Certosino, or Spiced Bread (Pan Speziale), is a typical sweet of the Bolognese Christmas tradition
The recipe, of medieval origin, was reworked by the Carthusian (Certosini) monks of Bologna, from whom the cake takes its name and has passed down to us. It is incredible that the recipe I am still cooking dates back to 1300.
How prodigious is the Italian cuisine!
The Carthusian monks of Bologna in the Middle Ages
On the site that now houses the Certosa di Bologna, the historic and monumental cemetery of Bologna, an ancient necropolis of Felsina (the Etruscan name for Bologna) once stood at this location.
In the 14th century, the owner of the vast estate, the jurist Giovanni d’Andrea, donated it to the Carthusian monks so that they could build their monastery there.
Thus arose a large convent surrounded by imposing walls that housed a church, the monks’ quarters, kitchens, and, in addition, gardens and orchards. Among the occupations of the Carthusian monks was the preparation of food, which, besides serving the monks themselves, served as a bargaining chip to be sold or bartered.
Or to be given away, food has, since time immemorial, been a welcome gift.
The Pope’s Certosino
This recipe belongs to the tradition of Northern European Christmas cakes.
Estonian and Latvian Gingerbread, Tyrolean Zelten, and German Stollen are sister recipes of the Certosino.
The ingredients clearly indicate its noble and medieval origin.
You won’t find eggs, butter, olive oil, or sugar in the recipe.
That honey-spiced bread, made to last in the pantry for several months, is made with sweet wine, typical of medieval preparations, dried and candied fruit that not everyone could afford.
On the other hand, it was the cake for the most important holiday of the year, Christmas.
Every year, for Christmas, the Carthusian friars sent a certain number of Certosino cakes to Rome as a gift to Cardinal Lambertini, later Pope Benedict XIV, who had Bolognese origins.
The least expensive version of the Certosino, the one for the folk, is the Panone Bolognese, which, over time, has come to resemble the Certosino more and more but originally had the characteristic of being born without candied fruit.
Over time, the recipe has changed by welcoming ingredients that, for sure, were not there originally (such as bitter cocoa and chocolate, which, in the 1300s, were not yet known). And since recipes change to adapt and survive, I invite you to make Certosino your way.
* If you don’t like candied fruit, use dried fruit and chocolate in the dough.
* To decorate, replace the candied fruit with your favorite dehydrated fruit. In that way, you don’t lose the bright colors of the top of the cake.
A family recipe
That is my home recipe.
I remember how grandma used to leave for the countryside before dawn, with the Certosino cakes in their metal pans, to bake them in the wood-fired oven.
My Mom carried on the tradition until a few years ago.
She would get up when outside it was still dark, pile the cakes into the car, and drive off.
Today, she makes do with a less poetic but equally effective electric oven.
I invite you to take a look at the recipe.
Did you suppose such an ancient recipe was also so simple to make?
That is an old recipe without butter, olive oil, sugar, and eggs. The honey acts as a glue to keep the ingredients together. The cake was born to rest a long time, obviously out of the refrigerator. So you can store it in the pantry wrapped in plastic foil for up to 3 months.
Certosino needs time to express its authentic flavor, prepare it in advance to enjoy it, or give it as a gift at Christmas. The right time to make Certosino is from late October until a few days before Christmas.
Buona cucina, Monica
Stories and recipes of European cuisine
The Italian culinary tradition takes shape thanks to various exchanges with other cultures. But it became the Italian cuisine we know when the “container” Europe began to form.
I wrote about it HERE, writing the history of the recipe for a meat pie.
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Certosino Cake
Equipment
- for 1 Certosino, round mold 24 cm diameter / for 2 small cakes, 2 round molds 12 cm diameter
Ingredients
- 50 g of mixed candied fruit, citron and orange you can choose only citron or only orange. Or omit them and make a chocolate Certosino
- 100 g of whole almonds without peel
- 20 g pine nuts or chopped walnuts
- 200 g of flour 00
- 30 g of bitter cocoa
- 5 g of baking powder or 8 g baking soda
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 g of mixed spices, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg
- 130 g of plum jam or sweet mustard from Bologna
- 80 g of honey
- 100 ml of sweet white wine or fine Marsala wine
- 50 g of dark chocolate, finely chopped or chocolate drops
- To decorate:1) mixed candied fruit or dehydrated fruit to taste and almonds 2) honey to brush the surface
- Olive oil to grease the mold
Instructions
- Finely chop candied citron and orange and set aside.
- Toast almonds, then pine nuts, in a pan for one minute and set aside.
- Coarsely chop 50g almonds and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 160C degrees (320F)
- Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl (you can use your kneading machine)
- Add jam, honey, wine, and mix.
- Then, add chopped pine nuts, almonds, chocolate, and candied fruit to the mixture.
- Mix vigorously with a metal spoon or knead in the planetary mixer for a few minutes until the mixture is well blended.
- Grease the mold with olive oil, helping yourself with your fingers.
- Pour the mixture into the mold and decorate the surface with almonds and candied fruit by making a design as desired.
- Bake in a hot oven for about 40 minutes or until poking a wooden toothpick into the Certosino comes out dry.
- Melt a few tablespoons of honey in a small saucepan or microwave and brush the surface.
- When the cake is warm, gently remove it from the molds and let them rest for a few hours or overnight in a cool place.
- Once dry, or when the surface is not too sticky, wrap the Certosino in plastic wrap.
- Let rest in the cupboard for a month. Or at least 10-12 days before consuming or giving as gifts.
- The Certosino will keep fresh for 3 months in the pantry.
