[Sca-cooks] Torta de Cerase

[Mark Calderwood]

One of the oustanding hits of the banquet table at the Yule feast I
recently did was the Torta de Cerase, the cherry and cheese tart from the
Cuoco Napoletano, so I thought I'd share my redaction for those who are
interested (bear in mind all measures are in Australian metric).

Original- Cuoco Napoletano (recipe 137)
Get red cherries or the darkest available, remove the pit and grind in a
mortar; then get red roses and crush them well- I mean the petals alone-
with a knife, get a little new and old cheese with a reasonable amount of
spices, cinnamon and good ginger with a little pepper and sugar, and mix
everything together, adding in six eggs; make a pastry crust for the pan
with half a pound of butter and set it to cook giving it moderate fire;
when it is cooked, put on sugar and rosewater.

My redaction
Crust
I used a standard pate brisee recipe from Redon et al, which uses only
125g. Blind bake for approx 10 mins to ensure a firm base and let cool.

Filling
approx 700-750g fresh cherries, the darkest and plumpest available
2-3 red roses
40g ricotta
approx 25g aged cheese, I used a creamy Mersey cheddar, finely grated
3 eggs
pinch each to taste cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper

Wash and pit the cherries, and chop coarsely if desired. I left mine halved
for a more chumpy texture.

Pluck the petals from the roses (I used fragrant rosa gallica from my
garden), wad them up and give them a solid whacking with the back of a
heavy knife to release the flavour. Mix in with the cherries, cover with
cling wrap and leave overnight in the refrigerator for the flavours to
infuse into the cherries. This is an optional step, based on similar
Mediterranean dishes infused with roses like the plate of figs from de
Nola. If you don't want to do this simply add a splash of rosewater to the
mixture.

Mix the ricotta, cheese, eggs, and spices together. In trials I found six
eggs as stipulated in the manuscript to be way too much, and cut it down to
three which seemed to bind quite well. Next time I'm planning to use six
egg whites to see how that affects binding and flavour, I have a feeling
that's what the manuscript may mean. I added about three handfuls of fine
white sugar, and small pinches of nutmeg, ginger and pepper, larger pinches
of cloves and cinnamon (Sorry about the lack of precise amounts, I season
by pinches). After tasting I added  more cloves and cinnamon as I wanted a
light sweet taste, but you can adjust the seasonings to suit yourself.

Add the cherries and fold together. The mixture turns out a brownish glug,
so I added a good slug of cochineal for a deep rosy pink. Lift the cherries
out with a slotted spoon and arrange in the crust, then ladle the mixture
over the fruit being careful not to overfill the crust, as it will rise
slightly during cooking.

Cook for 30-35 minutes at 180C, until the filling is just set. Sprinkle hot
tart with rosewater and dust with fine white sugar. I dusted mine several
times while they were cooling and again when cold, so they had a sweet
topping and an attractive frosted crimson appearance.

I was quite pleased with how they turned out: they were quite nice on their
own, fantastic with angel's food and biscotti. I had people fighting over
them. :o)

Has anyone else had a go at these tarts, I'd be interested to compare
redactions...

Giles