Easy Homemade Pasticciotto Cake : a traditional recipe from Italy…
Today is my birthday and do you know what cake I made for myself? The pasticciotto cake, a real goodness, a typical recipe from Italy. Who doesn’t know the famous pasticciotti leccesi, the delicious shortbread cakes filled with custard! They are one of the quintessential sweets of Salento, which can be found almost everywhere, both in pastry shops and bars, undisputed rulers of the most mouth-watering breakfasts!
Ingredients for Pasticciotto Cake:
For the shortcrust pastry:
- 350g (2 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 125g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Zest of 1 lemon
For the custard filling:
- 500ml (2 cups) whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 30g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour or cornstarch
- Zest of 1 lemon
For filling and decoration:
- 12 sour cherries in syrup
- Sour cherry syrup, as needed
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- Milk, for brushing
How to prepare the Easy Homemade Pasticciotto Cake:
- First prepare the shortcrust pastry. In a bowl pour the sifted flour with the baking powder, add the sugar, broken butter, eggs and grated lemon peel. Start kneading in the bowl and then continue on the work surface until you have a smooth dough ball. Cover the dough ball with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Now prepare the custard. Pour the milk into a saucepan with the lemon peel, mind, only the yellow part. Heat the milk without letting it boil. Meanwhile, pour the egg yolks into a bowl and whisk them with the sugar, flour and a ladleful of hot milk; use a hand whisk.
- Pour the mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk and cook the cream. Keep stirring with the whisk until the cream has thickened, it will take about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the lemon peel and let the cream cool.
- Take the shortcrust pastry back from the refrigerator and cut it in half. Roll out the first half on baking paper with a floured rolling pin, you need to make a disk that you will lay in the mold, cover the edges as well. Pour the custard over the pastry sheet and decorate with the black cherries in syrup and 3 tablespoons of syrup.
- Roll out the second pastry sheet with a rolling pin as well and lay it on top of the filling. Close the cake by sealing the edges tightly.
- Brush the cake with milk and bake it in a preheated, static oven at 180°C (350°F) . for 50 minutes. Let it cool, unmold it on a serving platter, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve!
Bon Appétit!
