Easy Italian bakes for novices and seasoned cooks alike

Italian bakes are not always easy to make at home. These recipes from Giuseppe Dell’Anno, however, are simple, rustic and ready in around 30 minutes, writes Prudence Wade

Most of these recipes take no more than 30 minutes to make (Matt Russell/PA)

“An Italian staple of the Seventies, the iconic salame di cioccolato is still a very popular treat today,” says Giuseppe Dell’Anno, who won The Great British Bake Off in 2021.

“As it is super-easy to make and requires no baking, it is the perfect venture to entertain the kids on a rainy afternoon. The basic recipe includes just Rich Tea biscuits, but it can be made with whatever you may have in your cupboard: it works extremely well with digestive biscuits or, if you like the combination, with ginger nuts.

“I have enriched mine with toasted hazelnuts and pistachios, to give it extra crunch, but you can experiment with more exotic additions, such as dried apricots or, if you like it, crystallised ginger.”

Salame di cioccolato – chocolate salami

Keep this in your fridge for a sweet treat whenever you fancy (Matt Russell/PA)

Makes: up to 12 slices

Ingredients:

60g egg (about 1 large egg)

40g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

⅛ tsp salt

90g dark chocolate chips, or bar broken into small pieces (70-75% cocoa solids)

60g milk chocolate chips, or bar broken into small pieces (30-35% cocoa solids)

30g unsalted butter

30g Strega liqueur or dark rum

60g Rich Tea biscuits or other light, crisp sweet variety

30g unsalted pistachios

30g toasted chopped hazelnuts

About 50g icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

1. Put the egg, sugar, vanilla and salt in a small bowl then beat lightly with a fork or a whisk just to combine the ingredients. Set aside.

2. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl (preferably metal), large enough to accommodate all the ingredients. Place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, ensuring that the water does not reach the bottom of the bowl. Stir with a silicone spatula until the chocolate has completely melted and it has incorporated the butter. Lower the heat to the minimum and pour the egg mixture into the melted chocolate. Keep stirring continuously over a minimum heat for about five minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to cool for five minutes, then stir in the liqueur. Line the surface of the mixture with cling film and chill in the fridge for about one hour, or until the mixture has thickened up enough to be shaped.

3. Meanwhile, roughly break the biscuits by hand into chunks, more or less two centimetres each. Lay a large (about 40-centimetre square) sheet of baking paper on the worktop.

4. Take the chocolate mixture out of the fridge, add the broken biscuits, pistachios and hazelnuts, and stir gently until well combined. Turn out the mixture onto the baking paper and roll the sheet over the mixture to shape it into a large sausage, about five centimetres thick and 25 centimetres long, then secure it by twisting the ends of the paper.

5. Chill in the fridge for at least five hours, ideally overnight. When ready to serve, unwrap the salami and keep it on its baking paper. Dust it generously with icing sugar, roll it onto the baking paper and spread the sugar on it with your hands until thoroughly coated. Serve chilled, sliced on a chopping board. Salame di cioccolato keeps for up to a week in the fridge and can be frozen for up to a month.

Torta alle noci – walnut cake

A classic Italian bake for afternoon tea (Matt Russell/PA)

“Torta alle noci (walnut cake) is another of my family’s classics: it uses mostly winter cupboard staples, so it is ideal to brighten up a cold and rainy afternoon,” says Dell’Anno.

“The flavour is unmistakably walnut: nuts are partly ground in the flour mix, partly chopped into larger pieces to add a pleasant crunch.”

Serves: up to 12

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

100g sultanas or raisins

50g Marsala or other sweet wine

200g walnut pieces

180g soft wheat 00 flour or plain flour, plus extra for dusting

2 tsp baking powder

100g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

200g egg (about 4 medium eggs), at room temperature

180g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

⅛ tsp salt

Zest of 1 unwaxed organic lemon

For the coating:

30g clear honey

40g Marsala wine

200g golden icing sugar

6 walnut halves, to decorate

Method:

1. Set the shelf in the lowest position of the oven and preheat it to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease the tin with butter and dust it with flour, tapping off the excess.

