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Buon Compleanno, Peter!

Palermo Palermo

I don’t have a prayer

When my heart shoots a flare in the sky

And as the flames in the air blow I’m leavin’ I swear

Though I can’t kiss Palermo

I can’t kiss Palermo goodbye

To finish the Roadside Assistance project and wish Peter Cincotti a very happy birthday, we present a Sicilian Cassata cake. Of course, this pairs with “Palermo”. We needed to make some changes to the traditional method to account for our limited skill set and available ingredients, but this came out amazing. 

For the sponge cake, we followed this Martha Stewart recipe . It makes enough for a sheet pan plus a 9in round cake pan. We ended up just using the cake made in the sheet pan and eating the cake round plain while we decorated. If having extra cake bothers you, look for another sponge cake recipe. 

The cake and filling can be made ahead of time. 

For the filling:

2 lb ricotta cheese

1 lb powdered sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

If your ricotta is watery, use cheese cloth to squeeze out and separate the liquid. Whisk in the powdered sugar and chocolate chips 

Assembly

After your sponge cake has cooled, Spread the filling out evenly. Gently roll it from the short end. Tightly wrap it in plastic wrap and allow to sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. 

To decorate, use candied fruit and marzipan to create a pleasing pattern. You may wish to cover it entirely in marzipan or use a glaze for part. We used a simple glaze everything and help the candied fruit stick. 

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

Whisk the milk into the powdered sugar a little at a time until desired consistency is reached.

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I know she’s a problem, but she’s sexy

Problematic food is high calorie and expensive, but sooooo good.

I, and the two other people I asked, agree that mushrooms are sexy. Not sure why, but it may have something to do with umami. So for “Sexy”, I made a mushroom cream sauce for pasta and used dried porcini, fresh morels, and minced truffles (I’m crazy, but not crazy enough to track down whole fresh black truffle). The result was an intense plate of pasta that will make you come back for more no matter what.

Serves 4

1 lb bucatini pasta

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1 oz dried porcinis

8 oz fresh morels

50 g minced truffles in olive oil

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

chopped parsley to garnish

Soak the dried porcinis in hot water for about 15 minutes. Reserve the water and chop the mushrooms.

Boil a pot of salted water and cook the bucatini to al dente, about 9 minutes.

In a large pan, heat the olive oil. Saute the shallots and garlic. Add the porcinis, morels, and about 1/3 of the minced truffles. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Add the cream and bring to simmer. Stir constantly until sauce is reduced to the consistency you like. Taste and season with salt and pepper. If it gets too dry, add some of the reserved water from the porcinis.

When your sauce is the consistency you want and your pasta is al dente, add the pasta to the pan with the sauce and toss. Add the grated Parmesan, parsley, and another 1/3 of the minced truffles, and continue to toss.

To plate, garnish each serving with a little more parsley and a dollop of the minced truffle.  

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