Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (79 page)

On the other hand, however, everybody agrees Germans can make delicious desserts. You personally, dear reader, may judge for yourself the truth of this assertion, both from the cake I am about to describe, as well as from some of the other desserts born in Germany that I have offered you in this treatise of mine.

250 grams (about 8-4/5 ounces) of sugar

125 grams (about 4-1/2 ounces) of flour

125 grams (about 4-112 ounces) of sweet almonds

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of butter

15 grams (about 1/2 an ounce) of cream of tartar

5 grams (about 1/5 of an ounce) of baking soda

8 egg yolks

5 egg whites

a dash of vanilla

Blanch the almonds, dry them well in the sun or on the fire, and then crush in a mortar until very fine, adding one of the egg whites. Beat the butter alone with a wooden spoon; in wintertime soften it a little first in
bain-marie
. Add the egg yolks one at a time, then the sugar and blend everything well for at least half an hour. Then add the almonds to the mixture and stir some more. Then fold in the four egg whites (beaten until stiff) and the flour, which you will sift on top of the mixture, stirring gently. Add the cream of tartar and the baking soda at the last, as they will make the cake lighter and softer. Bake in a baking pan well greased with cold butter and lightly dusted with confectioners’ sugar and flour. The pan should not be too full.

The only way to blend the almonds satisfactorily into the mixture is to pour a portion of the mixture into the mortar over the almonds and then crush with the pestle.

Now that you have made the cloak, it is time to fashion the hood, which is a light icing that you spread on top of the cake. Here is what you will need:

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of butter

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of confectioners’ sugar

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of finely ground coffee

Bring the ground coffee to a boil in very little water until you get just two or three tablespoons of clear but very strong coffee. Beat the butter for half an hour (in wintertime softening it first in
bain-marie
), turning the spoon always in the same direction. Add the sugar and stir some more. Finally mix in the coffee a little at a time, in half teaspoons. Stop when you the can clearly taste the coffee flavor. Pour this mixture over the cake after it has cooled, and spread it out evenly with a table knife. To make it uniform and smooth, pass a hot spatula just above the icing.

Normally, this very delicately flavored icing should have the color of
café-au-lait
. If you like, instead of coffee you can use melted chocolate, as described in the preceding recipe for German-style brown bread cake.

For chocolate lovers, this is a delicious cake.

150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of almonds

150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of sugar

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of chocolate

60 grams (about 2 ounces) of potato flour

50 grams (about 1 -2/3 ounces) of butter

3 deciliters (about 1-1/4 cups) of milk

4 eggs

a dash of vanilla sugar

Blanch the almonds, dry well in the sun or over the fire, and then crush them very finely in a mortar with a third of the sugar. Put on the fire and mix the butter, the potato flour, and the milk added a little at a time. When this mixture has acquired the right consistency, add the chocolate (grated), the remaining sugar and, when these two ingredients have been absorbed, the crushed almonds, stirring constantly. Finally, when all the mixture is thoroughly blended stir in the vanilla sugar. Allow to cool before folding in the eggs, beaten separately.

Using 100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of flour, prepare the “crazy dough” described in recipe 153, and then follow recipe 639 for ricotta cheesecake, ensuring that the mixture is about one finger deep when poured in the baking pan. Bake in a Dutch oven and, like the ricotta cake, cut in lozenge shapes when it has cooled.

Follow recipe 631, but keep the pastries smaller so that you will get between 20 and 23 of them. Fill them with custard or pastry cream (recipe 685), whipped cream, or fruit preserves.

Put the following ingredients in a pot to make chocolate and whisk them together over the fire:

120 grams (about 4-1/4 ounces) of chocolate

50 grams (about 1-2/3 ounces) of powdered sugar

1 deciliter (about 2/5 of a cup) of water

When the mixture is nice and fluffy, like hot chocolate to be served in a cup, pour it boiling hot over the pastries layer by layer. Then arrange them in a pretty little pile on a platter.

It is wise to make this dish the same day you intend to serve it, because otherwise the pastries will get hard.

This recipe serves six people.

A gentleman whom I do not have the pleasure of knowing personally kindly sent me this recipe from Rome, and I am very grateful to him for it for two reasons: first because this is a dessert of very elegant appearance and flavor, and second because he described it in such a way that I had no difficulty at all testing the recipe. One thing was missing, however, and that was a name for it, since it had none. Thus, considering the nobility of its provenance, I felt it my duty to associate this dessert with Turin Cake and Florence Cake, naming it after the city that one day will be as famous in the world as it once was in Antiquity.

