Ciaooo!!
It's been such a loooooooong time (more than 2 years!!) since my last blog post, that's quite "scary"!!
It is probably due to the fact that being a full time mum & an entrepreneur doesn't give me a lot of free time anymore, plus maybe the fact that Instagram features are so cool that I use them more in this last period (instead of blogging) .
Anyway, here we are now and I thought it was about time to be back here - especially because I want to share this nice idea that I had for my daughter's 2nd birthday party!
She has turned 2 on the 31st of May (already?!?!) and as last year we couldn't really make a big nice party - actually since she was born - because of COVID restrictions, this time I wanted to celebrate it properly with all her little friends!!
We decided to plan the party at the park, considering that we were expecting something like 25 2-years-old kids plus parents, so it was be impossible to have them all in our flat!
That's why, considering the location and the young age, I thought it could be a nice idea to prepare some picnic boxes, with both sweet & savoury items, to give to each kid and to eventually bring home if something would be left by the end of the party.
It actually didn't happen and they were quite a success so here I am to share all the recipes with you, in case you'd like to replicate the idea!
In each box I had put: a little bag with 3 meringues, a pasta frolla Milano & milk chocolate chips cookies in the shape of n.2, a banana bread muffin, a veggie savoury muffin and a mini milk bun with prosciutto cotto and cheese.
SWISS MERINGUES
Ingredients:
100 gr egg white
200 gr caster sugar
Method:
Put the sugar in Kitchen Aid (KA) bowl with egg white and whisk with a whisker.
Warm the mix in a bain marie on low heat, until it reaches 50°C.
Put the KA on at full speed for 10 mins until firm pick.
Pipe on baking paper and cook for at least 60 mins at 100-110°C.
With this recipe you can also make the lollipop meringues that I've also prepared to decorate the sweet table.
BANANA BREAD MUFFINS
Ingredients (for 12 muffins):
200 gr flour
9 gr baking powder
2 eggs
120 gr brown sugar
3/4 mature bananas (smashed)
120 gr butter (soft)
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
Method:
Cream the butter and the sugar together on a Kitchen Aid with whisk attachment.
Add the eggs and a pinch of salt.
Add the smashed bananas.
Mix with a spatula and add the sieved fuor + baking powder.
Add cinnamon (and chocolate chips, if you want to add some extra deliciousness to them!!) and mix.
Place in a piping bag and put in muffin cases in a muffin tin.
Bake at 180*C for ca 45 mins in a preheated oven (no fan).
Once baked and cooled down, dust with icing sugar.
PASTA FROLLA MILANO MILK CHOCOLATE CHIPS COOKIES
Ingredients:
200 gr soft butter
1 egg yolk
300 gr flour
2 gr of salt (dissolved in 4 gr of water)
40 gr honey
75 gr icing sugar
1 lemon zest
1 vanilla pod
Method:
Mix together in a KA with paddle attachment, at low speed, the butter, icing sugar and honey - without creaming the butter.
Add the egg yolk and the salt dissolved in the water.
Add the vanilla pods and the lemon zest.
Add the sifted flour in one step and mix at low speed until the whole amount of flour is absorbed.
Add the chocolate chips.
Put the dough in a cling film and let it rest for one night.
Roll the dough to 2 mm and cut (with cookoie cutters) in the desired shape .
Bake in a preheated oven at 180*C for ca 15 mins.
VEGGIE MUFFINS
Ingredients (for 12 muffins):
200 gr flour
10 gr dried yeast for savoury preparations
80 gr ricotta
100 gr whole milk
80 gr grana padano cheese grated
100 gr sunflower oil
salt to taste (and black pepper, if you prepare them for adults only)
1 carrot
1 leek
1 big courgette
100 gr peas frozen
EVO oil
Method:
Cut the leek in small pieces and place in a large pan with EVO oil, cook until golden brown.
Add the grated carrot and courgette, cut in small dices.
Add the frozen peas.
Let everything cook for at least 30 mins, medium heat, checking every now and then.
In a KA bowl with whisker attachment, whisk the eggs and the milk then slowly add the sunflower oil.
Sieve the ricotta and the flour + yeast and add to the mix.
Add the grated Grana Padano.
Adjust with salt (and black pepper).
Add the cooked vegetables and mix.
Place in a piping bag and put in muffin cases in a muffin tin.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180*C for ca 30 mins.
MILK BUNS with prosciutto cotto and cheese
Ingredients (for 30 buns - 30 gr each):
150 gr Manitoba flour
350 gr flour
7 gr fresh yeast (lievito di birra)
300 gr whole milk (room temperature)
50 gr butter (melted)
60 gr caster sugar
7 gr salt
Method:
Sieve both flours and put them in a bowl with the sugar and the yeast.
Slowly add the milk and mix it until you get a dough, then add the butter.
Knead until the butter is fully incorporated, then add the salt.
Knead (by hands or with a KA with hook) for about 15 mins then form a ball and let it proof in a bowl for about 2 hours, covered with cling film.
Divide the dough in 30 pieces of 30 gr each and form little balls, place them on a baking tray, covered with baking paper.
Egg wash with a mix made with 1 egg and 20 gr of milk.
Let them proof again for ca 30 mins.
Bake in a preheated oven (no fan) at 200*C for ca 12-13mins.
Once baked, I've filled them with prosciutto cotto and cheese but really you can also make a sweet version of them, with nutella or jam!
Et voilà!!
Now you got all the recipes and you can try to make your own picnic boxes... I know it takes quite a lot of time to prepare all these items but it's a lot of fun (at least for me), plus in this way your kids will eat healthy and handmade food, not just supermarket junk food that you often find at kids parties.
Other easy ideas are the lollipop meringues, strawberries covered with chocolate, madeleines and - if you are making an indoor party - of course all our pasticcini mignon are perfect also for kids (and in this case you can simply order them at DOLCE's!!)...
Time to say goodbye for now, from me and this little gourmet girl... Let me know if you try these recipes and how it goes! Ciao!!
xx Serena