Sbrisolona Mantovana
A crumbly almond and cornmeal cake from Mantua, broken up and eaten in shards, baked for 35 minutes at 180C.
Make Ahead and Storage
Keeps for 3 weeks in a tin.
Sbrisolona Mantovana: The Method
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Heat the oven to 180°C / 355°F and butter a 26 cm tin.
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Mix the flour, cornmeal, sugar, almonds, lemon zest and salt.
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Rub in the butter and lard with your fingertips, then mix in the yolks lightly into large crumbs.
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Scatter the crumbs into the tin and press down very lightly.
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Bake for 35 minutes until golden. Cool completely in the tin and break into pieces.
Tips for Success
- Do not knead or press the dough together.
- Chop the almonds coarsely.
- Break the cake by hand, not with a knife.
Why the Method Is What It Is
Sbrisolona comes from the word for crumble, and the name is the instruction: this cake is broken by hand, not cut. It is a flat, crumbly cake of almonds, flour, cornmeal and butter from Mantua, and it is served in jagged pieces after dinner, often with sweet wine for dipping.
The dough is not kneaded. Rub the cold butter and lard into the flour, cornmeal, sugar and coarsely chopped almonds with your fingertips, and add the egg yolks to make large, uneven crumbs. Do not press it together, as the cake should look like a field of lumps. Scatter the crumbs into a buttered tin and press down very lightly.
Bake at 180°C / 355°F for 35 minutes, until the top is golden and the crumbs are dry. Cool completely in the tin and break into pieces with your hands, or the tip of a knife. The cake is dry and sandy by design, and keeps for weeks in a tin, tasting better after a few days.
Good Alongside
Sweet wine · Espresso · Grappa
Sbrisolona Mantovana FAQ
How long does Sbrisolona Mantovana take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 35 minutes of cooking, so at least 55 minutes. The method also needs time for cooling completely, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 10.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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