"Cappuccino and Chocolate"

I made this trompe l'oeil dessert for Christmas Day dinner at our house. It is composed of espresso ice cream served in an espresso cup topped with vanilla meringue "foam," with Sambuca truffles to go along with it. This is a fun dessert to serve because of its cute presentation, and all of the components are delicious and go extremely well together.

The recipe for the espresso ice cream is here.

And I used this truffle recipe, adding a few tablespoons of Sambuca until the flavor was strong enough.

I don't remember which meringue recipe I used; any good recipe will do. Use a pastry bag or plastic bag with the corner cut off to pipe the filling into pretty mounds of "foam."

BTW: The espresso cup and plate are "Koko" by Arabia, a Finnish ceramics company. Their products are so beautiful and well-made. Arabia's product line can be found at their website.

Farinata with Fennel Pollen

Farinata is a delicious Italian flatbread made with chickpea flour. It originated in Liguria and is similar to the French socca.  I used fennel pollen this time (which smells divine!), but you could also use fresh or dried herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil, or spices such as fennel seed or cumin. 

Ingredients:

•  1/4 cup chickpea flour
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• pinch of salt
• fennel pollen
• black pepper

Steps:

1. Stir together the first four ingredients and let sit for at least 3 hours.
2. When ready to bake, preheat a nonstick baking dish in a 450 degree oven for 5 minutes. Drizzle the skillet with olive oil then pour in the batter. Sprinkle the batter with sea salt, fennel pollen and freshly ground black pepper. 
3. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and crispy, then enjoy!

Serves 1

(Recipe can be doubled or quadrupled and baked in larger non stick dishes)