2. Put the sultanas in a small microwave-safe bowl with the Marsala. Heat in the microwave until just warm to the touch: 30 seconds should be enough. Stir, cover with a plate and set aside to soak.

3. Meanwhile, put half the walnuts in the bowl of a food processor, add the flour and baking powder and blitz until the mixture has the texture of fine sand. Set aside. Roughly chop the remaining walnuts with a sharp knife into pea-sized pieces and set aside. Put the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl and melt it: 40 seconds in the microwave should be enough. Set aside to cool. Put the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in a bowl large enough to accommodate all the ingredients and whisk at high speed with a handheld electric whisk (or use a stand mixer) for five minutes, until the mixture has doubled in volume and is pale and fluffy. Still whisking, slowly trickle in the melted butter then whisk for a further minute to incorporate it fully.

4. Add the walnut and flour mixture to the bowl, add the lemon zest, and fold them in with a silicone spatula. Add the sultanas with the Marsala to the batter, followed by the chopped walnuts, and fold them in gently. Pour the batter into the tin, level the surface with the spatula and bake for 33-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the deepest part of the cake comes out clean.

5. Leave the cake in the tin to cool for a few minutes, then turn it onto a wire rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the coating. Put the honey and Marsala in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 20 seconds. Add the icing sugar and stir until homogeneous. Set the wire rack over a tray and pour the warm syrup slowly over the top of the cake, coating it completely. Allow the excess to drip off into the tray below. While the coating is still warm, arrange the walnut halves around the cake top. Let the coating set, then transfer the cake to a serving plate. Torta alle noci keeps for up to a week under a cake dome.

Cantucci – almond biscuits

Dunk these crisp biscuits into a cup of coffee (Matt Russell/PA)

Few biscuits are as iconic as cantucci: well known the world over, these Tuscan delicacies were first conceived in the 16th century, with the current recipe eventually developed about 300 years later in Prato,” says Dell’Anno.

“The recipe could not be simpler; it requires no technical skill and it only calls for everyday cupboard staples. I have used exclusively almonds in my recipe to keep it closer to the original, but they can be partially or entirely swapped for your favourite nut: hazelnuts and pistachios work particularly well.

“Cantucci are often served alongside an espresso, but it is when they are dunked in a glass of vin santo that they are elevated to a truly different level: taste the pair together and you will experience one of the simplest yet most memorable gifts of Italian baking.”

Makes: 24

Ingredients:

50g egg (about 1 medium egg)

120g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Zest of 1 unwaxed organic lemon

Zest of 1 unwaxed organic orange

⅛ tsp salt

140g soft wheat 00 flour or plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp baking powder

100g whole unblanched almonds

Method:

1. Set the shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with baking paper or a silicone mat.

2. Put the egg, sugar, vanilla, citrus zest and salt in a bowl large enough to accommodate all the ingredients and lightly whisk them by hand, just long enough to combine. Sift in the flour and baking powder and combine, first with a spoon, then by hand until the mixture comes together as a soft dough. Add the almonds and work the dough to incorporate them. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured worktop and divide it into two halves, shape each half as a large sausage, no more than three centimetres thick, then place them on the lined baking sheet.

3. Bake for 23-25 minutes until the sausages have puffed up and the tops are lightly browned. Take them out of the oven and lower the oven temperature to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Allow the biscuits to cool for five minutes on the baking sheet and, when firm enough to handle, slice them diagonally into two-centimetre wide slices with a sharp, serrated knife.

4. Place the still-warm slices sideways back onto the baking sheet and bake for a further 10 minutes, turning them over midway to ensure an even bake. Leave the biscuits to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Cantucci keep for up to a month in an airtight container.

‘Giuseppe’s Easy Bakes’ by Giuseppe Dell’Anno (Quadrille, £24).