I have to dedicate an article to my Neapolitan love: pastiera. The traditional cake in Naples is an amazing dessert that you can taste in the city and sometimes around Italy. Where there is a restaurant owned by Neapolitans. It is difficult to describe the taste, but it is an experience that must be lived. Since I am not able to explain the feelings created by a piece of pastiera in the mouth, I share the recipe.
Do not think of me as a good cook, because I am not. But I found the recipe and I am waiting for someone to prepare it for me. If you want to try, call me! I am joking, but if you like desserts and you want to taste something typical, this is good food you have to order in Italy. Meanwhile, you can follow the recipe and cook it at home. My Neapolitan love will conquest you.
My Neapolitan love: the pastiera’s recipe
I confess that during my stay in Naples I had some slice in the proper places. Maybe you want to try to experience the preparation on your own, so you can continue to read. I got the instructions from the website of Academia Barilla. It shouldn’t be so hard to prepare my Neapolitan love. I am trying too, in waiting for a good cook who wants to do it for me. Surely on my next trip to Naples, I will have it again.
First of all, you need to prepare pasta and for that you need :
- 5 oz butter
- 4 oz confectioners sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- ½ lb all-purpose flour
Then you have to fill pasta and the ingredients you need are:
- 1 lb ricotta cheese
- ½ lb granulated sugar
- ½ lb cooked wheat
- 3 oz milk
- 3 eggs
- lemon zest, grated
- 1 oz orange flower water
- vanilla to taste
- cinnamon to taste
- 3 oz mixed candied fruit
- 1 oz butter
- 1 oz confectioners sugar
- salt
Put in the mixer the flour and the butter and start to mix them to obtain a grainy product. At that moment you can add sugar, yolks, and vanilla and continue to mix, but be careful to not over-mix. When the dough is ready you have just wrap it using a cling-film and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours. When the time is passed you have to roll the dough in a cake pan, keep in mind that the thickness should be about 0.2 inches. Then prick the pastry all around with a fork.
You can put the ricotta in a bowl and mix it with the sugar. Then you can add all the other ingredients mentioned and mix, without letting the mixture collapse. When it is ready you can fill the pastry in the cake pan. Make some strips of pastry laying them crisscross across the top of the cake. The last step is to bake the cake at 360°F for about 1 hour and a half.
The dessert is typical during Easter time, but try it all year and you will be really happy. If you are not good to cook like me, go to Naples, you will eat the best pastiera.
Enjoy!
Italian culture
Food is part of the culture of a country. My Neapolitan love is a great expression of the local tradition. That’s why I suggest you taste it. If you want to know more about Italy go on to read my other posts. Surf the section dedicated to the country on the blog. To be updated follow me and subscribe to my newsletter. I will send you news and some contents that I don’t share through my social pages and the blog.
A lot of facts, curiosities about Italy and other countries are waiting for you. Visit the destinations page and access the various posts. You can get inspired to choose the place for your holidays or to plan them. Now it is time to prepare the cake or maybe the trip to Naples. Book now your hotel and explore the city tasting my Neapolitan love. Pastiera will become your favorite cake.