Radicchio Cake with a White Chocolate and Mascarpone Icing
Veneto is the land of radchhio; eaten raw, grilled, baked with pasta (usually in the form lasagna), or cooked with risotto. A recent novelty to me however, has been the addition of the radicchio not into a savoury dish, but into a sweet cake. Slightly apprehensive about it I decided to give it a try, ending up being positively surprised. Quite unique and very enjoyable. Buttery, soft, with the right amount of character, finished with a creamy mascarpone and white chocolate icing, a pure delight – as everything that Csaba Dalla Zorza makes, a renown Italian cook book author, from whom the below recipe comes from.
Ingredients:
- 150 g of radicchio di Chioggia
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 100 g of butter, softened (plus some more for the tin)
- 100 g of fine sugar
- 125 g of plain flour, I used Italian 00
- a pinch of nutmeg
- a pinch of salt
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- grated zest from half a lemon
- 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier or any other orange liqueur
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- one and a half of a teaspoon of baking powder
For the icing:
- 150 g of white chocolate, chopped
- 100 g of mascarpone
- 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
Bring a pot of water to the boil, add two tablespoons of sugar and stir.
Blanch the radicchio leaves for 2 minutes (but no longer, they are supposed just to soften a little).
Remove the leaves and drain in a colander. Next, lay the leaves on a tea towel to dry (or pat dry them). Cut into strips.
Grease with a knob of butter a spring form baking tin, 20 cm in diameter, and line with baking parchment.
Preheat the oven to 180 C-static.
Transfer the softened butter into the bowl of a standing mixer.
Add the sugar and beat the ingredients together on a low to medium speed until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at the time, the lemon zest, a pinch pf salt and the nutmeg.
Next pour in the Grand Marnier along with the vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
Sift in the flour, the baking powder and mix gently.
Once the batter turns homogenous stir in the sliced radicchio leaves.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and gently even out the surface.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes.
Take the cake out of the oven and allow to cool down before removing from the tin.
Whilst the cake is baking, prepare the icing.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of boiling water (the water level should not touch the bowl; bain-marie method).
Cool the melted chocolate down a little stirring it all the time.
Whisk or stir in the mascarpone and the icing sugar.
Set aside until needed.
Transfer the radicchio cake onto a cake stand, smother the white chocolate icing on top and decorate with a fresh radicchio leaf.
