Italian Festive Cake (Bustrengo)

 

Italian Festive Cake (Bustrengo) is traditional Christmas cake with dried figs, apples, lemon zest, honey, olive oil, and polenta. Bursting with festive flavours, it is beautiful dense yet moist dessert.

 

Traditionally, the cake was prepared in a fireplace, in a copper pot with a lid that was covered with hot coals. Since this cake is dense and heavy, the same as Castagnaccio , small slices are served with Limoncello or Arancello or sweet wine aside. Meloncello is tasty liqueur as well but it doesn’t match Bustrengo. You need sweet but tangy digestif to match this festive cake.

 

Even today, people prepare meat with vegetables in a copper pot with a lid on the open fire, but it is usually done for potluck or grand celebrations. Is it very, very tasty and for us, there is not much savoury food that could be compared to its flavours.

This Italian festive cake belongs to cucina povera family but is so delicious and so unique that it’s really hard to believe it was a peasants treat for holidays. The very same words could be told for Panettone !

 

What is the origin of bustrengo?

It is believed that the name “bustrengo” has a barbarian origin (in dialect, it is bustreng), due

to the barbarian invasion of the Emilia Romagna region, although this is not certain given the dispute that has been established in Italy for years, particularly between the regions of Lower Romagna and Upper Marche.

Some people consider it a recipe from the Romagna hills, for others it comes from the area known as la Bassa (a flat area but far from the Adriatic sea).
In the province of Forlì-Cesena, the village of Borghi held a festival in its honor.
But it is widespread in most of Romagna and beyond.

For more about bustrengo and other world recipes check Worldofflavours .

 

Polenta is not the only base for all Italian “cucina povera” desserts, of course. Sometimes it is replaced with chestnut flour , chickpea or rice flour. All of them are produced in Italy; the river Po valley for the rice and Cicerale Comune for chickpea.

 

My friend has sent me freshly picked tangerines and oranges from the coast, several days ago. I am specially thankful for the batches I receive every year since they are not chemically treated.
So, to make the best use of them, both juice and skin, I decided to make easy Italian festive cake for a weekend and then save some tangerines pulpa ( it freezes well ) so we could make Whole Tangerine Cake Bundts  later on, during the first months of next year.

 

If you decide to make Bustrengo, I recommend you enjoy a slice of it in the morning with your first cup of coffee, watching snow falling ( if any ) from the warmth of your home or maybe in the afternoon with a cup of tea.
Whichever way you decide to combine, I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does and wish you all have very happy holidays and healthy and prosperous days to come.

Here are two more desserts for you to enjoy great desserts:

Pandoro from Scratch

 

Torta Tre Monti …. coming soon …

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