Grandma’s two-flavored cake is a baked dessert with a genuine and enveloping taste. Grandma’s cake is a traditional preparation of Italian pastry; it is distinguished by its crispy shortcrust shell enclosing a delicate custard.
There are two versions of grandma’s cake: an open one, with a shortcrust base filled with cream and garnished with pine nuts and powdered sugar; and the closed one, with a double layer of shortcrust and custard in the center.
Today I propose a tasty alternative to the closed grandma’s cake: two layers of shortcrust enclosing two creams inside. I made a custard to which I added ricotta and raisins, while for the chocolate cream I used a small part of custard to which I added a dark chocolate ganache, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Finally, I decorated the cake with pine nuts, chocolate chips, and powdered sugar. With this cake, you can amaze your guests: simplicity and taste in one cake!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 2 cups Flour
- 7 tbsps Butter
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- Lemon zest
- 2 cups Milk
- 4 Eggs
- 4 tbsps Sugar
- 4 tbsps Flour
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tbsps Ricotta cheese
- 1/2 oz Raisins
- 3 tbsps Custard
- 3 1/2 oz Dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup Fresh cream
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- as needed Pine nuts
- as needed Dark chocolate chips
- as needed Powdered sugar
Tools
- Bakeware
Preparation
To prepare grandma’s cake, pour the milk into a pan with vanilla extract; place over low heat and let it come close to a boil. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with sugar and incorporate the flour, mixing well to avoid lumps.
Pour some hot milk into the bowl with the egg mixture and stir. Add the remaining milk and stir quickly, pour everything into the pan, put back on the heat, and let it thicken while continuing to stir.
When the cream is thick, pour it into a bowl and cover with cling film in contact with the surface and let it cool.
In a bowl, soak the raisins for 15 minutes. Then drain, squeeze, and dry.
Divide the custard in half, set aside the part needed for the chocolate cream; while in the remaining one add raisins and ricotta. Mix to blend the ingredients until you get a homogeneous mixture.
In a glass bowl, melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie. Remove from the water and incorporate the fresh cream, stirring with a wooden spoon. You should obtain a homogeneous and glossy mixture. Let it cool.
Then combine the chocolate ganache with the custard set aside with spices. Mix well to obtain a smooth cream.
Knead the softened butter with the flour and sugar. Then add the grated lemon zest and the eggs. Finally, add the baking powder, work with your hands, or with a mixer, until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough ball.
On a floured work surface, divide the dough into two equal parts. Roll out the first piece of dough to form a circle larger than the pan, with a thickness of 1/5 inch. Wrap the dough around a rolling pin and line the pan with it, finishing the edges and cutting off excess dough.
Prick the bottom and first pour in the chocolate cream and then the custard with ricotta on top of it.
Roll out the other piece of dough, proceeding in the same manner as before. Cover the cake with the dough, finishing the edges well and removing excess dough. Prick the dough with a fork.
Brush the surface with water gently. Add a sprinkle of powdered sugar and garnish with pine nuts and chocolate chips.
Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until golden. Once cooked, let it cool. Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Enjoy!
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