The brown, as you know, it is among the typical and traditional Italian desserts that prepare and consume during the Christmas holidays. the host, or rather the leaves of obsthe.
Let’s find out this product together!
What is host and what is needed
You will be asked what ingredients the host is prepared and why it is so indispensable for some desserts.
Well, the ostia is composed of a thin layer of dough that is cooked and, without the addition of additional aromas, it is to be tasteless. Ingredients to prepare it are only 3: water, flour and oil.
The process is long enough, it is necessary and indispensable to have the special mould, in some cases hardly available. For this we recommend to buy the ready-made, in a few days you will have them directly at your home and ready to use.
Ostias are used for decoration, but also for preparation of some Sweet sweets For example, when preparing the torrone they are used to make the mixture compact and adhere as much as possible to have a homogeneous result.
The ostias, however, being obviously edible, can be found in different colors and in different forms and can be used also as decorations for desserts. Here. you can find decorations like flowers, leaves and butterflies made with the host, to give an extra touch to your creations and cakes.
The recipe
As we said before, we recommend buying ready ostias so as to save time and skip a long enough pass. But if any of you want to try out the preparation, here is our recipe with the 3 Ingredients main:
1 lt of water
500 gr of flour
oil q.b.
First of all, you need to sift the flour well, then add the water at a time and mix so as to avoid creating lumps. When you have a smooth and homogeneous dough you can grease the special mold with the oil and heat it on the fire. Once warm, pour the dough and cook it from both sides. Carefully chop the ostia and let it cool. Our advice is to cover it with a paper towels and put on a weight to ensure that it keeps the shape.
Here’s your host.
The host, how to use it in the kitchen
We have already seen that the uses of ostia in the kitchen are many. Let’s see some recipes that include the use of this simple ingredient.
The torrone
For the Christmas season brown is the sweet par excellence, the most famous is the torrone of Cremona. egg whites egg, honey, sugar and stuffed with dried fruits such as almonds, pistachios, nuts or hazelnuts, in short, what you like. our recipe Step by step.
This typical sweet has two variations: the torrone hard requiring long cooking and torrone Soft that instead requires a shorter cooking and the dough remains tender.
Today we also find more “modern” peats covered with chocolate.
The replenished host
Another typical dessert, this time of the Apulian tradition, is the ostia filledIt’s ostias stuffed with a mixture of honey, sugar and almonds.
Ingredients:
ostia
300 gr honey
500 gr almonds sgusciate
2 spoons of sugar
First, let the almonds toast in an anti-stick pan, then in another pan dissolve honey and sugar until you get a caramel.
Mix the almonds with caramel and then fill the ostias. Cool the sweets by applying on a weight so that they adhere well. Here are ready your filled ostias!
In some cases the dough is flavored with cinnamon and cloves to give a more spicy taste.
The decorative host
Finally, the host is used in pastry shops for decorating I Sweet sweets and give a personalized touch to cakes.
On the market there are decorations with the most varied shapes and colors. We remind you that they are absolutely edible. You can find ready decorations like flowers, animals and characters, or customize them to your liking.
They are very easy to use and apply to the preparations and will make your creations very beautiful to see and fun.
Now that you have learned everything about this simple ingredient, you are ready to get drunk in the kitchen and leave room for your imagination!
