Sweet Easter bread from Montalcino
It is called schiacciata, which means flat, but it is anything but flat. In Montalcino and in Siena it is a typical cake for Easter to make at home.
by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Easter time ingredients for "schiacciata di Pasqua"
Be careful though, in the eastern part of the Siena province the schiacciata di Pasqua is savory, enriched with cheese and prosciutto. It is used to interrupt the fasting period on the Sunday morning before going to high Mass.
I remember that for my first Easter Sunday at Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda I had prepared a wonderful menu for that day in the restaurant I had just opened. Half way through the lunch the Maitre Walter Marconi, from Montalcino like me, ran to tell me that the schiacciate, instead of being sweet, as we were used to were savoury, so we could not use them as a dessert. We remedies somehow but it was a real shock, because I was sure I knew the territory well but instead I learnt that the Val d’Orcia and the Valdichiana are two separate worlds, both fascinating, rich in stories, but to know one does not mean you know the other.
Still today the sweet and savoury schiacciate are among the strong points of the Easter menu at Fattoria del Colle and help our guests understand the richness and the complexity of the Tuscan food and wine traditions
Ingredients:
A cake called "schiacciata di Pasqua" for Easter time
30 gbaking powder, 6 eggs, 3 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil,300 gof sugar, flour,50 gof milk,100 gof lard, a pinch of anise seed, 2 spoonfuls of mint liquor, half a lemon, half an orange, a little vanilla and a little powdered saffron.
Preparation
Add the baking powder to an egg the extra virgin olive oil, a spoonful of sugar, and mix with the flour so as to obtain a smooth mixture. Cover with a napkin for a whole night so that it rises.
Boil the anise seeds in30 gof water and then leave to cool. Mix then with 4 eggs, the milk, the lard, 2 spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil, the liquor, the grated rind of the lemon and orange, the sugar, the vanilla and the saffron. Shape the dough from the previous day into a ring, pour in the other ingredients and mix until you get a smooth consistency. Put into a round baking tin and leave to rise in a warm place for 3-5 hours so that its volume triples. Cook in the oven at 200-220°Cfor about one hour until the surface has a nice brown colouring. Glaze with beaten egg and add sugar grains.
The schiacciata must be served cold together with a glass of Vin Santo and for the more glutton, some hot custard.