Florentine cake

The carnival was introduced in Tuscany during the Middle Ages. In Florence at that time, however, there was a very special tradition: young people instead of throwing colored squares of paper threw stones at each other, with sometimes extreme consequences.
In the decades this custom continued to persist and only the intervention of Girolamo Savonarola managed to moderate the situation. At his death, however, the custom resumed and lasted until the Renaissance, when the stones were replaced by balloons made of wet rags and full of mud. To put a stop to this turbulent habit, which seems to have caused extreme tension between the de Medici family and the Strozzi family, the use of luxurious carriages, specially decorated and decorated, was introduced, where nobles flaunted and paraded through the city center between two wings of applauding crowds. That and not only that was the true meaning of the most crazy and unleashed period of the year: the indistinct mixture of people and nobles, the elimination of social differences, the reversal of roles, irony and satire, as well as being able to eat freely and greedily at least one day a year before Lent.
The sweet of Florence par excellence, from the carnival period is the schiacciata simple, originally called the schiacciata unta because it was made with lard.



INGREDIENTS


250 g of 00 flour

150 g of sugar

1 egg

1 orange

15 g of brewer's yeast

100 ml of water
1 sachet of vanillin

4 tablespoons of olive oil

saffron or nutmeg

icing sugar



Put the flour, baking powder and water in a bowl. Work the ingredients until you obtain a homogeneous mixture, cover it and let it rise for an hour. Add the egg, vanillin, olive oil, juice and grated orange peel, nutmeg or saffron. Stir vigorously, pour the mixture into a rectangular pan greased with oil. Let the dough rest for another hour. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bake in the oven and cook for 30 minutes until the crushing does not take on a warm orange color. Remove from the oven, cool and sprinkle with icing sugar.
A dessert so typical that it is enough to move a few km from Florence that is no longer found and therefore, even more so, it is a delight not to be missed, even stuffed with whipped cream or chantilly cream.