My

Ciao,

Perché "My family members" translated into i membri della mia famiglia which literally means the members of my family. 
So if i want to say My classmates in the class, I have to say "The classmates of my class", is that right?

Same for food, if i want to say Chocolate cake, or chicken rice, i say the cake of chocolate and the rice of chicken?

Grazie mille

Ciao Jemma!

Io non sono fluente, ma dovrebbe essere così.

Torta di cioccolata e riso di pollo

Aiuto?

Hi Jemma,

The English genitive doesn't exist in Italian, so it's usually translated using of.
"Classmate" is compagno di classe (mate of class). To avoid repeting classe, it's often shortened to compagno: i compagni della mia classe (the mates of my class).

Chocolate cake is indeed torta di cioccolato, and chicken rice riso di pollo (although riso con pollo [rice with chicken] is much more common).

Genitive is not always translated with di, however, as the preposition ultimately depends on what kind of association there is.

Playing card = carta da gioco
Evening dress = abito da sera
Fruit tree = albero da frutto
Bathing suit = costume da bagno

Generally speaking, di  is used to mean "made of", "belonging to", while da conveys a message of "utility": a suit that can be used for bathing, a tree that yeals fruits, a card that can be played and so on.

With food, al is also possible, with the meaning of "dish containing a special ingredient":
Nettle pasta = pasta alle ortiche
Chocolate cake = torta di/al cioccolato
Chicken rice = riso di/con/al pollo

Hope this helps!

Lucia