Dec. 10, 2019

San Gaudenzio's cake

Traditions, territory and flavors.

The Bread of San Gaudenzio: the typical cake of the City of Novara.

Born at the turn of the two wars, there are still many mysteries linked to its origin, but the certainty is that this exquisite winter dessert, together with the Biscottini di Novara, is now part of our traditions.

Some sources say it is the invention of a pastry chef by the name of Gudenzio, who from a village near Novara moved his pastry shop to the city.

Thus the "Sweet of the pastry chef Gudenzio" became the "Bread of San Gaudenzio" in the 50s in honor of the patron saint of the city that is celebrated on January 22nd.

What is certain is that at the time we did not bother to deposit names or patent recipes, and like any traditional dish, over time it was subject to various modifications, so much so that today every Novara pastry has its own exclusive recipe.

We have chosen the simplest, the one that binds us deeply to the flavors of our childhood.

Enjoy!



Ingredients

For the pastry

    200 g Flour 00
    120 g Soft butter
    60 g Caster sugar
    1 Egg yolk
    lemon peel
    1 pinch Salt

For the stuffing

    130 g Flour 00
    130 g Caster sugar
    85 g Dried raisins
    75 g Melted butter
    4 eggs
    1 teaspoon Lemon juice
    1/2 the vanilla bean seeds
    1 handful of coarsely chopped hazelnuts


Prepare the pastry:

Make a fountain with the flour, add the sugar and a pinch of salt.

In the center, break the butter, add the yolk and the lemon peel.

Mix everything very quickly, working the dough with your hands.

When the dough is smooth and homogeneous, form a ball and leave to rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.


Meanwhile prepare the filling:

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar.

Separately, whisk the egg whites until stiff, adding a teaspoon of lemon juice.

Add the egg yolks beaten to the whites, with slow movements from the bottom to the top without removing the dough.

Add the sifted flour, raisins and lastly the melted butter and the seeds of the vanilla bean.

Prepare the dessert:

Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out to a thickness of about 3/4 mm.

Grease and flour a plum cake mold and line it with the pastry.

Fill the panettone mixture up to about 2/3 and sprinkle the surface with the hazelnuts.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and bake at 190 ° C for about 45 minutes.

Leave to cool, turn out the cake delicately and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.


Wishes!