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Polacca aversana

17/11/2023

The Polacca aversana is a traditional dessert from Campania, specifically from the city of Aversa. It is a cake composed of layers of sponge cake soaked with pastry cream enriched with candied black cherries. The decoration is characteristic with cream and cherries also on top.

Ingredients

  • For the sponge cake:

    • 4 eggs
    • 120 g of sugar
    • 120 g of flour 00
    • Grated zest of 1 untreated lemon
    • A pinch of salt

  • For the pastry cream:

    • 500 ml of whole milk
    • 4 egg yolks
    • 150 g of sugar
    • 40 g of corn starch (or flour 00)
    • 1 vanilla pod (or a teaspoon of extract)

  • For the soaking syrup:

    • 100 ml of water
    • 100 g of sugar
    • A small glass of rum (optional)

  • For decoration:

    • Candied black cherries q.b. (as required)
    • Powdered sugar q.b. (as required)

Preparation

  1. Start with the sponge cake: whip the eggs with the sugar until you have a fluffy and light mixture. Add the sifted flour, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt, folding gently from top to bottom to avoid deflating the batter.
  2. Pour the batter into a buttered and floured cake pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 °C (356 °F) for about 30 minutes. Do the skewer test before taking it out of the oven.
  3. While the sponge cake is baking, prepare the pastry cream: heat the milk with the split vanilla pod (or the extract). Separately, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until they become frothy, then add the corn starch. Add the hot milk, stir, and put back on the heat, continuing to stir until it thickens. Set the cream aside to cool, covering it with cling film.
  4. Prepare the soaking syrup by dissolving the sugar in the water over heat; if you wish, you can also add rum.
  5. Assemble the Polacca: cut the sponge cake into layers and moisten them with the rum syrup. Alternate layers of sponge cake with pastry cream and candied black cherries.
  6. Decorate the last layer with pastry cream and black cherries, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Curiosity

The name “Polacca” seems to derive from a Polish noblewoman who influenced Aversa’s pastry shops in the 18th century. It is said she used to request a dessert that had something “liquid” inside, from which the variations with cream and candied black cherries that we know today evolved.

Polacca aversana