineapple from giulia last week, and i spent some time thinking about what to do with it... the result is these three exotic fruity posts :)

I Heart Pineapple Breakfast Cake
(please notice the little heart in the centre)

wisk three eggs with 150gr of cane sugar. add the seeds of a vanilla beam, 75gr of olive oil (i discovered olive oil in cakes and i just can't help it any more!) and two slices of fresh pineapple (cut in pieces, of course). at last add 250gr of flour and the baking powder. grease the baking tin with oil and put some pineapple decoration at the bottom of it (as in the picture). cover the pineapple with sugar, so that it will caramelize in the oven. add the batter and bake 180degrees for 50 minutes.

the result is a moist soft cozy cake, slurp

Versatile and Quick Yogurt Muffins

another versatile recipe you can adapt according to your mood. no butter but olive oil, which gives a different thickness and more bubbles than butter; and an aromatic scent, too. what else? yes, it's a quick recipe, too.
i made pear&chocolate sweet treats for my greedy probability group, for one of our working-evenings! and they enjoyed it :)

Quick Yogurt Muffins
(makes 12)

whisk one large egg and add one vase of flavored yogurt (see note below). clean the vase and use it as a measuring cup for the rest of the recipe. add one and a half vase of sugar and whisk well, until it is melted in the liquids. add half vase of olive oil (or other seeds oil, depending on the flavor you are searching for) and mix well again. at this point, i added 50gr of chocolate drops and a sliced pear (you can go for vanilla, lemon zest, etc). add 3 vases of flour (i also added 4 tablespoons of bitter cocoa). drop one spoon of dough in each muffin case and bake 180degrees for 20 minutes.

note on yogurt: change the flavor of yogurt according to the rest of the ingredients. try to use light colour yogurts, such as coconut or vanilla or cereals, to give your muffins a better coloration.

The ultimate dinner resolution: Il Polpettone!

there is nothing innovative here. on the other hand, there is something fast and tasty. i have never made a polpettone before last sunday, because i thought it was just too hard and too long and you could buy it already made in supermarkets.
it was love at first try. i will make it again and again since you can just assemble the ingredients in the morning (it takes 15 min), store your fresh polpettone in the fridge and tell your boyfriend to turn on the oven at 7, put the polpettone in the oven at 7.15 and it will be ready for when you're back from work.
for what concerns the ingredients, please use fantasy, lots of herbs and vegetables leftovers. i will soon make another one with broccoli, or spinach and ricotta cheese. or peas maybe.

Il Polpettone
(basic version, but be creative)

well mix and "knead" by hand: 400gr of minced meat (i used beef... but how to you say carne trita in english??), one egg, 50-100gr of minced mortadella (or ham, or bacon... it depends on your taste), one hand full of parmesan cheese, one or two slices of bread soaked in milk, persil and other herbs (i went for persil and mint), a smashed clove of garlic. feel free to add nuts of any sort you like (and sultanas). if you feel your polpettone is not "solid" enough, dry it up with some breadcrumbs.
cover the baking tin with cooking sheet, and bake your polpettone for 45 minutes at 180degrees. remember to add a glass of stock, or white whine, or just water in the baking tin.

Dedicated to coffee-lovers: mocha coffee coffee cake

i already wrote about how i love breakfasts, but i probably omitted how many times coffee in the morning saved my day!
i took this recipe from what i think is the best baking blog in the blogosphere, i could spend entire days on joy's recipes and mouthwatering pictures. oops, actually, i did...
i will not post the recipe of this cake, since you can find it in english here. i just wanted to share the results of my bake... do you notice anything weird? eheh this cake is actually a three flavors cake (vanilla, chocolate and coffee) with vertical layers :)
so, yes, it is a funny cake, too... and it has cream in it. as you know, i love cream!