Select quality apples, not too ripe and of average size. Weigh out 600 grams (about 1-1/3 of a pound), which should amount to no more than five or six apples. Remove the cores with a hollow tin corer, and peel. Then cook in 2 deciliters (about 4/5 of a cup) of white wine and 130 grams (about 4-1/2 ounces) of sugar, taking care not to break the apples when you turn them as they cook, and not to overcook them. When done, remove them from the pot and arrange them upright in a platter nice enough to use for serving but ovenproof as well. Pour over them a custard made of the following ingredients:

4 deciliters (about 1-2/3 cups) of milk

3 egg yolks

70 grams (about 2-1/3 ounces) of sugar

20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of flour

a dash of vanilla sugar

Now whisk the three remaining egg whites. When they are quite stiff, add 20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of confectioners’ sugar and cover the custard with it. Then place the cake in a Dutch oven or on the stove under the lid of the Dutch oven, with fire above and a low fire below, to brown the surface of the cake. Before serving, dab the cake with the thick syrup left over from cooking the apples, using a baker’s brush.

This recipe serves seven to eight people.

Prepare this dessert on a tray or platter and shape it into a square.

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounce) of lady fingers

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounce) of chocolate

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounce) of fresh butter

70 grams (about 2-1/3 ounces) of confectioners’ sugar

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons of milk

a dash of vanilla sugar

Cut the lady fingers in half lengthwise and soak in rosolio, or, better yet, soak one half of the biscuit in rosolio and the other in alkermes,
¹²¹
so that you will be able to arrange them in alternating color bands, which will make for a more handsome display.

Beat together the butter, the sugar, and the egg yolk; then heat the chocolate (grated or chopped) in milk. When it has melted, pour the hot liquid over the softened butter mixture, then add the vanilla sugar, stirring constantly to blend all the ingredients well and obtain a nice smooth mixture.

Arrange on a platter the first layer of the ladyfingers and coat them lightly with the mixture. Then place another layer over the first and coat them once again with the mixture; add a third layer, repeating the procedure. Then pour the remaining mixture on top and all along the sides, making this last layer as even and uniform as you can. The next day, before serving, smooth out the surface of the cake with the blade of a knife heated over the fire. Next, if you wish, you can make a garnish of pistachios or lightly roasted hazelnuts, chopped as fine as possible, which you will sprinkle over the cake.

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of hazelnuts weighed with their shells or 15 grams (about 1/2 an ounce) of pistachios will suffice. You should already know that these nuts must be blanched in hot water.

This recipe serves six to seven people.

I discovered this dessert in the ancient and beautiful city of flowers, but as no one has taken the trouble to give it a name, I will venture to call it Florence Cake. If, due to its humble nature, it does not bring sufficient honor to such an illustrious city, it will ask your pardon, saying: “Adopt me as a dish for your family and I will sweeten your palates at little cost.”

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of sugar

60 grams (about 2 ounces) of extra fine bread

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of small sultanas

3 eggs

butter, as needed

1/2 liter (about 1/2 a quart) of milk

lemon zest

Slice the bread thin, toast lightly, butter both sides while still hot, and place in a bowl decent enough to take to the table. Sprinkle the sultanas and the grated lemon peel over the sliced bread. Whisk the eggs in a saucepan together with the sugar and then combine with the milk. Pour this mixture over the ingredients already in the bowl— do not stir. To cook, place on the stove with little heat below and cover with the lid of the Dutch oven, with fire above. Serve hot.

This recipe serves five people.

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of macaroons

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of sugar

80 grams (about 2-2/3 ounces) of potato flour

1/2 liter (about 1/2 a quart) of milk

3 eggs

Put the sugar and the potato flour in a saucepan and pour in the cold milk, a little at a time.

Crush the macaroons in a mortar, reducing them to a powder. If, because of their consistency, this is not possible, moisten them with a little milk, pass through a strainer and then combine with the rest of the mixture, which you will cook over the fire until firm. Remove from the fire and wait for it to cool somewhat, then add the eggs, first the yolks and then the whites, beaten until stiff. Grease a metal mold with a hole in the middle with cold butter, pour the mixture inside, and bake in a Dutch oven. When done, fill the middle and cover it with the zabaione described in recipe 684, and send to the table.

A gentleman of distinguished lineage from Barga—whom I do not have the pleasure of knowing personally, but who has taken a fancy (as he
is so
kind to say) to this book of mine—wishing to show his appreciation, sent me the present recipe, which I believe worthy of being published and even lauded.