Tag: Cake

Donizetti cake, recipe, legend and true history – Italian Cuisine


Typical dessert of Bergamo, which seems to have been born in honor of the famous Bergamo musician and composer Gaetano Donizetti

A simple and quick dessert, similar to Margherita cake but with the typical a shape donut and with the addition of candied apricots and pineapples and flavored with vanilla and maraschino. Let's find out together the legend behind this delicious recipe and the true story unknown to many.

Donizetti cake: the legend

Legend has it that one evening the Bergamo Gaetano Donizetti and colleague and friend Gioacchino Rossini, were to have dinner together, but that the former was grieved and heartbroken because of a love penalty that did not give him peace and that had taken away his smile and even his appetite. It was then that Rossini, tired of seeing his friend afflicted and in order not to be completely ruined the dinner, asked his personal chef to prepare a simple, fast and capable dessert to bring back a good mood to the musician and composer. The cook went to work and came back victorious with a soft donut covered with icing sugar, which revealed candied apricots and pineapples and the unmistakable flavor of vanilla and maraschino, apparently the cake apparently liked very much to Donizetti and since then among the streets of the city it is easy to hear these words echoing "if you have love sickness, a slice of Turta del Donizèt is enough and everything passes".

Donizetti cake: the real story

Although the legend just told may seem likely and decidedly suggestive, the truth is another. In fact, this dessert was not invented by Rossini's cook, but created and patented by Alessandro Balzer in 1948, on the occasion of the centenary of Donizetti's death (April 8, 1848). For those who know Bergamo the Balzer is a fixed destination for breakfasts and snacks in the name of genuine sweetness, it is the historic pastry shop that has overlooked the Sentierone since 1936, one of the most important and famous avenues in Bergamo, right in front of the Donizetti Theater . A brilliant invention was that of the then owner and pastry chef Alessandro Balzer, who decided to pay homage to the most famous musician from Bergamo and one of the most famous operatives of the nineteenth century dedicating him a very special dessert, easily replicable at home.

The recipe for the Donizetti cake

The Donizetti Cake has become in all respects one of the symbolic desserts of the city, whose recipe filed must meet the requirements established by the regulation of the brand "BERGAMO, City of a Thousand … flavors". In addition, to celebrate the great composer, on April 8, the date of his death, it became the National Day of Turta del Donizèt.

Donizetti cake ingredients

260 g butter
150 g sugar
100 g starch
80 g 00 flour
120 g cubed candied pineapple
80 g cubed candied apricot
8 yolks
4 egg whites
1 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon of maraschino

Method

Whip the butter together with 120 grams of sugar, add the yolks one at a time and mix well. Beat the four egg whites with the remaining 15 grams of sugar until stiff and slowly add to the previous mixture. Gradually add the flour, the starch and then the candied apricot and pineapple, together with the aromas of maraschino and vanilla. Grease a 24/26 cm diameter donut-shaped hinge mold, pour the mixture, put in the oven at 180 ° for about 40 minutes. Let cool and sprinkle with icing sugar.

(Soft) hazelnut cake – La Cucina Italiana – Italian Cuisine

(Soft) hazelnut cake - La Cucina Italiana


Soft and delicious, the hazelnut cake is prepared in no time and you can no longer do without it

The (soft) hazelnut cake it is perfect for breakfast in the morning, but also for a sweet moment after a meal. Its execution is fast and without particular difficulties, therefore highly recommended for these days when the desire to get your hands in the dough is so great! Get only excellent quality hazelnuts (Piedmontese ones are the best) and you're done!

All the properties of hazelnuts

Hazelnuts are really an inexhaustible source of nutrients that do our body very well. In addition to the already known essential fats, this dried fruit contains powerful antioxidants that help delay cell aging, fibers, which help the intestine and minerals such as potassium and magnesium, essential for controlling blood pressure and the level of calcium in the bones. Hazelnuts are also a valuable aid for weight control, thanks to the sense of satiety they bring.

The recipe for hazelnut cake (for a 20 cm diameter pan)

Ingredients

200 g white flour, 150 g sugar, 150 g shelled hazelnuts, 100 g butter, 3 eggs, 1 lemon, 1 sachet of yeast, olive oil, milk, butter and flour for the cake pan.

Method

Spread the hazelnuts on a plate and bake them at 150 ° for 10 minutes, then rub them vigorously to remove the skin. Mince them very finely. In a bowl break the eggs, add the softened butter to room temperature, sugar, grated lemon zest, flour with yeast, chopped hazelnuts, a spoonful of olive oil and a cup of milk. Mix everything thoroughly then pour the dough into the previously buttered and floured cake pan and level with a spatula. Put the mold in a preheated oven at 200 ° and cook for about 30 minutes. When it is cooked, wait 20 minutes before serving.

Tips

You can use a portion of corn foil instead of white flour, you will get one more rustic texture of the cake. If you like them, you can also combine some walnuts together with hazelnuts, the taste will be even more particular. Once cooked, you can serve this hazelnut cake with a spoonful of whipping cream lightly beaten: in this way yours will be a perfect dessert for a meal with friends.

Gluten-free Pasqualina cake: the recipe – Italian Cuisine

Gluten-free Pasqualina cake: the recipe


A classic of Easter lunch or Easter Monday picnic, revisited in a gluten free version

Just a few tricks are needed to make celiac-proof one of the inevitable dishes on the Easter menu: the Pasqualina cake, a Ligurian specialty now widespread on tables throughout Italy. Traditional pasta preparation requires some patience, especially if you use gluten-free flours; as always, some precautions should be followed. Starting from the choice of flour: the are ideal bread mixes. And then the preparation of the sheets, which must be thin. Finally the oven, strictly hot. Who does not have time or desire to devote himself to the homemade preparation of the gluten-free Pasqualina cake, can use a roll of gluten-free pasta sheet and focus on the filling: the result will still be excellent.

The recipe for the gluten-free Pasqualina cake

Here are the ingredients and the procedure for preparing the gluten-free Easter cake.

Ingredients

For pasta
00 g of gluten-free flour
extra virgin olive oil
salt

For the stuffing
250 g of peeled spinach
250 g of peeled chard
1/2 onion
10 g of dried mushrooms
6 eggs
30 g of grated parmesan
200 g of cottage cheese
fresh marjoram
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Method

For the stuffing
Boil the vegetables in a little salted water, drain them, squeeze them and mince them. Brown the chopped onion with the mushrooms in a drizzle of oil, previously soaked and squeezed. Add the chard and spinach and leave to flavor for a few minutes; let it cool. Beat 2 eggs with parmesan, add the ricotta, then add everything to the warm vegetables; salt, season with the chopped marjoram and mix.

For pasta
Place the flour on the pastry board; in the center pour 2 tablespoons of oil and a pinch of salt, then start working, adding little by little as much water as needed to obtain a soft paste (about a glass). Continue to knead for 5 minutes, then divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll them out into 8 very thin sheets, large enough to line a 20 cm diameter round mold.

Grease the mold with oil, arrange a sheet of dough, brush it with other oil and overlap another sheet: continue in this way with half of the sheets.

Grease the surface of the last sheet, pour the filling, level it and, with the back of a spoon, form 4 notches at a regular distance. Pour an egg into each hollow, salt and pepper it, then overlap a sheet of pasta, brush it with oil and continue overlapping the greased sheets of oil until they are finished.

Fold the excess pasta back inward and seal the edge by pressing with the prongs of a fork. Grease the surface of the cake, prick it with a fork and bake at 200 ° C for 45 minutes or until it is golden brown. Let the cake cool before serving.

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