Bolognese rice cake, also known as decoration cake, is an aromatic dessert rich in ingredients that, in ancient times, was prepared during the most important religious holidays of the year.
The enriched version was not present on the table all year round; candied fruits, almonds, amaretti, and sugar made it an expensive dessert that few could afford. Therefore, there were two versions, the simple rice cake which was often prepared and can still be found today in bakeries throughout Emilia, and the decoration rice cake which filled the city’s arcades with its aroma during the Corpus Domini procession.
This event inspired Cardinal Paleotti, who in the sixteenth century instituted the Decoration Festival, so called for the colored drapes (“decorations”) that were hung from windows. During the procession, houses were opened to welcome visiting citizens, arcades were decorated with drapes and artwork, while women of the house offered a delicious almond-scented dessert that over time was named decoration cake.
Bolognese rice cake is a traditional dessert and every family keeps its recipe, the ingredients are always the same but may vary in proportion and procedure. Today I share my recipe, the one I’ve been making for a long time and particularly love for the presence of amaretti.
Decoration cake is one of the desserts I love the most, I often make it along with Bolognese pinza, Raviole and fiordilatte.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 331.58 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 50.06 (g) of which sugars 32.34 (g)
- Proteins 7.94 (g)
- Fat 9.39 (g) of which saturated 3.19 (g)of which unsaturated 5.94 (g)
- Fibers 1.41 (g)
- Sodium 63.91 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 120 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 5 cups milk (whole)
- 1 cup Carnaroli rice (or Arborio)
- 4 eggs (whole)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup almonds (coarsely chopped)
- 3/4 cup amaretti
- 3.5 oz liqueur (Bitter Almond)
- 3/4 cup candied citron (chopped)
- 1 pod vanilla (can substitute with 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract)
- lemon zest (in large pieces)
- 1 oz liqueur (Bitter Almond)
- as needed liqueur (Bitter Almond)
Tools
- 1 Pan
- 1 Mold for cake 10×14 inches
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Scale
- 1 Peeler
- 2 Toothpick
- 1 Brush
Steps
To prepare the traditional Bolognese rice cake, you need to use a liqueur called Bitter Almond, it is not very alcoholic, it’s a 21° soaking and evaporates completely during cooking.
If you can’t find it, you can purchase it on Amazon by clicking HERE.
Slice the vanilla pod lengthwise, extract the pulp and set it aside.
Wash the lemon well and peel strips from the zest using a peeler.
In a large pan, put the milk, sugar, vanilla pod, and its internal pulp, add the lemon peels and bring to a boil.
As soon as it boils, pour in the rice and cook, stirring often (be careful as rice in milk tends to stick quickly, cook on low heat).
Turn off and let cool completely.
Note: do not overcook the rice as it must finish cooking in the oven, if using Carnaroli, 13/14 minutes are sufficient.
Remove the vanilla pod and lemon zest (if you like, you can also leave it in the cake, as it will add notes of great freshness), add the coarsely chopped almonds, the eggs (lightly beaten with a fork) and mix very well all ingredients.
Chop the candied citron, crumble the amaretti with your hands and pour everything into the pan. Add the Bitter Almond liqueur and mix. The mixture is ready.
Cover a 10×14 inches rectangular baking pan with parchment paper or grease it with some butter and pour the mixture. Bake the rice cake in a preheated static oven at 340°F for about 1 hour or until the surface becomes dark but not burnt.
To prevent the surface from burning, place the pan on a rack in the lower part of the oven, if it darkens too much cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Do the toothpick test, it should not be too dry but the toothpick should come out clean.
Take out the Bolognese rice cake, poke it with a toothpick and brush it with Bitter Almond liqueur (I use a full cup for this), in this way it will remain moist and very fragrant.
Let it cool, cover it with plastic wrap then transfer it to the fridge.
The next day, cut it into diamonds and place them on the serving plate.
The traditional Bolognese rice cake or decoration cake is ready!
Advice
How to store the rice cake?
It can be stored safely in the fridge, well covered, for 4/5 days but I’m sure it will be gone much sooner.
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