Pandolce genovese

Name: Pandolce genovese
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: Butter at room temperature 6 tbsp; Sugar ½ cup; Eggs (1 medium) 2 oz; Type 00 flour 2.4 cups; Fine salt ¼ tsp; Raisins 1 ½ cup; Candied orange 2.8 oz; Candied citron 3 oz; Pine nuts &frac18; tbsp; Whole milk &frac13; cup; Powdered yeast for sweets 2 tsp

356

Calories per serving

Vegetarian

Energy Kcal 356
Carbohydrates g 62.9
of which sugars g 40.1
Protein g 5.5
Fats g 9.2
of which saturated fat g 4.73
Fiber g 3.1
Cholesterol mg 42
Sodium mg 69

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Serving: 10 persone
Cost: Low

PRESENTATION

With Christmas around the corner, let's bring back the great classics of regional cuisine, which immediately evoke festive joy with their goodness, telling the magic of traditions passed down for centuries. Today we fly to Liguria to savor the Genoa Cake, a traditional preparation for the Christmas season and Epiphany, halfway between panettone and panpepato, although with different consistency and characteristics! The Genoa Cake, also known in the UK and USA as "Genoa Cake", according to some historians, originates from ancient Persia: it seems that the youngest page was tasked with offering this cake to the sovereign, a tradition that was also adopted by the Ligurians, where the youngest family member was invited to insert an olive branch into the cake as a symbolic good luck charm. Then the oldest would divide the bread into two parts: one would be offered to the first passing traveler, and the second would be kept to be blessed on the day of St. Blaise, the protector "of throat ailments", on February 3rd. And you? What are you waiting for to bring this soft cake filled with candied fruit, raisins, and the essential pine nuts to the table? Also, discover other delicious Ligurian specialties like the gobeletti or the Baci di Alassio!

INGREDIENTS: Butter 6 tbsp (85 g) - at room temperature; Sugar ½ cup (100 g); Eggs 2 oz (55 g) - (1 medium); Type 00 flour 2.4 cups (300 g); Fine salt ¼ tsp (1 g); Raisins 1 ½ cup (230 g); Candied orange 2.8 oz (80 g); Candied citron 3 oz (80 g); Pine nuts ⅛ tbsp (20 g); Whole milk ⅓ cup (80 g); Powdered yeast for sweets 2 tsp (10 g)

Preparation

How to prepare Pandolce genovese

To prepare the Genoa Cake, start by cutting the candied orange 1 and citron into cubes 2. Then move on to the room temperature butter, which you will cut into pieces 3.

Next, take a stand mixer equipped with a paddle where you will add the butter and sugar 4, the sifted flour 5, and the baking powder 6.

Add the salt 7 and the egg 8 and start kneading at medium speed. While kneading, slowly add the room temperature milk 9.

Once absorbed, stop the mixer for a moment and add the orange 10, the citron 11, and the raisins, previously rinsed under running water and dried 12.

Finally, pour in the pine nuts 13. Turn the mixer back on for about 10 seconds at medium speed to mix the ingredients well 14. Then transfer the dough to a work surface and compact it with your hands 15.

Shape it into a round form 16. At this point, slightly press the top of the dough with your hands to flatten it slightly 17. Slide your hands along the edges of the dough to even them and give the cake a well-defined disc shape: you will obtain a disc about 1 inch tall and 4 inches in diameter. Then place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper 18.

With the help of a dough scraper, or a sharp blade, make a rhombus decoration on the surface by scoring diagonal lines 19. You can now bake your Genoa Cake in a static oven preheated to 350°F for 45-50 minutes (or in a convection oven preheated to 320°F for about 35-40 minutes) 20. Once the baking time has elapsed, remove from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes 21 before bringing this Christmas delight to the table!

Storage

The Genoa Cake keeps under a glass dome for up to 7 days.

We do not recommend freezing.

Advice

Perfume the dough with orange blossom water or muscat and flavor the dough with fennel seeds for an even more distinct and irresistible taste!

Discover other similar regional desserts typical of the Christmas season, such as panpepato, panforte, or pangiallo romano!

Trivia

There are two versions of Genoa Cake known respectively as "high" and "low" or flat. Today, we have proposed the "low" version, which is also erroneously referred to as "ancient Genoa Cake," despite being of more recent origins than the "high" Genoa Cake. The latter is the original version of the cake, characterized by greater difficulty in preparation and longer production times.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.