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Ingredients 4 eggs, separated
Directions First blend the egg yolks with the sugar until nearly white.
Notes 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. Olga Ragusa's selection of recipes from Pellegrino Artusi's famous cookbook, titled "The Italian Cook Book," can be found in its entirety at www.archive.org (It's free). The University of Toronto recently published a new English edition of Pellegrino Artusi's "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well"; many of the recipes in this edition can be found at www.books.google.ca.... P.S. Nowadays, in North America, "focaccia" generally is associated with tomato-free pizzas, but it seems back in the 19th century "focaccia" could mean a flat bread or a thin cake. Anyway, I tried this recipe, curious to know what a cake made with bread crumbs rather than flour would taste like, and to my surprise, the taste was acceptable. In his notes Pellegrino Artusi says that this cake has the feel and look of a sponge cake. The cake I came up with, using the ingredients suggested in his recipe, had a nice flavor, but it did not appear in any way like a sponge cake. The texture was rather thick, and didn't have that lightness that is expected from a sponge cake. If one is looking for a cake that doesn't use processed wheat flour, this might be of interest. Comments and photo: Mary Melfi. |