{"id":33778,"date":"2022-05-31T18:35:38","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T16:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/?p=33778"},"modified":"2024-07-03T11:39:56","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T09:39:56","slug":"robiola-cake-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/robiola-cake-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Robiola cake and the notebook with the black cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of my grandma’s recipes, like this robiola cake, live in our memory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, I feel sorry thinking about the ones we lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, more often, I am happy for those we have recovered, patiently cooking until we have reconstructed the flavors we remembered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nonna collected recipes as others do stamps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her repertoire ranged from traditional Romagna and Bolognese recipes to Italian and French classics. Her execution of the dessert Mont Blanc was masterful. (<\/span>HERE<\/span><\/a><\/strong> on the blog, you will find my version with white American sweet potatoes.)<\/span><\/p>\n

She also exchanged recipes and advice through letters with friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, we have lost those epistles like the dishes Grandma never wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

And we have now given up hope of finding them.<\/span><\/p>\n

All that remains of her cooking are notes. For example, the ones she wrote while on the phone with a friend, taking notes of ingredients or parts of the process on whatever piece of paper was at hand that, once time, phones were attached to the wall.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike her letters, we know about these scribbled cooking notes because some have come to us. Grandma used these pieces of paper as page markers. And it still happens today to find some among the pages of old books.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The black notebook<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

The greatest gift Grandma left was a selection of recipes she wrote for her daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

At that time, my mom didn’t cook and wasn’t interested in it, but Nonna said that, sooner or later, it would come in handy.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than recipes, the notes collected in the black-covered notebook are short lists without precise indications of amounts or methods. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among those thin pages yellowed by time, it is easy to sense an expert hand that did not need detailed written recipes because she went by eye and memory. To tell the truth, I don’t remember Nonna cooking while holding a paper or book open on the table.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the collection she wrote for my mom, alongside the classics of local cuisine, my maternal grandmother included desserts. Almost always, these are recipes I do not know and do not remember ever having tasted, to the detriment of those she usually cooked.<\/span><\/p>\n

We never understood what criterion guided her choice.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Robiola<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Family<\/p>\n

The robiola cake<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

I am grateful for that notebook but even disappointed that the recipes for cakes and cookies we loved are not there. Above all, my grandma’s favorites were all the cakes made with ricotta, mascarpone, or robiola. But on the other hand, there is a recipe for Sicilian cassata.<\/span><\/p>\n

An almost touching thing happened recently.<\/span><\/p>\n

We returned in possession of the recipe for her famous tiramisu, which, among desserts, was one of the highlights of Christmas lunch. The granddaughter of a lady to whom grandmother gave the recipe found a sheet of paper that said <\/span>Sara’s Tiramisu<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

She phoned my mom to tell her about the episode, and we asked her about the process. Also, Grandma sometimes used to title the dish with the name of the person who shared the recipe with her.\u00a0 <\/span>As I told you at the beginning of the post, the robiola cake is not in the collection.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, a thing happened. Years ago, my mom and I reconstructed many of her recipes.<\/span><\/h5>\n


\nRight around that time, Magda, the in-house cook at the publishing house where I worked as an editor, gave me a collection of her dishes as a gift. <\/span><\/p>\n

To return to the taste of the cake, adding more lemon juice was enough to regain the cake flavor I remembered. <\/span><\/p>\n

My mom was pleased, too. Now, we make Magda’s robiola cake, which looks like Grandma’s. <\/span>It’s a bit of a long title, but we call it that.<\/span><\/p>\n

About the cake, I won’t leave you any advice; the process is disarmingly simple. <\/span>If you follow the steps and respect the quantities of the ingredients, everyone will ask you for the recipe. <\/span>In Romagna, robiola cake is considered the local answer to American cheesecake<\/strong>, which, it must be said, has European origins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buona cucina, Monica<\/span><\/p>\n

Life and kitchen<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n

Of my experience at Il Mulino, a Bolognese publishing house, and Magda’s, I told in the post where you find Bologna mortadella mousse, another recipe among those in her repertoire (<\/span>HERE<\/span><\/a><\/strong>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Cook with me<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n

If you, like me, love cheese, look at the Ricotta Cheese Cake. You won’t regret it (<\/span>HERE<\/span><\/a><\/strong>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep in Touch<\/b><\/h4>\n