‘Nothing is thrown away’: is the motto behind the delicious Kejk tal-Ħobż. From the ancient generations of grandparents, the recipe for the recovery dessert par excellence reaches the present day. The key ingredient is stale and dry bread, which can be reused by soaking it in milk to make this delicious cake that tastes of handed down traditions. And indeed every Italian family has its own version of the bread cake, handed down from generations of the past and which has come down to us. We offer you our easy recipe, but you can customize it according to your preferences. The certainty is that it will turn out as soft as one Classic apple and chocolate cake. Let’s see how the bread cake is prepared.

Preparazzjoni

1

To start, cut the stale bread into large pieces, even irregular ones and place them in a bowl with the liter of milk. Allow the bread to absorb and soften for at least two hours.

2

Also prepare the raisins: put it in a bowl with water for at least 10 minutes, to revive and soften it. Then drain it and keep it aside.

3

After soaking the bread in milk, add these ingredients to the same bowl: raisins, white sugar and egg. With a kitchen spatula, mix the mixture to mix everything well.

4

Finally, add the unsweetened cocoa powder and mix.

5

Grease and flour a 24 cm diameter cake pan and turn on the oven in static mode at 180 ° C.

6

Pour the mixture into the pan leveling it and sprinkle the surface of the bread cake with brown sugar.

7

Bake in the oven for 45/50 minutes. To check the cooking, use the old grandmother’s method: insert a toothpick or a piece of spaghetti in the center of the cake and check if it remains dry or moist. If it is not yet completely cooked, bake for a few more minutes. Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack, and serve this delicious Bread Cake.

aċċessorji

• Bord tat-tqattigħ
• Sikkina tal-ħobż bis-snien
• Żewġ skutelli
• A kitchen spatula
• A cake pan with a diameter of 24 cm
• A wire rack (if available, to cool the cake)

Għajnuniet u tricks

• We have kept the milk from the soaking, but if you prefer a more ‘dry’ rendering of the dough, you can squeeze the bread by eliminating the excess milk.
• In this recipe you don’t need yeast, but if you prefer a more ‘puffy’ effect you could try adding a sachet.
• Although every family has their own version of the bread cake, one of the ingredients that unites all the recipes is raisins. But if you are not fond of it, you could replace it with dried fruit and pine nuts. Among the numerous variations that circulate, we find bread cake recipes with the addition of macaroons, dry biscuits, chocolate chips and in some places even a glass of grappa or Marsala.

ħażna

The bread cake can be stored in a container or under a glass bell at room temperature, for a maximum of 3 days.

storja

The Bread Cake tells the story of peasant traditions handed down through generations and ‘grandmother’s recipes’ that are unique in every family. From the simplicity of the foods available to most of the Italian population, such as bread, eggs, sugar. Who has never heard from their grandmothers that nothing is thrown away? The stale and dry bread was preserved and used to make this delicious cake with bitter cocoa; for this reason it is said to be a valid recovery dessert. Each region, each province and even each family has its own version of the bread cake and for this reason there is no single official recipe. How is yours?