The San Martino cake is another of those typical Abruzzese desserts, but unfortunately, I don’t know where it originates from. I know it, I prepare it, it’s a dessert made for November 11th, Saint Martin’s day, but which area of Abruzzo it originates from, I couldn’t say.
I generally love telling the stories behind my recipes, but in the ones I’ve published recently, I haven’t been able to express myself at my best.
A sweet with many ingredients that I thought would take a while to consume, but if it weren’t for the fact that it has quite a few calories, I think it would have been gone in a day.
There are chopped walnuts inside, then my beloved dark chocolate, cocoa, cooked must, and other ingredients that we fortunately almost always have in our pantry.
The baking times are a bit long, but I assure you it has to be just like that. Don’t increase the temperature to speed things up; on the contrary, if it starts to brown on top, put a sheet of foil over it and possibly lower it to 320°F if the baking takes longer than necessary.
If you make this recipe or others on my blog, feel free to send me a photo of your recipe. If you like, I’ll post it on my Facebook page under your name.
Approx. 529 calories per person
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Expensive
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 10 people
- Cooking methods: Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients to Make San Martino Cake
- 4 medium eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup corn or sunflower oil
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup cooked must
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup chopped extra dark chocolate
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- grated peel of 1 lemon
- 1 packet vanillin
- 1 packet and 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Preparation of San Martino Cake
First, let’s prepare the ingredients that take the most time.
Chop the walnuts and toast them in a pan over low heat, stirring often. It will take at least 5-6 minutes. When you notice they are drying a bit, remove them from the heat, continue to stir, and transfer them to a container.
Then chop the dark chocolate into very small pieces and set it aside as well.
Take the mixer, add eggs and sugar, and mix at high speed for at least 3-4 minutes. Then set to low and begin adding all the other ingredients, mixing well. Finally, add the flour a little at a time. The mixture will be thick but not too much, a bit more liquid than regular cakes.
Prepare a 24 cm pan with edges about 1.5 inches high, or a 26 cm pan. Grease and flour it, or you can choose a silicone mold.
