White Wine Donuts - Ciambelline al vino

I spent part of my childhood in Rome, where they have the most amazing markets where you can buy fresh produce but also meets and cheeses and local products from the surrounding area. I remember loving going with my mum also because I would always get some kind of treat. One of them was this awesome little donuts shaped cookies that were made in the towns on the hills surrounding Rome, called Castelli Romani. I never found those again once I moved back to Pisa and always thought they were the best treats ever: just the right amount of sweet, crunchy and with an unmistakable perfume. Thanks to the internet I now found the recipe, and I found out that, as for most of the good Italian food, it is very simple. The region of the Castelli Romani is famous for its white Frascati wine, that, although it is not internationally acclaimed, it is very easy to drink and table friendly. This recipe was probably born to be made as part of the celebrations for the new wine ( usually in the fall there are many wine related "sagre" or festivals) but you can do them year round!

Ingredients


1 cup of sugar (plus extra for coating)
1 cup of olive oil or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of white wine
3-4 cups of flour

Preparation
Turn on the oven at 350 degrees.
Mix the first four ingredients in a bowl then mix the flour slowly until you reach a consistency that can be easily molded without being too dry.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour some sugar on a plate.
With your hands scoop up a ball of dough and roll it to form a cylinder then join the extremities to make a doughnut.
Press both sides of the doughnut on the sugar so that it is evenly coated and then set on the parchment paper. The doughnuts can be pretty close together since they are not going to grow very much.
Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until they are dark brown on the bottom.

Super Easy Chocolate Walnut Brownies

A lot of the people I know make brownies from some box mix. Well, I just found this recipe and decided to try it and I have to say it is as easy as making a recipe from a box, plus the ingredients are not that hard to find in your pantry. I recommend anyone who has made boxed brownies before to try this one and tell me if they don't taste a lot better with the same amount of effort!

INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/4 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of bittersweet cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of chopped walnuts

PREPARATION

Turn on oven at 325.
Put foil inside an 8x8x2 inches pan leaving 2 extra inches on the sides.
Butter the foil or use non-stick spray if you have it.
Melt the butter in a pot on the stove until is bubbly and slightly browned. Remove from heat.
Add the sugar, the cocoa powder, the water, the vanilla extract and the salt while stirring.
Let cool 5 minutes.
Add the eggs while stirring vigorously then add the flour and stir 60 times.
Add the walnuts and mix.
Pour the mix in the pan.
Cook for 25 minutes.
Take out of the oven and let cool off. Then remove the foil from the pan and cut into 16 squares.

(This recipe was adapted by the February 2011 issue of Bonappetit Magazine)