Life is sweet
Ella Walker learns the secrets of the finest italian desserts from pastry chef and food writer
LA VITA e Dolce is an exciting take on Italian baking by food writer and trained pastry chef, Letitia clark. Featuring more than 80 Italian desserts, Dolce showcases Letitia’s favourite recipes inspired by her time living in Sardinia.
Born in Devon in 1987 Letitia spent a year travelling the world after finishing school, and became captivated by Italy’s food and culture.
After a degree in english literature, she worked in London restaurants, various publishing houses and even worked as an illustrator, as well as seeing her recipes and writing featured in publications here and in New York.
Multi-talented Letitia moved to Sardinia in 2017 and began writing, drawing and cooking fulltime, as well as teaching english.
Here she shares some of the delicious desserts from the book, beginning with a caramelised apricot upside-down cake with almond and orange blossom.
“This cake is one of the best cakes I have ever made,” says Letitia “It’s a little chewy at the edges, tart and juicy on the top, moist, squidgy and buttery inside.
“The tartness of the apricots marries perfectly with the almonds and cuts through the richness of the sponge; the caramelised top adds an edge of fudgy intrigue, and the exotic scent of orange blossom lifts the whole lot into the arena of the angels.”
Letitia also wants us to try her fancy fridge cake, the chocolate, hazelnut and sour cherry salame.
“I used to always request chocolate biscuit cake (also known as fridge cake) as my birthday cake, which was a blow to my mum because she had a special talent for inventive cake decoration, and chocolate biscuit cake is almost impossible to decorate,” Letitia explains.
“Nevertheless, this combination of broken biscuits, chocolate and butter was my favourite as a child – strange on many counts, as generally I’ve never been a lover of chocolate, and it isn’t really a cake.
“Anyway, I loved it, and I still love it, and I also love its Italian cousin, which has the added bonus of being shaped like a salame.”
And with summer upon us, there are bound to be days, even in the UK, when the hot weather demands something cool and satisfying, perhaps to finish off a barbecue, or simply a refreshing treat for a hot afternoon.
Letitia thinks peach and basil makes for a very summery sorbet combo.
“I always want to be a sorbet sort of person, but inevitably I fall (willingly) down the pistachio gelato rabbit-hole, and I almost never order gelato’s frostier and fruitier sorbetto sister,” she says.
“The problem with sorbet is that I find it can be a little bit too light. Most of the time, I feel the need for something a bit denser.
“That is why this sorbet is so wonderful, because the velvety peach puree that it produces has substantial body, and doesn’t really feel flimsily light at all. Instead it is silky, thick and luxurious.”
La Vitae Dolce by Letitia Clark is published by Hardie Grant, priced £26. Photography by Charlotte Bland