Miascia

Miascia.

Miaaaaa-sci-a (whisper it - it’s fun). Or do you pronounce it Mias-chi-a? My tenth grade Italian is a little rusty. However you pronounce it, this rustic Italian cake tastes as good as it sounds. Actually,“good” is a terrible word to describe the amazing-ness that is this cake-like dessert. Three adjectives that came to mind as I ate this are – thrifty, curious and crispy.

Thrifty because it uses up day-old bread that you might have lying around in your kitchen – providing that you have a good, rustic loaf of bread. I guess that part is not so thrifty, but if you do have one, this is a good way to use it up. I didn’t have any raw or Demerara sugar at home so a few packets of raw sugar procured* during my morning coffee also made this a bit of a tight-ass thrifty dessert. The fruit I used happened to be fruit that I already had in the fruit bowl at the time, and you could use any fruit that you want really. In fact, the only thing that I had to go out and get was the raw sugar (and you know how I got that).

Curious because to me, it seems very much like a bread pudding, yet with the addition of the flour and the fact that it is baked into the shape of a cake… you be the judge. Also, the rosemary scattered so daintily on top gives the most intriguing flavour and perfume that permeates the entire cake without overpowering it. The melted butter that I poured over the top of the batter also piqued my curiosity because I wanted to know what would happen to it (what I hoped would happen did happen – see “crispy”).

Crispy because, well, just look at it! This is the heaven that you seek when you pour melted butter on something and bake it for an hour. Compared to other cakes, 40 grams of butter is not a lot really, and the impact that it has on the cake is …well, there are no words, you just have to make this. Also those little rosemary leaves become nice and brittle. It feels great when you crunch one between your teeth, especially against the soft, custardy inside of the cake. The raw sugar gives some crispiness, too – I stand by my procurement.

 

*Please do not judge, I gave them a nice tip.

 

Miascia

adapted via Gourmet Traveller, April 2012 Issue, Italian Regional Classics Cookbook

• 300g day old, Italian white bread, crusts removed, torn into approximately 2cm chunks.
• 600ml milk.
• 2 apples, peeled and chopped.
• 2 pears, peeled and chopped.
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked.
• 70g sultanas.
• 80g castor sugar.
• 2 tablespoons plain.flour.
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon.
• Seeds from 1 vanilla bean.
• 40g butter, melted.
• 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves.
• Pinch of salt
• Raw or demerara sugar for scattering.

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Soak the bread in the milk for about an hour until soften. Pour off the excess milk and transfer the bread to a larger mixing bowl. Stir to a course, mush. 
Add the fruit, sultanas, eggs, sugar, flour, zest, vanilla, salt and stir to combine.
Press into a well buttered 24cm spring form tin.
Drizzle with the melted butter and scatter with the rosemary.
Scatter the raw sugar evenly and then bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until the edges are golden and crispy.
Cool the cake in the tin for around 20 minutes then carefully remove the sides of the tin before cooling completely. Cooling in the fridge for 1/2 an hour is beneficial.
Serve with cream, custard or all on it's own as I did.