Spongarda

Spongarda is a local cake with its origins in Crema. The Lombardy Region includes it as ″Spongarda of Crema″ in the list of traditional food products.[1]

Spongarda
Alternative namesSpongarda of Crema
Typecake
Place of originItaly
Region or stateLombardy
Serving temperatureroom temperature
Main ingredientsFlour, butter, sugar, honey,almonds, spices, hazelnuts, walnuts,candied fruit, raisin, pine nuts,
Ingredients generally usedmostaccino, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla essence, apricot jam
Variationstorrone

Origin of the name

In Crema the name has been documented since 1755,[2] but its origins date back to a kind of pastry quoted by a historian from Crema, Pietro Terni, for a feast in 1526, a soft and spongy[3] cake, from the Latin ″spongia″.[4]

Features

Spongarda is a flat cake, made of a compact dough, gently pinched and pierced on the sides and on the top. It has a rich filling stuffed with dried fruit, candied fruit and spices. The recipe refers to other cake in other regions, the Spongata of Brescello and the Spungata of Sanzana are among the most famous. The origins of the filling date back to the Renaissance as regards the use of spices.[5] It is produced in bakery laboratories of Crema, being a complex pastry. In 2009 some of them got associated to the so-called Congrega della Spongarda (Coven of Spongarda) in order to protect and promote its spread outside its original area.[6]

Ingredients

It is prepared with flour, sugar, butter, honey, cinnamon, spices, almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts, raisin and candied fruit.[7] Some people crumble within a mostaccino (spicy biscuit of Crema used in tortelli cremaschi) instead of using spices.

See also

References
  1. "Ninth revision of the list of traditional food products of Lombardy Region" Check |url= value (help). 27 May 2014.
  2. De Cesare, Vincenzo (2008). Tradizione alimentare e territorio - l'esempio del Cremasco.
  3. atlante dei prodotti tipici e tradizionali. Regione Lombardia. 2013.
  4. Atlante dei prodotti tipici e tradizionali. Regione Lombardia. 2014.
  5. "Spongata (ricetta)". Ricette e cooking. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2015.La spongata di Brescello
  6. "Se il dolce è "difeso" da una congrega" (PDF). Il Cittadino di Lodi. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
  7. "Turismo provincia di Cremona".Scheda spongarda di Crema
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