By Heinrich von Holstein (Atlantia, 2025)
Description
This is a late 15th century Italian cherry pie from a manuscript Cuoco napolitano, though it’s almost more like a proto-cheesecake. The instruction to use fresh cheese and old cheese is very interesting to me for a dessert. I chose to use some scamorza, a kind of aged mozzarella, that I had left over from another project to add a distinctive flavor. The flavor of the cherries strangely is not dominant, balanced by the cheese and spices. For time considerations (and, frankly, skill) I chose to use pre-made pie crusts. Unfortunately I did not have any rose petals so I put a little rose water in the filling and again very lightly sprinkled on top.
Original Recipe
Torta de Cerase. Tolle cesrase rosse ho piu negre che si possa trovare, he poi caverai fora quello suo osso he pista le cerase in uno mortaro; poi piglia rose rosse he batile – dico, solo le foglie – cum uno cultello molto bene tute; poi habi uno poco de caso fresco he veghio cum specie a discretione, he canella he bono zenzaro cum poco pipero he zucaro, he miscolarai tute queste cose insieme, agiongendoli .vi. ova; et farai una crosta de pasta sopra la padella he cum meza libra de butiro, he ponella ha a cocere, dandoli el foco temperato; he quando he cotta, pone del zucaro he aqua rosata. [2]
Cherry Torte. Get red cherries of the darkest available, remove their pit and grind them in a mortar; then get red roses and crush them well – I mean, the petals alone – with a knife; get a little new and old cheese with a reasonable amount of spices, cinnamon and good ginger with a little pepper and sugar, and mix everything together, adding in six eggs; make a pastry crust for the pan with half a pound of butter and set it to cook giving it a moderate fire; when it is cooked, put on sugar and rosewater. (Translation: Terence Scully [1])
Redaction
Ingredients (per 9″ pie):
- 1-2 cups pitted cherries
- 1 lb ricotta cheese
- ¼ lb scamorza (or mozzarella, fontina)
- ½ cup sugar
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Black pepper
- Rose water
- 3 eggs
- 9″ pie crust
Preparation:
Pulse the cherries in a food processor until finely chopped. Finely grate your scamorza/mozzarella/fontina. Beat the eggs. Put the cherries, ricotta, cheese, eggs, spices, and a little bit of rose water in a large bowl. Mix well. Set your pie crust dough in a 9″ pan and fill with the cherry mixture. A shallow 9″ pan should be able to take about 4 cups of filling.
Bake for 90 minutes at 350. Sprinkle sugar and rose-water on top. Allow to cool before serving.
Sources
[1] Terence Scully, The Neapolitan Recipe Collection – Cuoco Napoletano
(Ann Arbor, Mich., University of Michigan Press, 2000)
[2] Unknown author, Cuoco napolitano
(Naples, Italy, late 15th century)