Sorbetti e Gelati di Milano

...A place I often frequent for work and leisure alike, it has long become a temporary holding ground for transient waifs from the far away lands of Eastern Europe, Kansas, and the favelas of Brazil. A special breed of the fashion elite, these nomadic peoples (being models) come and go with the seasons, never sure of where they're going but always sure from where they came.


A boy named Ricky stood before me, and I say boy for he was just shy of the manhood of 18 years. He looked endearingly naive, eyes wide to the spectacle of Milanese fashion before him, and glowed with porcelain skin, frosted with freckles and blond eyelashes. Over the thud of electro-house, he revealed he was from Kansas, and that this had been his first modelling job, for Versace. Without knowing it, he had just arrived in the land of Oz.


I love Men's Fashion Week for its allure in underplayed style and sophistication, where the best shows and fashion parties happen in near secrecy, hidden from the glare of over-sexed, over-exposed, over-commercialized women's fashion.


So you are now thinking.... What does all this - Men's Fashion Week that is - have to do with sorbet and gelato? In truth, absolutely nothing. Only that for a time they co-exist in one place to which I hold dear. One place that masters in food and fashion. A place where I can wobble over effortlessly cool Milanese cobbled streets in fierce Nicholas Kirkwood pumps, grab a gelato, and still be à la mode. This place, my dearest, Milano.

One of the first things I learned in Italian when modelling in Milan was how to order gelato.

Porta Ticinese watched by Elvis

Milan gets uncomfortably hot in the summer, so I opted for a Club Monaco T, Miu Miu sunglasses, Céline bag, and topshop leopard sandals

Trams going by Porta Ticinese

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HAUT APPETIT NOW ON GOJEE AND TUMBLR

Take a look at the best food bloggers around at...

www.gojee.com

AND follow fashion and food at...

www.hautappetit.tumblr.com

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Cookies and Cupcakes for his birthday...

It was my friend's birthday last weekend and I gladly put myself in charge of (you guessed it) desserts... Around the same time I was informed by another friend that "stressed" was desserts spelled backwards. How fitting for my predicament... In charge of impressive desserts for 30 people. This is when the tightening of the stomach and chest sets in, and day horrors of people's faces contorted with disgust of having just bitten into one of my cookies begins to distract my otherwise pleasant days. I thought to make sure they were delicious over impressive, and both if I was lucky. 

It wasn't a formal sit-down dinner, mostly canapes and drinks, so luckily I could opt to make simple desserts that were friendly to the milling-around-socializing crowd unable to sit down for a breather. I.e. Easily-put-in-mouth, delicious, finger food.

It begins with these subtly sweet chocolate on chocolate hazelnut cookies, and ends with another treat for which I really can't (although wish I could) take credit.

Chocolate on Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

1 cup butter unsalted and softened at room temperature 

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick of chocolate (100g), dark 70% chocolate, chopped into chunks

handful of hazelnuts, roughly chopped (you don't want finely chopped, better in chunks or halves)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F/180C, and line two baking sheets with baking paper.

In a bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (ideally with an electric mixer or stand mixer). Add the white and brown sugars and continue to beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, continuing to beat allowing air to get into the batter to make it extra fluffy. Finally add the vanilla.

In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Combine dry ingredients with wet and mix until well incorporated. Then add chocolate chunks and hazelnut chunks, and mix into batter.

Lastly, spoon out large tablespoon scoops of the batter onto the baking trays, allowing some space because these cookies will spread out when baking in the oven. Bake for 10-12mins, then allow to cool. Makes about 30, good sized cookies.

Next the Magnolia Bakery Cupcakes...

My cupcake stand of deliciousness

The following cupcakes will leave you utterly giddy. They hail from the shores of New York City - Magnolia Bakery to be exact (see blog on Magnolia Bakery) - and have even found their way into Sex and the City TV episodes. The celebrity of cupcakes, this Magnolia Bakery vanilla cupcake recipe is a MUST to try in any kitchen.

Follow the link below....

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/magnolias-vanilla-cupcake-recipe/index.html

For decoration, I bought some local flowers and cut just the flowers off to place on the cupcakes after they were frosted. Edible flowers are ideal, but any flower will do. Just be sure to warn your guests about the inedible flowers!

Don't mind if I do...

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Banana Chunk, Chocolate Chip Cookies

When life begins to conspire against us, slowly trickling around our toes in a rising tidal onslaught of rainy days, conniving mother-in-laws, and coffee dribbles on crisp white shirts, a cry for help ensues. Whether you reach out to loving arms, or that friend (who pretends to listen to your sorrows for hours), nothing really does it better than the simple comfort of a chocolate chip cookie. A sure smile every time... a child-like excitement of taste that somehow finds its way into the euphoria of lasting comfort... a chocolate chip cookie is a cure-all in times of need.


This recipe is a twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie, where I have added chopped bananas for an extra explosion of sugary goodness. Here, you could add any fruit to the recipe in place of banana that goes well with chocolate - think cherries or blueberries.

Banana Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (150g) granulated white sugar

3/4 cup (160g) firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups (295g) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarb of soda)

1/2 teaspoon salt

100g dark chocolate (70%) finely chopped

1 large banana chopped into chunks roughly 1/4inch thick (better to use slightly under-ripe bananas than too ripe)


Directions
Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.


Beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add the sugars and beat in until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and combine until all the ingredients are well incorporated.


In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) and then add to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined. Then add the chocolate and banana chunks and stir in gently.


Spoon 2 Tblsp sized balls of dough onto lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-14mins. 


Makes about 24 large cookies.

I sent these cookies to my friend Thierry who is slowly becoming the cookie man, and soon to be monster. Please see him in the first January post "Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies". And so the tradition continues...

And after all, sometimes you just need a chocolate chip cookie.

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