San Giovanni Cake

Mix the butter, the sugar and the 2 yolks together for 10 minutes. Then pour the flour on top through a fine sieve. Add the coffee, then the almonds and the chocolate. Beat thoroughly for a few minutes. On top of these, add the 2 whipped egg whites and sprinkle the baking powder. Mix the whole lot lightly for a few minutes or, better yet, stir it 3 or 4 times.

The cake is now ready to be poured into a butter-greased mould and coated with breadcrumbs. It is cooked when it becomes nicely brown on top, and when a piece of broom straw, stuck in the centre, remains perfectly dry. Once you have taken it out of the oven, dust it with the sugar while it is still hot.

THE PASTRY CHEF’S SUGGESTION (by Giacomo and Francesco, Pasticceria Simion)

Follow Felicita’s original recipe word for word. The only thing to be careful of is to only use the 2 eggs listed: two yolks for the initial mixture and the two whipped egg whites added afterwards.

This cake is one of the 470 recipes that Felicita Simon collected between 1907 and 1927.

Felicita was born in Pieve on 18 October 1870. She was the second of the three daughters of Caterina Biatel and Angelo Simon, both farmers. At the age of 37 - in 1907 - Felicita received a marriage proposal from Angelo Lenzi of Samone Valsugana, who had emigrated to Augsburg, where he had a successful wine trade and also managed a trattoria. Felicita accepted the marriage proposal and, in preparation for the new arrangement, she created, with the help of her mother, sisters, and a small group of friends, what has been defined as a dowry recipe book.

Her recipe book, recomposed by her son Angelo Lenzi in a single volume, is made up of four notebooks and a significant number of loose sheets. It was published in 2006 in the “Ricettari della gente comune” (Ordinary people’s recipe books) series, by Agorà Libreria Editrice.