TORTA SBRISOLONA RICOTTA E PERE

A couple of years ago, while on vacation in Praiano, a typical fishermen village on the Amalfi Coast, we savored this wonderful  crumb cake during a town wide celebration: the women from the local church had cooked to feed the whole village, for a nominal fee. As soon as we tasted this creation, we fell in love with the delicate and sophisticated taste of ricotta with pears and chocolate, a classic dessert of the Amalfi Coast.

So here is the recipe. If you travel to the Amalfi Coast, make sure you taste the REAL thing, as the ricotta there is simply much more delicious.

For the Crumbs:

300 gr flour
100 gr melted butter
100 gr sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of baking powder


For the ricotta filling:

2 lbs of ricotta
2 eggs
6 ripe pears (or canned pears are fine too - but use a few more as they are smaller)
3 spoonfuls of flour
150 gr sugar
chocolate shavings (about 75 gr)

Powder Sugar to decorate

Start by making the crumbs: in a bowl,  mix all the ingredients with your hands. Set aside.

For the filling: mix the ricotta with the sugar - if you use a mixer, do this step at the lowest speed possible for just a minute. Add pears, pealed and diced, eggs flour and the chocolate shavings. Mix delicately - no mixer here.

Butter and flour a cake pan. Layer half of the crumbs on the bottom of the pan, then evenly and delicately spread the ricotta mix. Cover with the remaning half of the crumbs. Bake at 350 F for about  35 to 40 minutes, until top becomes golden. Let cool. Remove from pan and refrigerate. Sprinkle with powder sugar before serving.Enjoy!