[Sca-cooks] Italian cake ?

Terry Decker t.d.decker at att.net
Fri Feb 24 07:10:03 PST 2012


Academia Barilla 
http://www.academiabarilla.com/italian-recipes/dessert-cakes-cookies/spongata.aspx 
put forth that the first documented reference to Spongata is in 1545 and 
that the cake was sent to the duke Borso d'Este the following year.  (D'Este 
was the Duke of Ferrara and was an enemy of Francesco I Sforza.)  The 
original recipe was found by a priest named Palazzi in 1830 and given to a 
spice vendor named  Panizzi.  Luigi Benelli commercialized the cake in 1863. 
I found a reference to a recipe from 1820, so without information about the 
original manuscript recovered by Palazzi, we can only place the recipe to 
the early 19th Century.

The 15th Century reference is probably similar to that for pepper and honey 
cakes which gives a basis for dating the age of panforte without knowing 
what is in it.  As yet, I have not found any reference as to where it can be 
found.

Spongata isn't a pie/tart.  It is a galette, a small flattened round loaf.

Bear



>I got a new Italian cookbook yesterday. There is a recipe for Spongata, 
>they
> call it a fruit cake but from the directions it's kind of a pie/tart. The
> intro to the recipe claims "There is an historical document which attests 
> to
> the fact that a spongata was sent to the Duke Francesco Sforza of Milano 
> in
> 1454."  The ingredients, other than the 2 Tbs. cognac for the filling can 
> be
> found in medieval time. Has anyone come across something call Spongata in
> any of the Italian cookery books?
> There was a Italian cookery books website that I had saved for future
> perusal but it no longer exists.
> Any directions or help is appreciated,
> De



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