Special Occasions

copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati 
I couldn’t let this colorful Holiday pass by without a noble mention on my blog.  Carnevale is….a festa filled with colors and children and confetti and special sweets and parties and costumes and more… 
Here is an excerpt from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays and Special Occasions,copyright 2008, Maria Liberati-to be released in late 2008 
Did you know that Carnevale originated in Rome?
It began in ancient Rome, the term comes from the latin word “carnem levare”. This referred to the period of fasting from meat. The feast lasts for about 10 days But the ancient Romans celebrated it for about 180 days of the year. It was their way of celebrating their victories. After the fall of the Roman empire, Carnevale was still celebrated by the Roman people. It always included a period of fasting, and joy
Carnevale is made up of some any colors- from the beautiful fireworks displays to the costumes to the colored papers and streamers used during this Holiday. To stay in the Carnevale spirit, keep your foods, tableware colorful and festive.
In the spirit of the decadent Romans a masked ball with decadent desserts is the perfect way to celebrate.
Dolce Cioccolata
6 eggs
½ cup sugar
16 ounces of unsweetend baking chocolate (at least 60% cocoa)
2- 1/2 cups whipped cream
¼ cup Cointreau
Fresh raspberries for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a pie pan and coat with baking paper. Dip finger tips in olive oil and oil baking paper.
With electric mixer, beat eggs with sugar of 5 minutes – until creamy and well blended. Melt chocolate in glass dish in microwave (approx 2 minutes depending on settings).With rubber spatula, fold melted chocolate into egg mixture. Im separate bowl whip cream, fold in Cointreau. Gently fold this into egg/chocolate mixture until well blended.
Place pie pan coated with baking paper in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Place water in baking dish to reach half height of pie plate.
Bake for 30 minutes this way in oven. Take out. Place sheet of baking paper on top and bake for another 30 minutes this way. Remove from oven, Uncover and let cool. When cool, refrigerate overnight. Serve garnished with fresh raspberries and dust with powdered cocoa.