Looking for a simple and delicious dessert? This cake which my friend Vilma made for my birthday is just the thing, la sbrisolona con ricotta. The name sbrisolona comes from the verb sbriciolare (to crumble), so a sbrisolona is a crumbly cake. It originally comes from the town of Mantova in Lombardy, where it is considered il dolce più rappresentativo della cucina mantovana (the classic mantovano dessert). The traditional sbrisolona is made from maize flour, plain flour, almonds, sugar, eggs, lemon rind, and suet, which nowadays is partially or entirely substituted with butter. The result is a hard but crumbly flattish cake, which you don’t slice with a knife, but break into bits with your hands. You can find the traditional recipe HERE.
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| Vilma’s delicious sbrisolona … mi viene l’acquolina in bocca! (my mouth is watering!) |
My friend Vilma makes a variation which is much lighter, and has a delicate ricotta filling. Here is the recipe which she used to make my birthday cake:
| Ingredienti per la base: |
Ingredients for the base: |
| 350 gr di farina 00 |
350 grams of plain flour |
| 125 gr di burro |
125 grams of butter |
| 150 gr di zucchero |
150 grams of sugar |
| 1 uovo, sbattuto |
1 egg, beaten |
| 1 bustina di lievito |
2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder |
Preparation:
Mix the flour, sugar and baking powder together, and put them in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and put in the butter, which you should cut into small cubes, and the egg. Rub all the ingredients together with your hands until it resembles breadcrumbs, but making sure that you don’t overwork the mixture. Leave it to rest for a few minutes in a cool place. In the meantime prepare the filling.
| Ingredienti per il ripieno: |
Ingredients for the filling: |
| 350 gr di ricotta |
350 grams of ricotta |
| 1 uovo, sbattuto |
1 egg, beaten |
| 100 gr di zucchero |
100 grams of sugar |
| essenza di mandorla o altro profumo a piacere (buccia di limone) |
almond essence or other flavour to your liking (e.g. lemon rind) |
Preparation:
In a second mixing bowl cream all the ingredients for the filling together.
Line a loose-based flan case, about 26 cm in diameter (10 inches), with greaseproof paper. Put two thirds of the crumbly mixture into it, and press down lightly with your hands, then spread the ricotta filling over it. Sprinkle the remaining crumbly mixture over the top so that you now have three layers with the layer of ricotta filling sandwiched between the two crumbly layers.
Bake at 180°C (350°F) for about 50 minutes until it becomes a delicate golden colour. Remove your sbrisolona from the oven, and leave it to cool before dusting it with icing sugar.
La sbrisolona is traditionally served cold accompanied by a sweet white wine such a Malvasia, or a Passito di Pantelleria, or a Vin Santo.
Buon appetito!
Comments:
alex:
Thanks, this looks incredible!