Cream Sbriciolata

The sbriciolata is a very popular Italian rustic dessert, somewhat reminiscent of the English crumble cake but with an extra touch of creaminess given by its custard core. Let’s see how to prepare a cream sbriciolata below.

Ingredients

• 300 g of type 00 flour
• 200 g of cold cubed butter
• 150 g of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 yolk
• 1 sachet of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• Custard (quantity to taste, about 500 g)

For the custard:

• 500 ml of whole milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 100 g of sugar
• 40 g of cornstarch (cornflour)
• Zest of 1 lemon (yellow part only)
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preparation

1. First, prepare the custard. Heat the milk with the lemon zest and the split vanilla bean to release the seeds, allowing it to almost come to a boil.
2. In a bowl, whip the yolks with the sugar until you have a light mixture, then add the sifted cornstarch and mix without leaving any lumps.
3. Remove the lemon zest and vanilla from the milk and pour it streaming onto the yolk mixture, stirring continuously.
4. Put it all back on the heat and, still stirring, let the cream thicken then transfer it to a bowl and cover it with cling film touching the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Let it cool completely.
5. For the sbriciolata dough, place the flour in a well on a work surface or in a large bowl. Add the cubed cold butter, sugar, egg, yolk, baking powder, grated lemon zest, and pinch of salt.
6. Quickly work the mixture with your fingertips until you get a “crumbled” mixture. It is not necessary to overwork it, otherwise the heat of the hands would warm up the butter, which should remain cold.
7. Take a cake tin, preferably springform, and lightly butter and flour it. Pour about 2/3 of the crumbled mixture in, pressing down slightly with your hands to form a compact base.
8. Pour the cooled custard over the base and level with a spatula.
9. Crumble the remaining dough over the cream, without pressing too hard.
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 30-40 minutes, or until the surface is golden brown.
11. Let the sbriciolata cool before removing it from the pan and serve.

Curiosity

The name “sbriciolata” derives from the characteristic friable and crumbly texture of the dough, given by the cold butter worked with the flour, which closely resembles “shortcrust pastry” in its preparation, but is even crunchier and more rustic to the bite.