Pampapato di Ferrara

Appearance & taste

Pampapato di Ferrara has the shape of a flat spherical cap, flat at the bottom and domed at the top. It measures 3 to 35 cm in diameter, is 1.5 to 8 cm high and weighs 10 g to 3 kg. The chocolate glaze makes it dark brown and glossy on the outside; in the cut it is also dark brown, with many well-distributed nuts and pieces of candied fruit. The dough is compact and has small bubbles; the crisp glaze and the nuts contrast with the soft dough.

First it smells of chocolate, then a delicate note of spice, above all nutmeg and cinnamon, and the scent of candied fruit and roasted almonds join in. In the taste, melted chocolate with a hint of spice is followed by candied fruit and roasted almonds; at the end chocolate and spices dominate.

Production

For 100 kg of dough there are about 35 kg of type 0 soft wheat flour, 25 kg of candied peel of oranges, limes and citrons, 15 kg of roasted, unpeeled sweet almonds, 15 kg of sugar, 10 kg of unsweetened cocoa and around 150 g of spices, always including nutmeg and cinnamon, plus raising agents and water as needed. Up to 5 kg of blossom honey may replace part of the sugar, and 5 to 8 kg of roasted hazelnuts may supplement the almonds. Colourings and preservatives are not included.

In the province of Ferrara the sugar is prepared, the dough is mixed evenly, portioned, shaped into spherical caps and baked. After a resting period the cakes are coated with about 12 kg of melted dark chocolate with at least 54 % cocoa per 100 kg of dough. Once the glaze has cooled, the cake is packed airtight at the production site in cellophane, aluminium or another suitable film, so that the chocolate keeps its gloss and does not come away.

Origin & history

The area covers the whole province of Ferrara. According to local sources, in the 16th century the nuns of the Corpus Domini convent in Ferrara first made the spice bread and gave it to high prelates at Christmas. At the Este court in Ferrara, too, similar sweets were served at the end of banquets. Priests and nobles of the city liked to present the cake, which is shaped like a cardinal’s skullcap, to senior clergy as a gift – a dessert worthy of a pope. According to the specification, this custom and the spices explain the two names.

The chocolate glaze came only later: a confectioner who opened a pastry shop in the old town of Ferrara in 1902 coated the spice bread, made to an old recipe, with melted chocolate, which was still unknown in the 16th century. After his success, other bakers, confectioners and housewives also baked the cake, which thus became a culinary symbol of Ferrara. Today it is sold throughout Italy and abroad.