Spoiler alert: ‘spongata di natale’ means Christmas sponge. I suppose we would still love it even if it were called ‘Christmas pies ’.
Whatever the name and whether I like it or not, it’s a splendid Christmas creation. It’s like a giant Italian mince pie, inverted and with more nuts than fruits.
Spongata is a traditional Christmas cake from Italian regions of Emilia and Tuscany. It’s an old tradition of baking those oversized mince pies; originally gifted to Duke of Milan by Jewish merchants in 14th century according to some sources; based on an ancient Roman recipe according to others.
It is truly a pie: rich fruited and nutted filling wrapped in a thin layer of shortcrust pastry. It is served cut into tiny wedges which shows us up, us who gobble whole mince pies in one bite. It is a nice gift, wrapped in parchment, tied with a ribbon, because it lasts exceedingly well. Another one of those confections that the Italians start baking in the middle of November.
serves ; 2 pies
total time ; 2 hours
Ingredients
For the filling:
40g (1/3 cup) raisins
dry white wine, enough to cover the raisins
4 white bread slices
200g (1½ cups) mixed nuts (walnuts, pecans, pistachios)
30g (1 tbsp.) pine nuts
20g (1 tbsp.) candied peel
200g (2/3 cup) honey
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of salt
For the pastry:
200g (1½ cups) plain flour
80g (1/3 cup) sugar
a pinch of salt
80g (6 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
40ml (2½ tbsp.) dry white wine
icing sugar, for dusting
Preparation
1. Place the raisins in a small bowl and pour the wine over them. Leave them to soak, do that as early in advance as you can, even the night before.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
3. Cut the crust off the bread and crumble it into pieces onto a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 20 minutes or in a pan, until dry and golden. Transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool.
4. Chop the nuts and pine nuts roughly, place on the baking sheet or pan and toast for 10 minutes. Add to the bowl with breadcrumbs.
5. Finely chop the peel.
6. s and breadcrumbs are cool, mix them together with your hands, grinding the bread with your fingers. Add the peels , raisins and nuts .When the nut, drained and squeezed out raisins and mix again with your hands.
7. Add in the honey, if it’s set, warm it slightly to liquidise. Sprinkle the spices and salt and mix everything together very well, this time using a spoon as it will be very sticky, thick and crumbly.
8. To make the dough, place the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer or food processor. Add the butter and blitz or rub it in with your fingers until it disappears. Keep mixing until the flour starts clumping. Pour in the wine, little by little, still mixing and eventually it will start coming together. Give it a knead, shape into a ball and keep covered with foil so it doesn’t dry. It doesn’t need to rest.
9. On a floured surface, divide the dough into 6 equal portions (about 65g each). Roll them out very thinly, 1-2mm. If the dough tears, just patch it up. Trim each piece with a pastry cutter to a 20-22cm circle, using a plate or a pan lid as a template. Place them on parchment sheets.
10. If you switched the oven off, turn it back on and preheat to 200C/400F/gas 6.
11. Depending how much space you have, work with 2 or all 3 spongata at a time. Place 3 dough circles on a sheet of parchment. Divide the filling between the dough bases and spread it in an even thin layer leaving a 1cm strip around the edges.
12. Place the remaining 3 discs on the filling to cover it. Press the dough or lightly roll it over the filling. Seal the top and bottom and either trim excess pastry with a pastry cutter or roll up neatly to form and edge. Pierce the top dough several times with a skewer to release steam when baking.
13. Transfer the spongata on the parchment onto a baking sheet or bake them in batches. Bake for 15-18 minutes until barely coloured.
14. Cool on a wire rack, then dust generously with icing sugar. To serve, cut into small wedges with a serrated knife.
15. Spongata keeps well at room temperature, wrapped in parchment or cloth, up to a month.
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