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THE ITALIAN BAKER
BreadBr ead-Based Based Dessert Desserts s Tort orta a Ni Nicol colott otta a
BREAD PUDDING
This old and very popular cake gets its name from the inhabitants of the poorest neighborhood neighb orhood in Venice, i Nicolotti, Nicolotti , who live by begging beg ging.. They make this t his very ver y simple sim ple dessert desse rt with wit h leftover bread, milk, and a few sweeteners. Makes 8 to 10 servings 3 to 4 cups (12 to 14 oz / 350 to 4 00 g) s tale white bread or raisin bread, crusts trimmed, cubed 41/4 cups (36 oz / 1 kg ) milk 5 tablespoons (2.5 oz / 70 g) unsalted butter 3
/4 cup (5.3 oz / 150 g) sugar
1 cup (6 oz / 175 g) raisi ns 2 tablespoons (1 oz / 30 g) rum 5 large eggs, beaten Grated zest of 1 lemon 3
/4 cup (3.5 oz / 100 g) chopped candied citron (page 39, optional)
1
/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (0.1 oz / 4 g) vanilla extract Unsalted butter and fine bread crumbs for the baking ba king dish d ish
Place the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Heat the milk, butter, and sugar sug ar in a saucepan just to a low boil and pour over over the bread cubes. Let Let stand 2 hours. Place the raisins and rum in a small bowl; add warm war m water to cover. c over. Let stand st and at least 15 minutes to t o plump the raisins. rai sins. Drain, squeeze the raisins to eliminate excess liquid,, and pat dry liquid d ry.. Squeeze the t he bread dry dr y and break it up with your hands to a soft, crumbly mass. Stir the raisins raisins,, eggs, lemon zest, and citron, if using, usin g, into the th e bread. Add the cinnamon and vanilla and stir thoroughly. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and lightly coat it i t with fine bread crumbs. Pour the bread mixture into the dish. Baking. Preheat Baking. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Bake until the top is the golden color of a hazelnut, 45 to 55 minutes.
DOLCI
Crostate
Crostata di Zucca
337
PUMPKIN TART
I have have to admit that this particular parti cular pumpkin dessert dess ert is truly my fantasia my fantasia.. Giorg Giorgio, io, the baker in Venice, was busy one day and told t old me to take a look at his recipes, reci pes, which were wer e really just a list of ingredients ing redients and the most rudimentary instructions. After so much time spent being beguiled by the imaginations imag inations of Italian bakers and the phenomenal desserts desse rts they made with a few simple simp le ingredients, ing redients, I went to work work when I got home to my kitchen on a tart I imagin im agined ed would be a close cousin to Giorgio’s Gi orgio’s.. When I returned retur ned to Italy I taly,, I told him what I had done. don e. He paused pause d for a very long time, with a look of some confusion on his face, and then described descr ibed his crostata di zucca. It zucca. It was an extravaganza ex travaganza of two t wo days’ work, complica complicated ted processes, process es, and fondant fonda nt coverings; coverings ; so, although this crostata di zucca is zucca is made with the ingredient ing redientss listed in Giorgio’ Giorgio’ss little book, it is absolutely absol utely my invention. Delicat Delicate e and delicious, deli cious, this tart tar t has been the th e finale for our Thanksg Thanksgiving iving dinners for many years. Makes one 10-inch tart plus several tartlets or individual budini budini (custards); (custards); tart makes 8 servings 1
/4 cup (2 oz / 55 g) unsalted bu tter, at room temperatu tempe rature re
1
/4 cup (1.8 oz / 50 g) sugar
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature 2 cups (17.5 (17.5 oz / 500) homemade or canned pumpkin purée Scant 1/2 cup (4 oz / 115 g) milk 1 tablespoon (0.4 oz / 12 g) potato starc h or all-purpose flour Grated zest of 1 lemon 1
/4 cup (2 oz / 60 g) rum or Cognac
10-inch partially baked tart shell (pasta frolla I, II, or III, pages 320–323) 3 partially baked tartlet shells (optional)
Cream the butter and sugar by hand with a wooden paddle or spoon or by electric mixer until light and a nd fluffy. fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, time, beating thorough thoroughly ly after each addition. ad dition. Stir in the pumpkin, milk, flour, lemon zest, z est, and rum. Beat the egg whites until the peaks are stiff. stiff . Fold a quarter of the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture, and then gently gentl y fold in the remaining whites. whi tes. Pour the filling into the tart shell to within 1/2 inch of the top. Pour the remaining filling either into the tartlet shells or into buttered ramekins. Baking. Preheat Baking. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Bake until the filling fill ing is set, about 50 minutes for the tart, about about 30 to 35 minutes for the tartlets, tart lets, and about 35 to 45 minutes for fo r the custards. Cool completely on a rack.
