Pastiera - Neapolitan Easter Cake

Pizziaolo Luigi made an other YT video and showed his favourite Easter cake from his family.

The special ingredients are cooked wheat (Grana cotto) and a flower scent water (Millefiore).

It is a labour of love to make the cake. It takes a while until it finally comes out of the oven.

My recipe was for a lot bigger baking pan that I had, the leftovers went in a smaller one and made a second cake. 

Recipe for a 26 cm dish:

Shortcrust pastry:

500 g AP flour

Pinch of salt

200 g cubed cold butter

1 small egg

50 ml water

FILLING:

500 g Grana cotto jar

300 ml whole milk

50 g butter

700 g Ricotta

430 g sugar

6 medium eggs

3 egg yolks

1 small bottle Millafiore Aroma

Start with the grana cotto and use a bigger pot with butter and milk. When the butter has melted, add the jars content. Stir often and cook on medium heat, later on low until you have a porridge consistency. Take it off the heat to cool down.

Make the shortcrust pastry. Either with your hands or with a kitchen mashine. Bring it together without kneading it a lot and wrap it in clingfilm and stick it in the fridge for 45 to 60 min.

Preheat the oven 180 C.

Beat Ricotta and sugar together until  you have a smooth mix. Add eggs and egg yolks and stir well. Add the grana cotto and the Aroma.

Butter the cake pan and cut the dough in 2. On a floured surface roll it out 1/2 cm thick. Transfer to the pan. Get it up the edges.

Fill the grana cotto mix in. Roll out the other dough and cut strips to lay over or discs like I did.

Put it in the oven for 55 min. Then shut the oven off and stick a towel or something else in the door to keep it open. Let the cake rest for 1 hour in the oven.

When it is allmost cool, grab a plate and set it on top, turn the pan and lift it off. Take a second plate and turn it again. 

When the cake is cold, set it sonewhere cool until the next day.