For breakfast, as a snack, as a dessert: there is room for a slice of sbrisolona at every meal. The Mantua cake owes its name to its characteristic consistency: brisa in Mantua dialect means crumb.
It is a crumbly and rustic dessert, made with simple and easily available ingredients, which can be dipped in milk, wine or enriched with creams: flour, butter, sugar, eggs, almonds and lemon zest create a crunchy, rough and fragrant dough.
Very similar to its Treviso “sister” fregolotta (in Venetian fregola means crumb, ça va sans dire) it can be enjoyed at any time of the day and is loved by children for its sweetness and by adults for that slightly salty taste that makes it truly special.
Andrea accompanies it with his zabaglione with passito wine: a creamy and warm touch for a dessert that won’t stay on the plate.
Ingredients
For the fregolotta
- Flour “00” 175 g
- Yellow polenta flour 125 g
- Granulated sugar 100 g
- Pinch of salt n. 1
- Vinegar spoons n. 2
- Lemon zest n. 1
- Soft butter 200 g
- Vanilla pod no. 1
- Egg yolks n.2
- Almonds in pieces 150 g
For the zabaglione
- Egg yolks 90 g
- Sugar 25 g
- Passito wine 75 g
Method
Procedure for fregolotta
Pour all the ingredients except the almonds into a bowl and start kneading with your hands quickly, until they are roughly combined.
Add the almonds and mix to distribute them well: the dough should still be “rough”.
Take the dough with your hands and let it fall onto a baking sheet with baking paper so as to obtain some crumbs of dough. Gently and evenly arrange the crumbs, which will be of irregular shape and size: the thickness should be about 2 cm, so try not to squash them too much.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160° for about an hour or until the surface of the cake has taken on a nice golden color. Let it cool completely and break it into pieces. If it is not completely crispy yet, dry it in the oven at 130 degrees for another 30 minutes.
Procedure for zabaglione
The preparation of this zabaglione is very simple and quick.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl placed in a bain-marie and continue mixing with a whisk until it reaches 80 degrees or until the consistency is dense, creamy and frothy: be careful not to overcook and let the eggs curdle.
Serve the zabaglione while still hot with the sbrisolona.
