Here I am: my name is Gabry

For 12 years I have been hosting guests in this place that everybody calls “Agriturismo” where I feel home.

I moved here 5 years ago and I will never go back to the city!

Lots of my guests have suggested me to improve my interest for cooking because I had much passion but not so much experience. In fact I was used cooking for the family and friends following our traditional recipes while taking a glance to international ones.

Then living in this large and ancient stone house, with many fireplaces it reminded me about my childhood in the countryside with my grandmother. The smell and taste of something past but which was still inside of me. So I wanted to share these memories and live these experiences again with other people and my own family.

It has taken 3 years to decide to write something about what has become for me a nice job. All my cooking secrets, traditional or creative recipes that are tested and approved by all the guests have been visiting me in all these years. They have encouraged me by asking “when are you going to write your own cook book?”, I used to  say I had no time but the real reason was I thought there were too many cook books in Italy….then during winter I realized writing a blog could be a good opportunity to feel less alone in this wild and quiet part of Tuscany.

During he Christmas I prepared for my son and his friends a cake made of chocolate, pears and orange peel, the recipes comes from the classic apple cake but chocolate and orange let it become a perfect Christmas cake. Try it!

INGREDIENTS:

300 gr sugar

200 gr. flour 100 gr. butter 3 eggs 60 gr. milk 3 big pears 100 gr dark chopped chocolate the peel of a big orange 1 teaspoon of baking powder

Beat sugar, eggs and melted butter until foamy, then add milk, flour and baking powder.

Lightly grease and flour a 26 cm cake tin, pour half of the mixture, half of the peeled and chopped pears, then chocolate and orange peel (just the yellow part), finish with the rest of the pears.

Bake in pre-heated oven 170°C for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

If you want to try the traditional tuscan Apple cake  use the same mixture using 4 big apples, 30gr pine nuts, lemon peel, 50gr raisin (instead of pears, chocolate and orange). Enjoy!