Italian Spiced Orange Shortbread – Sbriciolona
‘Sbriciolona’ is Italian for ‘crumble’.
This is my version of the delicious, shortbread-style dessert. It’s the perfect
finale to a meal. Dip pieces in the yoghurt cream and serve with fresh berries
and muscatels.
Ingredients
·
1½ cups whole, skin-on almonds, roasted and roughly
chopped
·
2¼ cups plain flour
·
¾ cup rice flour
·
Pinch of sea salt
·
¾ teaspoon baking powder
·
¾ cup castor sugar
·
1/3 cup brown sugar
·
200 grams butter, cubed
·
Finely grated zest of ½ an orange
·
3 egg yolks
·
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping
·
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
·
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
·
1 teaspoon ground ginger
·
Icing sugar for dusting
Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
2. Grease and line the base of a 30 cm spring form cake tin or
loose-based tart tin.
Italian
Spiced Orange Shortbread – Sbriciolona
3. Put both flours, salt, baking powder and both sugars in a food
processor and pulse to blend. Add the butter and zest and pulse to coarse
crumbs. Combine the egg yolks and vanilla and pulse until the mixture is damp
but not forming large clumps. Don’t be tempted to add any extra liquid, keep
pulsing and the mixture will come together. Tip into a large bowl and stir in
the almonds. Using your fingertips, press the mixture firmly into the tin,
leaving the surface bumpy and uneven.
4. Combine the sugar and spices and sprinkle over the top. Bake for
45-50 minutes until a good golden colour and firm to the touch. Cover the top
loosely with a piece of tin foil if it is browning too fast. Cool completely
before removing from the tin.
To serve:
Cut into irregular pieces and stack on a serving platter. Dust with icing sugar
before serving. Sbriciolona will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
