Do you know the Donizetti cake, the typical dessert of the city of Bergamo?

Are you looking for the recipe for the soft and fragrant dessert typical of the city of Bergamo? Then what you need is the Donizetti cake!

Bergamo is not just polenta and osei. There is another typical product, perhaps less well known, which deserves to be tried. It is the Donizetti cake, or Turta del Donizèt which, according to the legend, would be able to cure the pains of love. The basic recipe is that of a margherita cake to which, however, candied pineapple and apricots flavored with vanilla and maraschino are added.

In itself, the Donizetti cake recipe is not very complex, however, it requires a minimum of attention in the initial stages. As it does not contain yeast , it requires butter, eggs and sugar to be whipped to perfection to make it soft and fluffy. But don’t worry, with our advice this Bergamo cake will be worthy of the best pastry shops in the city!

How to prepare the Donizetti cake with the original recipe

1. Using the electric whisk, whip the butter with 110 g of sugar.
2. Always with the whips in action, add the egg yolks one at a time, waiting for them to be incorporated before continuing.
3. The albime, on the other hand, must be whipped separately with the remaining sugar, making sure you have a clean bowl and whisk.
4. Incorporate them into the previous mixture with gentle movements from the bottom up.
5. Add the sifted flour and starch and finally the candied fruit, maraschino and vanilla.
6. Grease and flour a 24 cm donut mold and pour the dough then bake at 180 ° C for 40 minutes doing the toothpick test before taking it out of the oven.
7. Once cold, serve decorating with a sprinkling of icing sugar.

Staying on the subject of classic desserts, why not also try the margherita cake we mentioned at the beginning? It is perfect to serve with a cup of tea.

Donizetti cake: history

History and legend go hand in hand when it comes to this dessert. In fact, legend has it that it was prepared for the first time by Gioacchino Rossini’s cook . He was a very good friend of Donizetti and one evening, tired of seeing him afflicted with pains of love, he asked his cook to prepare a quick and easy dessert able to lift his soul. Thus was born this fragrant and soft cake , enriched with fruit that seems to have lifted the soul of the musician.

The story, however, is another. The Donizetti cake was born in Bergamo in 1948 by the hand of Alessandro Balzer , owner of the homonymous pastry shop overlooking the Sentierone. In fact, the pastry chef wanted to celebrate the centenary of the musician’s death with a dessert and thus conceived this particular recipe which soon became one of the symbols of the city. Just think that today the Turta del Donizèt is regulated by a production specification filed with the Bergamo Chamber of Commerce.

storage

Donizetti cake can be kept under a cake bell, in a cool place, for 2-3 days .