Tenderina cake: original recipe | Very good

The Tenerine cake is a typical dessert of the city of Ferrara, a hymn to chocolate, easy to prepare, with just a few ingredients and excellent for any type of occasion. It has a slightly crunchy outer crust and a soft chocolate heart. It requires few ingredients and does not require the use of yeast. For this reason it remains low and humid inside, so much so that in the Ferrara dialect it was also called “Torta Taclenta” which means, “sticky”.

How was born the tender cake

The tenerina cake, originally from the city of Ferrara, is also known by the name of “montenegrina” with reference to Elena Petrovich of Montenegro who fell in love with and married Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy at the end of the 19th century. Queen Elena soon became famous for being a sweet woman with a tender heart and for this reason the Ferrarese cake was dedicated to her by her husband.

The strong bond between the two and the sweet thought that the King had for his Queen also gave her the nickname of “lovers cake” which is why, often, in the Ferrara pastry shops you can find this dessert on the occasion of Valentine’s Day.

According to a less accredited popular story, however, this dessert was created by the women of Ferrara in the 60s to dispose of chocolate leftovers from Easter eggs. A version that is certainly more functional, but of lesser importance than the story of the two royal lovers.

Tenderina cake: original recipe

The delicate tenerina cake is prepared by chopping the chocolate to melt it in a water bath. Here it must be stirred continuously and then the burro into small pieces so as to melt it. Once melted, the cream should be left to cool.

At this point i separate yolks give it album, adding half of the sugar to the latter, beating until a frothy mixture is obtained. Add the other half of the sugar to the yolks, whip and slowly pour in the butter and chocolate mixture. Continuing to beat, add the egg whites a little at a time and mix gently from bottom to top.

Finally, the farina rain, always mixing from the bottom and obtaining a smooth and lump-free mixture and bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes, serving on the table after dusting with icing sugar.

The secrets for an excellent tender cake

To understand if the tenerina cake is cooked, just use one toothpick: you have to pierce the cake in the center and check that a little dough remains stuck on the toothpick because, unlike other preparations such as sponge cake, the inside of the cake must be moist.

You have to pay close attention to the die which is used for cooking the tenerina cake, which precisely provides a crust on the surface, therefore, it must be able to extract it without difficulty. For this reason it is best to use one openable mouldlike the hinges: even cold, the dessert risks breaking if turned upside down.

The tenerina cake is delicious without any filling but to give it an even more special taste it can be filled with creams such as Nutella cream, Chantilly cream or mascarpone cream. A sprinkling of is usually enough powdered sugar to decorate it, but you can also use whipped cream or add berries or strawberries.

It can be stored at room temperature or under a confectioner’s hood for up to 3 days.

The variants of the tender cake

A very version similar to tender cake is the dark chocolate cake: a few ingredients and all the bittersweet flavor of dark chocolate combined with eggs, butter, icing sugar and corn starch.

If you like the tender cake but you can’t consume the egg, there are several variations to try. One of these is the eggless chocolate cake, easy to prepare, in less than 40 minutes, where theolio just replaces the eggs.

An alternative to tenderine cake that does not use animal derivativeson the other hand, is the vegan chocolate cake, which does not include butter or eggs, perfect both for those who have chosen to follow a vegan diet and for those looking for lighter and more digestible variants.