Sbrisolona tart – Crumbly tart

This week’s recipe comes from the city where my daughter was born in, the beautiful city of Mantova. I prepare this tart very often, being related to many fond memories and even because it is very simple and genuine.

The name “Sbrisolona” comes from the local dialect and it means crumbly.
According to the local tradition, this tart is served by breaking it into pieces, together with a cup of coffee or dipped into a sweet dessert wine.

There are many versions of the Sbrisolona but the following recipe is the original, the one I brought with me from Mantova, already 11 years ago.

INGREDIENTS for 4-6 servings

200 g cornmeal, finely ground (or durum flour)
200 g all purpose flour
200 g blanched almonds (or 200 g almond flour)
200 g butter
180 g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 organic lemon zest, grated
1 tbs vanilla essence
1 pinch of salt

To garnish:
a bunch of unbleached almonds

Preheat the oven at 180 °C.

Roughly chop the blanched almonds and mix them with the all purpose flour and cornmeal. To speed up your work you can use 200 g almond flour, instead of chopping the almonds.
Add all the remaining ingredients and mix with your hands until obtaining a heterogeneous dough (it will be a crumbly mixture).

Put the dough into a 25-28 cm greased baking mould without pressing it down, as it has to be crumbly. Garnish with the unbleached almond.

Bake the cake for 1 hour or until brown on the top.

Let it cool down.

Allow your guests to break the cake with their hands. 😉