One of the things that my husband missed the most when we moved 6,000 miles away from his family in Italy was his mamma's famous Torta di Mele (apple cake). Each time we came home for a visit, the house was filled with the sweet aroma of his beloved apple cake. It was the most requested dessert for gatherings with family and friends. There is a story of Stefano coming home from school as a child and eating the whole cake in one sitting. He was just cutting a little piece at a time. Each time he cut a piece from the rectangular pan he felt the need to go back and even out the crooked row...until it was suddenly gone. He explains that his mom must put some sort of addicting drug in it because once he gets started on it, it's impossible to stop. As you will see, the ingredients are quite simple. I have spent years trying to replicate Nonna's Torta di Mele with limited success. While my attempts were certainly edible, there was never a comparison to Nonna's. Even when I used the exact same ingredients and followed her steps to the "t", it never turned out like hers. It's now been about 4 years since Alzheimer's robbed her of the ability to remember. Being housebound during a pandemic gave me time to do more cooking and testing of recipes. I made a challenge with myself that I would perfect Nonna's Torta di Mele by June 2nd, Stefano's birthday. So, in April I started experimenting. Since I couldn't find my written directions anywhere, I just experimented with the quantities of the ingredients. Too cakey, not enough sugar, too greasy, too flat, too fluffy, not enough apples. With each iteration, Stefano pointed out where it went wrong, but also that I was getting closer each time. Don't get me wrong, the cakes must not have been that bad since he gobbled them all up!!! The ultimate goal was to replicate his mamma's cake. He resigned himself to the reality that we would probably never be able to replicate it, but we could make our own version that would still be good. The week before Stefano's birthday, I was on Pinterest looking at recipes and one caught my eye. The photo looked almost exactly like Nonna's cake. I studied the recipe and made a couple adjustments based upon what I remembered from Nonna teaching me. Bingo! It was the closest that I had gotten and Stefano was convinced that I had hit the mark as close as I could! By the time his birthday rolled around the following week, I made one more tweak and nailed it. He now claims that my cake is better than his mamma's. Somehow that is hard to believe, but I'll take it for the win. There is no greater gift that I could have given him than the food memories from his mamma and his childhood. I know that she would be proud of me for carrying on her tradition and making her boy happy. I hope that you enjoy it as much as he does! Creatively, Cathy
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About CathyI'm a wife, mother, friend, educator, traveler, creator, tech lover, (and much more) inspired by Brene Brown's call to being vulnerable and daring greatly. Archives
September 2020
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