In some parts of France, the word napoléon (Napoleon cake) was paraphrased from napolitain because a version of the 'one-thousand leaves cake' originated from Naples. The Italian kingdom had also been conquered in 1806 by the French emperor, who imposed his brother-in-law and his sister as king and queen until the Congress of Vienna replaced them with the legitimate dynasty. The 'Neapolitan' cake from today's post, however, was recorded much later.
Dolce alla Napoletana by Pellegrino Artusi had nothing to do with either France or Napoleon. It was a sponge cake filled with vanilla custard, glazed with sugar and topped with almonds. Artusi had a large collection of similar recipes, whose names he derived from places (towns, regions, or countries) in Europe although why he did that was not always clear. Sometimes he admitted that he called a recipe 'German', 'English', 'Hungarian' etc. for no particular reason. I think his intention was to show how Italy's neighbours prepared their food even if his knowledge of their cuisines was based on general information. Of course, he was familiar with renowned dishes like 'chicken Marengo' and even when he didn't know the exact amount of ingredients used, he knew the technique. A lot of the times he improvised, too. But most of his other recipes, the ones his beloved cook Marietta had never done, Artusi had learned from his friends or his acquaintances (usually the hotel and restaurant owners and the shopkeepers that he met while travelling) as well as his readers.
Whatever the case, regional Italian cuisines were the most important part of his work. Artusi was born and bread in the north but the colorful dishes of Naples & Sicily occupy a special place in the heart of every Italian, that's why he included some in his cookbook. Desserts, in particular, have a lot in common with those of Provence, Spain and Morocco. For instance, the white frosting in dolce alla Napoletana reminds of the sugar & almond mixtures in cassata, white nougat, marzipan loaves and other recipes borrowed from the Arab cuisine. 'Neapolitan' cake, however, was not filled with ricotta, which is typical of the Italian south (used in cassata, canoli and even gelato). This doesn't make it less Italian or less southern because the wonderful thing about Pellegrino Artusi was his cosmopolitan outlook: no matter where the recipes actually originated from, he could make them sound and taste foreign, Italian or regional as he liked.
NEAPOLITAN CAKE (DOLCE ALLA NAPOLETANA)
In his introduction for recipe no. 586 of Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (1891), Artusi said that it's "a lovely-looking, very refined cake" and he was perfectly right. There was a variation of 'Neapolitan' cake in which the custard was replaced with fruit but Artusi did not recommend it because "with the custard the cake comes out quite delicious". The version below is slightly different from the original, in three ways:
a) the cake ingredients were not mixed by hand, b) the filling was made
with cream instead of milk and then no butter was added, c) the glaze is lightly caramelized and transparent.
I n g r e d i e n t s
for the cake:
120g sugar
120g flour
100g almonds
4 eggs, separated
for the filling:
2 yolks
60g sugar
300ml cream (or milk)
1/4tsp vanilla extract
for the glaze:
230g sugar
100ml water
1tbsp lemon juice
10g butter
M e t h o d
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the bottom of a 20cm round baking pan with greased parchment paper. (Artusi says to use a size that will result in a cake that's 4cm high.) 2. Blanch and oven-dry the almonds. Divide 1/3 of them in half and sliver the rest. 3. To make the cake: Beat the yolks and sugar in a bowl and the whites in another. Fold the meringue into the yolk and sugar mixture, gradually adding the flour. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30-45 minutes. 4. Upturn the cake onto a wire rack and leave to cool. Then divide horizontally in two equal parts. 5. To make the filling: Whisk the yolks, cream (or milk), sugar and vanilla extract. Transfer to a saucepan and cook very gently until the mixture reaches boiling point. 6. To assemble: Place one half of the cake on a dish, with a cake ring adjusted. Spread the custard on top, then lid with the second half of the cake. Leave to cool before glazing. 7. To make the glaze: Cook the sugar and water in a saucepan until just before it forms a thread. (It won't be steaming any more and will have formed large bubbles.) 8. Remove from the fire and leave to cool for a while. Add the lemon juice and butter and mix thoroughly. 9. Toss in the almonds, blend well, and glaze the cake with or without the cake ring.
V a r i a t i o n
Reduce the custard ingredients by half and mix with 100g candied fruit.
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