Since Roman times, a heavenly red dessert wine called recioto has been made in the Veneto region from semi-dried grapes. Today that wine is often accompanied by an equally traditional dessert from Mantua called sbrisolona.

Based on simple ingredients--cornmeal, flour, sugar, almonds, eggs, plus some lemon peel or anise liquor--this crumble cake is not too sweet, making it a perfect match for dessert wine (honoring the rule that a dessert wine should always be sweeter than the dessert).

But 'cake' is a misnomer. It's crunchier and more cookie-like, as I discovered at Posta Vecia, a cozy restaurant outside of Verona where I had my first sbrisolona. Even here, in a fine-dining setting, it came to the table intact, like a giant cookie on a plate, meant to be broken into pieces by hand (more fun!).

Pair sbrisolona with a glass of recioto, such as Tommasi's Recioto della Valpolicella, or alongside some gelato for a perfect evening topper.

Sbrisolona
An almond crumble cake
(Makes 8 servings)

3/4 cup pastry flour
2/3 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup almonds, lightly toasted & roughly ground in food processor
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 egg yolk
6 tablespoons butter, softened and cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

On a clean surface, create a mound with all the dry ingredients. Make a small hollow space in the center and place the egg yolk there. With your fingertips, mix the yolk and the portion of dry ingredients that immediately surrounds it until the yolk is no longer running. The dry ingredients at the periphery of the mound will remain dry.

With your hands, crumble the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is homogeneous, though not bound together.

Gather the crumbles with your hands and place them in an 8-inch spring-form pan. The cake will be about 1/2-inch thick.

Shake the pan lightly to even out the crumbles and avoid empty spaces. Do not press the crumbles or the cake will become hard.

Cook for about 25 minutes, watching carefully. This cake is thin and therefore very sensitive. When the edge is golden brown, remove from oven. Let cool without removing from the pan.

Break with your hands to make portions.

Recipe from NPR's cooking program Kitchen Window.

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