Torta Mantovana – A Traditional Italian Recipe
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Mantovana cake
The Mantuan cake recipe was created by Pellegrino Artusi, who passed it on to his friend Antonio Mattei, the famous pastry chef from Prato who also created the Cantuccini and enjoyed enormous success with this dessert.
It spread throughout Tuscany and neighbouring regions, and it is still one of the most popular and loved desserts today, 130 years after the recipe was published.
The Mantuan cake is soft, delicate, and delicious. It is ideal as an after-meal dessert, at breakfast, with a cup of tea in the afternoon, or as a snack at any time. It contains no milk and is ready in an hour.
Ingredients (serves 8)
- 1 whole egg
- 4 egg yolks
- 150 g sugar
- 180 g white flour
- 150 g butter
- peel of 1 lemon
- 80 g pine nuts or shaved almonds
- icing sugar
Preparation
In a bowl, beat the egg, then add 150 g sugar and 50 g icing sugar. Mix well. Very slowly incorporate the melted butter, making sure to mix continuously, then add the flour and lemon peel. After mixing well, pour into a baking tin of approximately 25 cm diameter which has been greased and lined with baking paper. Cover the mixture with the almonds or pinenuts. Bake in a 180°C oven for approximately 45 minutes. Serve dusted with icing sugar.
Mantovana cake The Mantuan cake recipe was created by Pellegrino Artusi, who passed it on to his friend Antonio Mattei, the famous pastry chef from Prato who also created the Cantuccini and enjoyed enormous success with this dessert. It spread throughout Tuscany and neighbouring regions, and it is still one…
Mantovana cake The Mantuan cake recipe was created by Pellegrino Artusi, who passed it on to his friend Antonio Mattei, the famous pastry chef from Prato who also created the Cantuccini and enjoyed enormous success with this dessert. It spread throughout Tuscany and neighbouring regions, and it is still one…