The sbrisolona with apples and amaretti is a simple and delicious cake made with soft shortcrust pastry enriched with classic amaretti. The filling, equally simple and delicious, is made of cooked apples and amaretti flavored with cinnamon. A perfect cake to enjoy at breakfast, snack time, or after meals.
The recipe is by Laura F. and is taken from the book “Mom’s Cake – Our Recipes”, Grandma’s sbrisolona with apples and amaretti, p. 61.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1.75 oz amaretti cookies
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1/2 lemon (zest)
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 3 Fuji apples (or another variety)
- 1.75 oz amaretti cookies
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 lemon (juice)
Tools
- Kitchen scale
- Stand mixer
- Flat beater
- Bench scraper
- Plastic wrap
- Refrigerator
- Work surface
- Rolling pin
- Mortar
- Lemon grater
- Knife
- Oven
- Parchment paper
- Cake pan
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Pan
- Lemon squeezer
- Strainer
- Lid
- Spoon
- Wooden spoon
Steps
To prepare the sbrisolona with apples and amaretti…
First, prepare the shortcrust pastry. In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with a flat beater, pour the flour, crumbled amaretti with the mortar (or with a meat mallet), granulated sugar, grated lemon zest, baking powder, and fine salt.
Mix the dry ingredients with the stand mixer, then add the cold butter from the refrigerator cut into cubes and the egg. Turn the stand mixer back on, increasing the speed until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and come together.
Transfer the shortcrust pastry onto a work surface with the help of a bench scraper, form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
Take the apples, peel them, remove the core and seeds, and dice them (about 0.4 inches). Pour them into a pan, adding granulated sugar, lemon juice strained through a strainer, ground cinnamon, and a glass of water.
Cover the pan with a lid and cook the apples for 20 minutes, stirring them occasionally with a wooden spoon and adding more water if necessary. They should be soft.
Towards the end of cooking, remove the lid, let the cooking water evaporate from the apples until they are dry. Then turn off the heat and let them cool slightly.
Then add the crumbled amaretti with the mortar into the pan with the cooked apples and mix.
Take the shortcrust pastry out of the refrigerator, work it slightly with your hands to soften it, then roll it out with the rolling pin to a thickness of about half a centimeter (I rolled it out on a sheet of parchment paper to help with the next step).
Transfer the shortcrust pastry into the cake pan (9.5 inches in diameter, non-stick or greased and floured) and remove the excess pastry with the knife, which you’ll use to cover the surface.
Fill the shortcrust with the cooked apples, leveling them well with the spoon and pressing them slightly, then crumble the remaining pastry on top to cover the entire surface of the cake.
Finally, bake the cake in a preheated oven at 356°F (180°C) and bake it for 30 minutes in fan mode. Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool slightly before enjoying it.
Notes
Compared to the original recipe, I used less sugar in the shortcrust pastry and also added amaretti to the filling.
Tip
For a richer version, replace the lemon juice with amaretto liqueur when cooking the apples.
