Torta Paesana

Stale bread soaked to a slurry in milk, baked into a dense dark cake.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

• 400 g stale white bread, crusts on, torn
• 1 litre whole milk
• 150 g caster sugar
• 60 g cocoa powder
• 100 g amaretti, crushed
• 80 g raisins, soaked
• 60 g pine nuts
• 2 eggs
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

1. SOAK THE TORN BREAD IN THE MILK FOR 3 HOURS, or overnight in the fridge, until it collapses completely.
2. Beat it to a smooth slurry with a whisk or your hands. There should be no recognisable pieces of bread left at all — this is not a bread pudding with layers, it is a batter made of bread.
3. Mix in the sugar, cocoa, crushed amaretti, drained raisins, pine nuts, eggs, zest and salt.
4. It should pour thickly. Add milk if it will not.
5. Pour into a lined 24 cm tin and scatter a few more pine nuts on top.
6. BAKE LOW AND LONG: 170C for 1 hour 15 minutes. It is wet and dense and a hotter oven sets the outside while the middle stays raw.
7. Cool it completely in the tin. It cuts properly only when cold, and it is better the next day.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes