Scopri

Bread cake

Difficulty: easy

Method: 30

Cooking: 60

Difficulty: easy

Method: 30

Cooking: 60

Difficulty: easy

Method: 30

Cooking: 60

Difficulty: easy

Method: 30

Cooking: 60

I always watched my grandmother cooking with admiration and curiosity. She, who had experienced those great deprivations typical of those who lived through the war years, kept two types of recipes. The “holiday” ones, the richest and most elaborate dishes, and the “real life” ones, as she used to call them.

More than actual recipes, they were a way to transform “a little” into “a lot”, leftovers into dishes, a lack into an abundance. So, when I asked her to give me the measurements and ingredients, she replied “it’s not a recipe, it’s just the imagination of those who have little”. So, I never had precise instructions for the bread cake, but I saw her do it dozens and dozens of times, and even if it was different each time, I was able to grasp the fundamental steps.

Just like she used to do then, today I also use bread cake as an opportunity to experiment and to add the ingredients that I find in the pantry and in the fridge to the bread softened in milk, without being too scared.

I remember that she used to use pine nuts, but dried fruit of all kinds is perfect because it gives consistency and adds a sense of temptation to the dessert; the only rule is there are no rules, and sometimes I have also added some biscuits to the bread that were at risk of becoming stale and no longer appetising for breakfast!

Method

  1. 01 /

    Cover raisins with water in a bowl and let soften, then dry.

  2. 02 /

    Crumble amaretti and other biscuits and combine in a bowl with milk and stale rolls, broken into small pieces. Then add eggs, sugar, and melted butter and mix all ingredients well.

  3. 03 /

    Add grated dark chocolate, cocoa powder, lemon zest, raisins, pine nuts, and candied fruit to the mixture and mix again. Lastly, add baking powder, continuing to mix well.

  4. 04 /

    Pour mixture into a greased and lightly floured baking pan. Bake in the oven at 180 °C for one hour. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cake: It will come out clean when the cake is done. Allow to cool before removing from the baking pan.

Bread cake is a recycling recipe created to use up leftovers in your cupboard, so use whatever bread you have around.

You can replace the pine nuts with other types of dried fruit, while the use of candied fruit is a matter of preference.

Ingredients for 8 people

3 stale rolls

200 g amaretti biscuits

100 g dry biscuits

75 ml fresh milk

80 g cocoa powder

100 g dark chocolate, grated

100 g butter

100 g raisins

100 g pine nuts

100 g candied fruit

150 g sugar

Lemon zest, to taste

Half sachet baking powder

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