Crostate
335
Tort orta a di d i Pere PEAR TART The top crust of this wonderfully rustic pear tart from Piedmont shifts and settles and even ev en cracks ov over er the pears beneath it like dry dr y land after an earthquake.The slightly gritty gr itty texture of the cornmeal pastr y makes a wonderful wonderful contrast to the smooth pears underneath. There is something elementally soothing and satisfying about this down down-to-earth dessert. Makes one 8 1/ 2-inch tart; 8 servings
BY MIXER
DOUGH
Cream the butter and sugar with the paddle until unt il well blended, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg e gg yolks, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Sift in the flour, corn cornmeal, meal, and salt, and mix at low speed; continue mixing until the dough comes together. Knead lightly ligh tly on a floured surface until the dough is no longer sticky. sticky.
1 stick plus 21/2 tablespoons (5.3 oz / 150 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature (cold if using a food processor) 3
/4 cup (5.3 oz / 150 g) sugar
3 large egg yolks About 11/2 cups minus one tablespoon (7 oz / 200 g) all-purpose flour 3
/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3.5 oz / 100 g) fine yellow cornmeal, preferably organic
1 teaspoon (0.2 oz / 5 g) salt
BY HAND
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add the egg eg g yolks, one at a time, mixing thoroughly tho roughly after each ea ch addition.. Sift the addition th e flour, cor cornmeal, nmeal, and salt over ov er the mixture and stir just until un til the dough comes together. togeth er. Knead lightly light ly on a floured surface until the dough is no longer sticky sticky..
BY PROCESSOR
Place the flour, cor cornmeal, nmeal, salt, and sugar sug ar in a food processor fitted fitt ed with the steel blade. blad e. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and scatter over the flour. flou r. Process with three t hree or four pulses until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat the egg yolks lightly li ghtly..With the machine running, pour the egg yolks in a steady stream through the feed tube tub e and process just until the dough comes together.You may need to add a little l ittle ice-cold ice-c old water. Stop the machine machin e as soon as the dough masses mass es on top of the blade. Overprocessing Overproce ssing will make a tough dough. continued
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THE ITALIAN BAKER
Torta di Pere, continued Chilling. Gather the dough into Chilling. Gather in to a ball, wrap it with plastic plas tic wrap, and refrigerate refr igerate for 20 minutes to 1 hour. hou r. FILLING 2 cups (1 lb / 450 g) full-bodied red wine; a Barolo or cabernet sauvignon would be perfect 1
/4 cup (1.8 oz / 50 g) su gar
3 whole cloves 3 thin strips lemon zest 3
/4 to 1 teaspoon (0.06 to 0.1 oz / 2 to 2.5 g) ground cinnamon
Cornmeal or finely ground cookie or cake crumbs, for sprinkling (optional) 3 large peeled cooking pears (2 lb / 900 g, weighed after peeling), cut into fat slices and then cut crosswise in half 1 large egg, beaten, for the egg wash
Heat the t he wine, win e, sug sugar, ar, cloves, lemon zest, zes t, and cinnamon to a boil in a nonreactive no nreactive saucepan. Gently boil until u ntil reduced to 11/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Stir in the pears and cook over medium heat until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. minut es. Strain the pears; pear s; discard the cloves, lemon peel, peel , and cooking cook ing liquid. Cool to room temperature. Shaping. Cut the dough in half and return half h alf to the th e refrigerator. refrig erator.This is a very delicate dough. Lightly sprinkle spr inkle flour on your work surface and and then lay one or two
pieces of plastic plas tic wrap on it. Put the dough doug h on the plastic plast ic wrap and cover it with a second layer of plastic plas tic wrap.This protects protec ts the dough as you roll it with your rolling rollin g pin into a circle 1/4 inch thick. thick . Butter an 8 1/2-inch tart tar t pan very thoroughly. Remove the top layer of plastic, gently lift the dough up by the bottom piece of plastic wrap, wra p, and then carefully carefu lly invert it into the prepared pan before removing the remaining remai ning plastic wrap.Trim the edge. Build up the edge of the bottom pastry with the trimmings rolled into one or two coils and flattened flatt ened onto the edge, ed ge, so that the edge is substantial enough for the top pastry to be attached. Fillingg and Top Crust. I sometimes Fillin sprinkle a very little cornmeal or cookie or cake crumbs on the bottom of the tart shell to soak up the t he juices from the pears. pear s. Spoon the drained pears into the tart shell. Again Agai n using plastic plas tic wrap, roll out the remaining remainin g dough into a 1/4-inch-thick circle and place ov over er the th e pan. Trim the overhang ov erhanging ing dough, dou gh, press the two edges together, and crimp c rimp decoratively decoratively.. Lightl Lightly y brush the pastry with the beaten egg. Baking. Prehe Baking. Preheat at the th e oven to 375ºF 3 75ºF.. Bake until golden, gol den, 40 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or at a t room temperature.
