120 grams (about 4 1/4 ounces) potato flour
120 grams (about 4 1/4 ounces) powdered sugar
4 eggs, separated
the juice of one lemon

for dusting
icing sugar

Original Italian text
Farina di patate, grammi 120
Zucchero in polvere, grammi 120
Uova, N.4
Agro di un limone

Beat the egg yolks and the sugar.

Add the flour and lemon juice and beat for about half an hour.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture very gently.

Grease a baking pan with butter and dust it with confectioners' sugar mixed with flour.

Bake.

Cool.

Dust with icing sugar.



Original Italian text

Sbattete prima ben bene i rossi d'uovo collo zucchero, aggiungete la farina e il succo di limone e lavorate per piu di mezz ora il tutto. Montate per ultimo le chiare, unitele al resto mescolando con delicatezza per non ismontar la fiocca. Versate il composto in uno stamp liscio e rotondo, ossia in una teglia proporzionata, imburrata e spolverizzata di zucchero a velo e frina, e mettetela subito in forno. Sformatela diaccia e spolverizzatela di zucchero a velo vangigliato.

The recipe in this entry was taken from "La Scienza in Cucina e L'Arte di Mangiar Bene manuale Pratico per le Famiglie" compilato da Pellegrino Artusi. The book was first published in 1891. Since then many Italian editions have been published. English translations of this cookbook under the title "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well" are available. At www.archive.org Olga Ragusa's selection of recipes from Pellegrino's famous Italian cookbook can be found in its entirety (It's free to download). Her selection entitled, "The Italian Cook Book," was first published in 1945 by S.F. Vanni.... P.S. I tried out this recipe and was not satisfied with the results. The taste and smell of this cake is unpleasant, as is its texture. Using potato flour to make a sponge cake is not a good idea. For those who can't tolerate wheat flour for health reasons, simply using ground nuts (instead of wheat flour) such as in The Joy of Cooking's gluten-free Hazelnut cake, or possibly using a recipe with rice flour (instead of wheat flour) is a much better alternative in my opinion. Photo and comments: Mary Melfi.

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