Italians are big sticklers for never throwing away leftovers and this is one of many ways to use up leftover bread and anything lying around the cupboard. I bake this cake whenever I get an urge for something sweet on a saturday afternoon and it's also a great way to bring some order to the kitchen storecupboard. I hate all those half empty bags sitting around!
250g left over bread
about 750ml whole milk
2 free-range eggs
100g caster sugar
a handful of almonds
a handful of chocolate drops
a handful of dried cranberries
Rip up the bread into chunks and place it into a bowl. Pour over the milk and allow to soak for 30 minutes, stirring the bread around from time to time. You may need a little more milk if the bread is particularly dry.
Once the bread has absorbed all the milk, use your hands or a spoon to mash the bread and milk together. Next, lightly beat the the eggs and add these to the bread mix.
Next comes the fun part. Add all the other ingredients and in doing so, bring some order to your storecupboard. I used open packets of almonds, chocolate drops and dried carnberries, but there are any number of ingredients you could use. Substitute the cranberries for dried fruits such raisins or chopped apricots. Add a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to make a chocolate version. Use different nuts...you get the idea.
Pour the batter into a lined baking tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC for 40-45 minutes. You'll know when the cake is done as it will brown and puff up. Remove from the oven and serve warm with plenty of pouring cream. Alternatively, allow to cool and serve in slices.
Looks really good Mario. It is certainly not a good idea to come to your blog when you are hungry because you feel even more hungry afterwards. I will give this a go at some stage. Buona domenica :)
ReplyDeleteHi Cathy. That's a great sign. Looks like I'm doing something right!
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