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THE ITALIAN BAKER
Torta Speziata SPICE CAKE Spice cake, c ake, Italian style, s tyle, is very moist moi st and tender and is delicious del icious with wi th rum-flavored whipped cream. Makes one 8-inch cake 2
/3 cup (3.5 oz / 100 g) raisins
7 tablespoons (3.5 oz / 100 g) unsalte d but ter, at room temperature 1
/2 cup (3.5 oz / 100 g) granulated sugar
1 large egg 12/3 cups (8.1 oz / 230 g) all-purpose flour 1
/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 oz / 60 g) best-quality Dutch-process cocoa
2 teaspoons (0.4 oz / 10 g) baking powder 1 heaping teaspoon (0.1 oz / 3 g) gr ound cinnamon 1 teaspoon (0.1 oz / 3 g) ground nutmeg 1
/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3
/4 teaspoon (0.13 oz / 3.5 g) salt
3
/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon (6.5 oz / 185 g) warm strong brewed espresso, or 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon (6.5 oz / 185 g) hot water
Confectioners’ sugar
Soak the raisins in warm war m water to cover cover for 15 to 30 minutes; drain. Cream the butter and granulated sugar with a wood wooden en paddle or electric mixer until light and fluffy.. Add the egg fluffy eg g and beat thoroughly thoroughly.. Sift all al l but 1 tablespoon of the t he flour, the cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt sal t together. Beat in the flour fl our mixture alternately with the espresso in three additions, beginning beginning and ending with the flour. flou r.Toss the t he raisins rai sins with the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour and fold into the batter. Butter and flour flo ur an 8-inch cake pan; pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Baking. Prehe Baking. Preheat at the t he oven to 350º 350ºF F. Bake until the cake shrinks slightly from f rom the side of the t he pan, 40 minutes; it should still be slightly moist inside. Cool Cool on a rack. Invert the cake onto a serving ser ving plate plat e and sift confectio co nfectioners’ ners’ sugar over over the top.
This book is for John, who has eaten it all.
Copyright © 1985, 2011 by Carol Field. Photographs copyright © 2011 by Ed Anderson All r ights reserved. Published Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint impr int of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.crownpublishing.com www.tenspeed.com Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Originally published in somewhat different fo rm by Har per & Row Publishers, Inc., New York, in 1985. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Field, Carol. The Italian baker : the classic tastes of the Italian countryside—its cou ntryside—its breads, pizza, pizza, focaccia, cakes, pastries, and cookies / Carol Field ; photography by Ed Anderson. — 1st rev. ed. p. cm cm.. Includes index. 1. Bak Baking ing —It —Italy. aly. 2. Brea Bread—I d—Ital taly y. 3. Pastr y—It y—Italy. aly. 4. Coo Cookin king, g, Ita Italia lian. n. 5. Coo Cookbo kbooks oks.. I. Tit Title. le. TX763.F53 2011 641.5945—dc23 ISBN: 978-1-60774-106-0 Printed in China Design by Chloe Rawlins 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Revised Edition
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