In Lombardy, Italy, the region surrounding Milan is known for its sbrisolona cake. This easy-to-make but delicious cake recipe that yields a biscuit-like dessert with a delightfully crumbly top was passed down to me by my grandmother! You can choose the size of the baking pan based on how thick you want the finished product to be.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups finely chopped almonds
- 1 ½ cups cornmeal
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ⅔ cup lard
- 3 egg yolks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a baking pan.
- Combine almonds, cornmeal, sugar, flour, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Mix well using a fork.
- Pile flour mixture onto a flat work surface, forming a mound. Make a large well in the center; add butter, lard, and egg yolks. Knead vigorously until mixture is combined but crumbly. Spread evenly in the prepared baking pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden, 40 to 45 minutes. Cut while still warm.
- I used Italian 00 flour.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 566 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 58 g |
| Cholesterol | 99 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Sodium | 85 mg |
| Sugars | 23 g |
| Fat | 34 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I really had high hopes for this cake. I mixed it in my food processor, which worked great. This baked up nicely, but it is VERY dry and crumbly. After doing a little research on this Italian cake, it sounds like that is how it’s supposed to be. It is just too dry for my liking, so I ended up crumbling the rest of the cake and putting it in a plastic container and in the freezer to use as an ice cream topping. It would be good crumbled over fruit as well. The flavor is really nice, but it is just too dry to eat on it’s own, in my opinion.