#Pisa: Olive Oil Sponge Cake with Mascarpone and Nutella filling; nonna Rossy strikes again!

Y’ all know Rossy, my mother-in-law and my ideal partner in our job adventures. You also know that, in our work, traveling a lot is a must: in effect our mission is:

“…We come directly to your holiday home in Tuscany to prepare the tasteful dishes with you” .

Well Rossy (or granny Rossy, as my daughters call her) never says “no”. Need to go to Florence for a cookery course with a shopping trip to the market? Need to go to Radda in Chianti for a private dinner in a vacation home? Need to cross a forest and walking 5Km before arriving in a vacation home where we‘re going to run a cooking class? Rossy always says “yes!” and goes with me …It’s very difficult beeing sure you can trust someone or just rely on her availability, that’s why I appreciate this woman above all else.

Of course, due to our work, what Rossy does best is: cooking! And, like me, she has a dispassionate love for desserts and cakes.
Experimenting with various ingredients that are found here in Tuscany and wanting to replace the butter with tuscan extra virgin olive oil, typical of this area, Rossy has invented many years ago this base for cakes to be stuffed.
She passed me the note with the recipe when my girls were very small and I’ve immediately tested it for their birthday. Since then it has become one of my favorite bases.

Benefits of olive oil sponge base from grandmother Rossy:

It ‘s very quick and easy, in fact nothing need to be weighed
the flavor is quite neutral and therefore lends itself to any type of filling
extra virgin olive oil helps to make it even lighter
can add to the mixture a little ‘cocoa to obtain a chocolate base
although it is soft, although the wet, holds up well and then is also suitable for fondant coatings and the overlapping of several cakee
you can choose to do it at the last minute because you can always find all the ingredients at home
it’s also delicious on its own, perhaps sprinkled with icing sugar

I’m using this base for cakes for 15 years, during many parties and I was not ever disappointed, it’s tested and always safe. A few days ago it was my friend Carlo’s birthday and I made him a surprise preparing the chocolate cake you see in the picture, with a filling of Rocher cream and coating it with dark chocolate.

Can’t tell you his face, he was just excited, and for many days, every time he saw me, kept repeating: “Can’t tell you how much we loved the cake, Erika!”; there’s nothing to do, these are the things that make me happy, and not thank enough my job, which allows me, very often, to experience emotions like that.

Technically I tripled the doses of the recipe and the cake has succeeded without imperfections (who prepares desserts and cakes knows how much is difficult to recalculate the ingredients for a different amount of servings).

I Personally love the Chocolate Ganache, with all its soft texture and slightly bitter dark chocolate: find the recipe here.
But the filling Cream Rocher is always a security and is always definitely good and easy; but in my family are all fans for the Nutella and therefore is the most popular.

What else? I’m handing down to you a family recipe and I am sure everyone will be delighted with this cake!

Don’t forget to comment and telling me your feedback.

Italian Sponge Cake filled with Nutella and Mascarpone cheese (Crema Rocher)

Recipe by Erika Elia (CuocheinVacanza.it)

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

10 tbsp flour
10 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp extra virgin oil
5 tbsp whole milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp (a packet) baking powder
5 tbsp sweetened cocoa powder (optional)
2 tbsp whole milk (if put cocoa powder)

Rocher Cream

5 tbsp nutella
1 cup mascarpone cheese

Coating

1 lb semisweetened chopped (or chips) chocolate
1/2 oz unsalted butter

Cooking Directions

whisk the eggs with the sugar
add the flour sifted with the baking powder
stirring constantly add the oil and the milk
end with the cocoa and the rest of milk (if you like obtaining a chocolate base)
bake at 350 °F for about 30 minutes
do the tootpick test (my granny always did it): take a toothpick and insert it into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done
cool on a wire rack
“torting the cake” cutting just one layer

Rocher Cream:

mix together nutella and mascarpone cheese (Rocher cream) until a pale brown color
place a thick layer of Rocher cream around the outside edge of the cake and then fill the inside of this dam with the rest of stuffing

Coating the cake in chocolate:

melt chocolate and butter in microwave (I usually do it in 3 or 4 times of 1 minute at 800W, stirring well each time)
Place cake on a wire rack over a rimmed tray. Pour your ganache evenly over the top of your cake helping you with a putty knife; and coat all around the cake. Once removed the wire rack you can re-use the chocolate ganache that drips onto the tray.
Put the cake in the fridge and remember that the next day tastes better!

Here are some Birthday Cakes made by me and CuocheinVacanza, using the Olive Oil Sponge Cake