Krista came up with an idea that it would be fun to bake and blog each week. And a group of us on Slow Travel are going to do just that. Today is the first entry in our baking challenge. Here's how it works: we pick a cookbook and each week a person on our list picks a recipe from that book. We all bake it sometime during the week and post the results on our blog on Sunday.
The book we're starting with is Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma and the first recipe was Krista's pick: Italian Crumbly Cake (sbrisolona) on page 82.
I ordered this book prior to Christmas, having heard rave reviews of it. I was quickly a convert. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Gina, pastry chef at Mario Batalia's famous restaurant Babbo in New York City was none other than stella on the slowtravel message board!
Gina's book is beautiful and a wonderful way to introduce yourself to the intricacies of Italian baking.
Sbrisolona
makes one 10-inch cake, approximately 10 servings
For the cake
1 1/4 cups "00" flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg
4 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick/4oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the topping
1 1/2 cups sliced blanched almonds
1 large egg white
3 tbsp granulated sugar
Preheat the oven to 325F and position a rack in the center. Lightly grease a 10-inch spring form pan* with nonstick cooking spray or butter, dust it with flour, and tap to knock out the excess.
To make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together the "00" flour, almond flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon and set aside.
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg, egg yolks, and sugar on medium speed until they are thick and pale yellow, about three minutes. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract, followed by the melted butter. Switch to medium speed and beat for 30 seconds.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
To make the topping: Put the sliced almonds in a medium bowl. Lightly beat the egg white in a small bowl with a fork until it is foamy and light, then pour half of it over the almonds, stirring to coat them evenly (discard the rest of the egg white). Sprinkle the almonds with the sugar and toss to coat them. Spread the almond topping evenly over the surface of the batter.
Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes, or until it is springy to the touch and golden brown on top and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove the sides and allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.
To serve, carefully remove the bottom of the spring form pan with an offset spatula and transfer the cake to a serving plate. Any leftover cake can be wrapped in plastic and served the next day.
*I used a 9 inch spring form pan because I didn't have a 10 inch pan.
Jerry, this is so much fun already! I love the picture of your cake - absolutely gorgeous.
Posted by: Krista | April 13, 2008 at 01:57 PM
It sure is Krista. Paul is a huge fan of this event! :-)
I can't wait to cut in and enjoy the cake . . .
Posted by: Jerry | April 13, 2008 at 02:35 PM
Jerry, it looked like yours rose higher than mine, but then I saw that you used a 9" instead of 10" which could explain it. Did you have leftover topping?
Posted by: Kim | April 13, 2008 at 03:02 PM
What are you guys using for 00 flour? I brought some home from Italy but use it sparingly for fried vegetables.
Posted by: Jane | April 13, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Kim - I dumped all of the tooping on - it looks so good. We still haven't cut into the cake yet so I haven't done the taste test.
Jane - I found some 00 flour in a shop in Toronto's Little Italy district. I read somewhere on the net that some Italian chefs in the US will sub all-purpose flour in many recipes if they can't find 00.
Posted by: Jerry | April 13, 2008 at 05:13 PM
All of these photos are making me hungry. I laughed when I read how excited Paul is with your latest blog venture. Lucky him!!
Posted by: girasoli | April 13, 2008 at 06:26 PM
Can you believe we still haven't eaten any of the cake yet? It will soon be dinner . . .
Posted by: Jerry | April 13, 2008 at 07:13 PM
Jerry, let them eat cake for heaven's sake!! If it were in my house, it would be half gone by now. I love anything almond. Looks fantastic!
Posted by: gail hecko | April 14, 2008 at 05:28 PM
Gail you would really like this one! It was amazing when we finally carved into it.
Posted by: Jerry | April 14, 2008 at 05:38 PM