Bertolina cake, the soft dessert with strawberry grapes and its history

The recipe for the seasonal dessert with strawberry grapes: here are the ingredients and all the steps of the bertolina cake!

The Bertolina cake is a simple dessert to prepare and typical of the Cremasco area, in Lombardy, so much so that in the city of Crema, in mid-September , a party is held and dedicated to it. The enveloping and intense flavor of the grapes makes this soft dessert a real treat for the palate. But let’s be clear: it is not a simple grape cake (and already seeing the ingredients it is very clear).

Now let’s see all the steps to make the recipe for the Bertolina di Crema cake, the delicious dessert with corn flour and strawberry grapes to be made when the fruit is ripe and therefore only between September and October of each year.

Preparation of the bertolina cake with strawberry grapes

1. After sifting the 00 flour, pour it into a large bowl, add the corn flour, crumbled yeast and sugar.
2. Mix well then add the water a little at a time and stirring with a wooden spoon in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
3. Cover with cling film and let it rise inside the oven off but with the light on for an hour.
4. Wash the strawberry grapes and remove all the berries, being careful not to break them.
5. After the leavening time of the dough, add the grapes, stir and let it rise for about 45 minutes.
6. Grease the bottom and edges of a pan with oil or butter and pour the dough inside, sprinkle the surface of the dough with a little white granulated sugar.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 ° C for about 50 minutes , when cooked, remove from the oven and let it cool before serving.

Do you love this fruit? Then we also recommend you try the focaccia with strawberry and rosemary grapes !

History of the Bertolina cake

It is a curious legend, but very simple and without supernatural events that can risk making the origins of this sugary sweet unlikely. In fact, it is said that the first to conceive the cake were two sisters resident in the area of ​​Crema who were called “Benedete” .

These sisters had remained spinsters and therefore, to be able to survive even without their husband’s job, they decided to open a bakery where they offered Bertolina cake at certain times of the year, which was really snapped up. However, the sisters never revealed their original recipe and in fact, in Cremasco, every family prepares it with small differences in preparation.

storage

Bertolina cake can be kept in a cool and dry place for about 2-3 days , well sheltered from the air under a special bell for sweets. We do not recommend freezing in the freezer.