What is Sbriciolata?
The Italian word “sbriciolata” means crumb cake. This dessert can consist of various fillings such as berries, apples, or chocolate. One particular component found in most sbriciolata recipes is a sweet ricotta cheese filling, which helps the cake stick together. We hope you enjoy making this classic dessert for your friends and family. To help you get started, we picked out the top seven recipes you can make from the comfort of your home.
1. Sbriciolata with Ricotta and Chocolate
Who doesn’t like a delicious chocolate cake? This sbriciolata tastes heavenly and is fun to make. There are three layers to this cake, including a crumb cake base, the filling, and more crumb cake sprinkled on top to finish it off. First, preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Begin by making the filling in a mixing bowl. The filling in this recipe calls for ricotta cheese, sugar, almond spread, and some dark chocolate chips.
Next, set the filling aside and work on your crumb cake mixture. Begin by mixing the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt. Next, add softened butter, an egg, and vanilla extract, and use your hands to create a coarse crumbly cake mixture. Prepare a cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and spread ⅔ of the crumbly crust in the bottom. Pour the chocolate filling on top and distribute it in an even layer. Lastly, top it with the last portion of the crumbly dough mixture. Bake the sbriciolata for 40 to 45 minutes and let it cool for a little bit before serving.
Feel free to add thinly sliced almonds on top before baking to add a little more texture to your dessert.
Get the full recipe and directions from here.
2. Italian Nutella Sbriciolata Crumb Cake
If there’s one thing that we love, it’s Nutella. This simple crumb cake is a cinch to make. You can bet that there won’t be any leftovers of this dessert when you serve it at a special event. The best part is, this recipe requires only seven ingredients, and it takes less than an hour to make from beginning to end.
The ingredients you will need for this sbriciolata include flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cold butter, and an egg. Instead of your hands, you will use a pastry blender to create the crumbly pastry mixture. For the filling, all you need is Nutella and an offset spatula to spread in the middle of the dessert. A 9-inch springform cake pan is the best kind of pan to use, according to the author. This kind of pan makes it easy to remove the cake right before serving. Bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 40 minutes until the top of the cake has a light golden color.
Get the full recipe and directions from An Italian in my Kitchen.
3. Blackberry Ricotta Sbriciolata
You won’t find a better summer dessert than this one. We love this fresh take on sbriciolata. For the crust, you will be using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Alternatively, make the crust by hand in a large mixing bowl. Combine all of your crust ingredients and form the dough into a ball. Wrap it up and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line an 8-inch springform cake pan with parchment paper and spread softened butter on top of that to make it easy to remove your sbriciolata.
The yummy filling has powdered sugar and ricotta cheese mixed with a wooden spoon or fork until smooth. For an extra smooth consistency, feel free to put the filling through a fine sieve. Once the dough is ready, split it into thirds and use ⅔ of the dough in the bottom of the pan. Use your hands to pack it in there, allowing it to go a little bit up the sides of the pan. Spread the filling evenly and add your washed blackberries on top of that, then crumble the rest of the dough on the very top. Bake the sbriciolata at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes. The author suggests covering the pan with tin foil if the top of the dessert starts browning too quickly. If you don’t have blackberries, we’re sure that blueberries would also taste good with this sbriciolata.
Get the full recipe and directions from Sugar Love Spices.
4. Italian Apple Crumble Cake – Torta Sbriciolata alle Mele
This sbriciolata is a perfect fall dessert that can easily compete with a traditional apple pie. The author uses Granny Smith apples for this sbriciolata; however, you can use different apple varieties for the fruity filling. For this recipe, you will need a food processor to blend the cake dough. Be prepared to get messy and use your hands to mix the eggs into the rest of the dough to make an authentic crumbly dough mixture. This sbriciolata also says to chill the dough for 30 minutes before baking.
Cook your apples before adding them to the sbriciolata. This step will make them more tender than adding the apples raw. The ingredients for the filling include four apples chopped into small pieces, the juice of one lemon, two tablespoons of granulated sugar, one tablespoon of apricot jam, and two teaspoons of cinnamon. Cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes and set aside. This author uses non-stick cooking spray and also lines parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan. Use a spoon to press ¾ of the dough into the bottom of the pan. Pour the filling on top and sprinkle the rest of the dough on top of the apples, making sure it covers everything evenly. This glorious dessert is baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 to 40 minutes and goes well with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Get the full recipe and directions from Savoring Italy.
5. Martha Stewart’s Sbriciolata di Millefoglie with Sour-Cherry Preserves
We were intrigued by this refreshing and surprisingly light dessert by Martha Stewart. She details how to make a lemon pastry cream on the stovetop, which can be prepared and chilled up to two days in advance. The “sbriciolata” part in this recipe is simply a storebought puff pastry, which cuts out a significant amount of preparation time. Once your cream and puff pastry is ready, you will want to serve this dessert immediately. Martha puts them in parfait glasses, layers the cream and puff pastry on top of each other, and adds the cherry preserves at the end. The preserve adds a nice pop of color and cuts through the rich cream in this elegant, deconstructed version of sbriciolata.
Get the full recipe and directions from Martha Stewart.
6. Sweet Potato & Apple Crumb La Torta Sbriciolata
This recipe is a great way to get a subtle serving of fall vegetables hidden in your dessert. Honestly, this sbriciolata is similar to the fourth recipe on this list; however, one unique feature is sweet potato pecan butter which sits right on top of the bottom crust. You may also use pumpkin pie filling as a substitute. This ingredient is optional, but it will give you an added component that complements the apple filling in this lovely sbriciolata.
Get the full recipe and directions from Food52.
7. Strawberry Italian Sbriciolata Crumble Cake
Strawberry season is fast approaching, and this dessert recipe is a great way to use fresh strawberry jam. The dough can be made with a stand mixer or by hand and doesn’t have to be refrigerated before baking the sbriciolata. Divide the dough into two equal parts and put the bottom crust layer in a springform cake pan lined with parchment paper. Spread 1 ½ cups of your favorite strawberry jam in the middle, and then add the top layer of dough to complete the dessert. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes until the crust turns golden brown. Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.
Get the full recipe and directions from Oh My Dish.
Making a sbriciolata should not intimidate you, even if you are an amateur home cook. You don’t have to worry about making a “perfect” pastry dough since it should be crumbly. The filling doesn’t have to be fancy by any means either, so this is quite a versatile dessert that is easy to serve at any gathering.
If you like this post, we think you’ll really like our Pastafrola Recipes post.
