La Mora Romagnola
It’s friday at last, the more we are near to holidays the slower the time runs.
Just because I feel masochist I planned to turn on the barbecue on sunday to celebrate the great Fiorentina steak I bought at La Macelleria Bottega from my trusted butcher Stefano.
I’m thinking how to balance the heat of bbq buying a big box of artisan ice cream instead of baking something but I’m not sure, every dish not made is a post not made on the blog and I know exactly what I would like to make and post. 😉
The cake I show you today is a masterpiece of Mantua cooking, it’s a farmer treat made of flour and cornmeal and pork lard: the Gonzagas enriched it with nuts, sugar and spices and now this cake is a real hit.
I adore sbrisolona (sbrisolona means crumbly), I would eat tons of it; it’s quick and easy to make but if you think to serve it at the end of a dinner consider the idea of adding a cream or a mousse or even ice cream to balance the dryness of the cake.
As an alternative to this you can serve sbrisolona with a cup of tea or a less stylish but definetely tasty glass of milk.
Sbrisolona, crumble cake from Mantua.
Ingredients
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 1⅔ cups fine cornmeal corn flour / fioretto
- 1¼ cups blanched almonds
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup cold butter cut into small cubes
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
- Pinch of salt
- For topping
- ¼ cup whole almonds with skin
- 1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- Place the blanched almonds and sugar in a food processor and pulse until finely ground, but not too powdery.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the cold butter cubes, cornmeal, all-purpose flour, and a pinch of salt. Mix quickly with your hands, rubbing the ingredients together just enough to combine without warming the dough.
- The mixture should be crumbly and sandy, not smooth or compact.
- In a small bowl, mix the egg yolks with the grated lemon zest and the vanilla seeds. Add this mixture to the dough and gently combine, always keeping the texture crumbly.
- Lightly butter a 11-inch (28 cm) round cake pan. Crumble the dough evenly into the pan without pressing it down.
- Sprinkle the surface evenly with the sugar and scatter the whole almonds on top.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (180°C) for about 50 minutes, until golden.
- Let the cake cool completely before serving.
