Gluten Free Sbrisolona

There is a very traditional cake which dates back more than six centuries, from the Northern Italian city of Mantova. It is called Sbrisolona, which comes from the word brisa, meaning crumb in that area’s local dialect. The recipe is normally made with equal parts by weight of 200g of wheat flour, corn flour, sugar, butter and almonds plus two egg yolks. It is really simple to substitute jovial No.3 Gluten Free Pastry Flour (now called jovial Multi-Purpose Gluten Free Pastry Flour)  for the wheat flour and the results are exactly the same. This sweet treat is crunchy, dry and crumbly but in an unusually delicious and rustic way. In fact, the preparation involves mixing the ingredients by hand and that is where the fun comes in for a willing little cook that wants to help out with a messy baking adventure.

INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups (200g) of fine corn flour
1 ⅔ cups (200g) of jovial No.3 Gluten Free Pastry Flour (now called jovial Multi-Purpose Gluten Free Pastry Flour)
cups (200g) of
1 ½ cups (200g) of almonds (chopped coarsely in a food processor)
2/3 cup (150g) sugar
2 egg yolks
10 tbsp. (150g) butter, softened
½ cup jovial Reserve Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Here is where the fun comes in for a child. This is my 10 year old daughter, mixing eggs with the flours, sugar and almonds. This is great for both kids and grown-ups because there is really no wrong way to put this together. It just takes squeezing the ingredients together until they are crumbly.

Once the ingredients are mixed well, the butter is added and the mixing by hand and crumbling of the ingredients continues. You do not want fine crumbs, you want to keep the crumbs pea-sized. When the butter is incorporated, add the vegetable oil and keep mixing.

Just crumble the dough in the pan, keeping large crumbs and then pat down gently pat down with your fingers.

When you can clutch the dough in your hands and it stays together, it is ready for baking. We recommend using an 11 inch springform pan. There is no need to butter or oil the pan.

Here it is ready for the oven, which should be pre-heated to 350°F.

If you are working with a little helper, it is time to cut a piece of parchment paper the size of your pan.

Bake for one hour, with the parchment paper placed on top of the dough. This will prevent the top from browning too much.

Normally, a Sbrisolona is not neatly sliced like this, but served in friendly, rustic pieces that are broken off by the cook’s hands. So, as the weather gets chillier this month, keep this in mind for a fun family evening of gluten free baking.