Italian pie "Torta Pane e Mele..."
8 servings
120 minutes
The Italian pie 'Torta Pane e Mele' is a true ode to the traditions of Italian baking. Its roots go deep into the home kitchens of Italy, where every housewife could breathe life into yesterday's bread, turning it into a delightful treat. The tender shortcrust pastry serves as the base, while the filling of apples, raisins, almonds, and rum is the soul of the pie. The harmonious combination of sweet fruit acidity with light nutty notes makes it perfect for a cozy tea time. Apricot jam adds refined sweetness, and the yeast strips on the surface provide an exquisite texture. This pie is not just a dessert but a true symbol of culinary art that warms memories of sunny days in Tuscany and family evenings around a large table.
1
First, we prepare the base. I recommend looking at my recipe for 'Italian Shortcrust Pastry' (basic recipe). While it cools, we make the filling.
2
We cut the bread into cubes, soak it in milk. We leave it.
- White sandwich (toast) bread: 80 g
- Rum: 15 ml
- Clarified butter (ghee): 40 g
3
In a clean dish, add chopped apples, raisins, rum, nuts, and also add bread soaked in milk. Melt the butter on the stove and pour it into the filling. Mix everything well. The filling is ready. Set it aside.
- Green apples: 200 g
- Raisins: 30 g
- Almond: 10 g
- Rum: 15 ml
- Clarified butter (ghee): 40 g
- White sandwich (toast) bread: 80 g
4
We knead the dough for decoration. In a clean bowl, add softened butter, flour, powdered sugar, and yeast. We knead the dough. Place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Butter: 120 g
- Icing sugar: 60 g
- Wheat flour: 160 g
- Fresh yeast: 5 g
5
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the baking dish in the oven, and when it heats up, take it out and grease it with oil.
- Butter: 120 g
6
We manually spread the dough for the base on the bottom and sides of the mold, with a thickness of no more than 1 cm (first spreading the dough on the bottom, then on the sides, smoothing the edges with our fingers for a neat finish).
7
Then, we spread apricot jam on the bottom of the future pie.
- Apricot jam: 50 g
8
We lay out the apple filling.
- Green apples: 200 g
- Raisins: 30 g
- Almond: 10 g
- Rum: 15 ml
- Clarified butter (ghee): 40 g
- White sandwich (toast) bread: 80 g
9
Finally, we decorate the pie. We take the yeast dough out of the fridge, roll it by hand into long sticks, and place them on top of the cake.
10
Send to the oven for 20 minutes.
