🍪 Sbrisolona
Sbrisolona is a large, crumbly almond cake from Mantua made with cornmeal, wheat flour, butter, egg and sugar. Instead of being sliced it is broken into rough pieces at the table, and its texture is crunchy and sandy, closer to a giant cookie than a sponge. It is eaten with coffee at the end of a meal.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 150 g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
- 150 g fine cornmeal
- 150 g plain flour
- 150 g sugar
- 150 g cold butter, cubed
- 1 egg yolk
- Grated zest of 1 lemon, a pinch of salt
Method
- Heat the oven to 180 °C and line a 26 cm round tin with baking paper.
- Mix the almonds, cornmeal, flour, sugar, zest and salt in a bowl.
- Rub in the butter with your fingertips, then add the yolk and work into coarse, uneven crumbs — do not knead.
- Scatter the crumbs loosely into the tin without pressing them down.
- Bake for 40–45 minutes until golden, then cool completely and break into pieces.
How to make it lighter
- Break off a palm-sized piece rather than eating from the whole cake — it is very energy-dense.
- Pair a piece with black coffee or tea.
- Bake it in a slightly larger tin for a thinner, crisper cake that goes further.
History
Sbrisolona comes from Mantua in Lombardy, and its name comes from the local word for crumb. It is often described as a humble country cake that was once made mostly with cornmeal. Today it is the city's signature sweet and is sold in bakeries throughout the area.
Count it in one photo
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →