Country Cake

Name: Country Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: Stale bread 10.6 oz; Whole milk 4 ¼ cups; Eggs medium 2; Amaretti cookies 4.2 oz; Unsweetened cocoa powder 0.4 cup; Sugar 0.6 cup; Raisins ½ cup; Pine nuts 3 ½ tbsp; Oranges the zest and the juice 1

577

Calories per serving

Vegetarian

Energy Kcal 577
Carbohydrates g 85.5
of which sugars g 52.5
Protein g 18
Fats g 18.1
of which saturated fat g 6.32
Fiber g 6.7
Cholesterol mg 86
Sodium mg 526

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Serving: 6 persone
Cost: Low
Note + the soaking time of the bread in milk

PRESENTATION

The country cake is a dessert originating from Lombardy, specifically from the Brianza area, which lies between the northern province of Milan and the Lake Lecco-Como. It is a dessert of peasant origin, with infinite variations, but mainly made with stale bread soaked in milk. It is also known as bread cake or, in the local dialect, 'michelacc' which means bread and milk. Depending on personal tastes and the ingredients available at the moment, each family would add different ingredients to the soaked bread, such as raisins or pine nuts. We present our version with the addition of cocoa and amaretti: perfect to enjoy for a rustic-tasting snack, country cake is an ideal way to use up leftover bread... and it's even better the day after!

Looking for other recipes with stale bread? Try the sweet fried bread or the bread and vegetable cake, a tasty way to empty the fridge!

INGREDIENTS: Stale bread 10.6 oz (300 g); Whole milk 4 ¼ cups (1 l); Eggs 2 - medium; Amaretti cookies 4.2 oz (120 g); Unsweetened cocoa powder 0.4 cup (50 g); Sugar 0.6 cup (120 g); Raisins ½ cup (70 g); Pine nuts 3 ½ tbsp (50 g); Oranges 1 - the zest and the juice

Preparation

How to prepare Country Cake

To prepare the country cake, start by heating the milk (it should not reach a boil) 1. In the meantime, take the stale bread (alternatively, you can toast a whole loaf in the oven until it dries out) and cut it 2 into slices, then dice it into cubes 3. Place the bread in a bowl.

Grate the zest of an untreated orange 4 (keep the orange aside as it will be used later), then pour the hot milk over the bread 5. Stir with a spoon and cover with plastic wrap 6; let the bread soak for half an hour. Stir occasionally, so that all the bread absorbs the milk and softens well.

In the meantime, squeeze the orange 7 and soak the raisins in its juice 8. Then in a mixer, add the amaretti and unsweetened cocoa powder 9,

blend until everything is reduced to a powder 10. At this point, take the now soft bread, stir it with a spoon or fork to further break it down 11 and add the cocoa powder 12.

Mix it into the bread 13; then beat the eggs in a separate small bowl 14 and add them to the mixture. Stir with a spatula 15

and when they are absorbed, add the sugar 16. Then add the pine nuts 17 and drain the raisins well from the orange juice 18,

before adding them to the mixture 19. Stir well with a spatula to combine all the ingredients 20. Butter and line a 9-inch diameter baking pan with parchment paper 21

and pour the mixture inside 22. Bake in a preheated static oven at 350°F for 60 minutes (or at 320°F for 50 minutes if using a convection oven). Once cooked 23, remove the country cake from the oven and let it cool slightly, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack before serving 24.