Certosino Bolognese

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 150 g honey, dark, strongly flavoured
• 150 g saba (cooked grape must)
• 80 g dark chocolate, melted
• 60 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
• 100 g whole blanched almonds, roughly half chopped for the batter, half reserved whole for decoration
• 60 g pine nuts, half for the batter, half reserved for decoration
• 100 g candied citrus peel, finely diced; orange and/or citron
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon, dominant spice
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg, freshly grated
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• For decoration
• as needed candied cherries, whole
• as needed candied orange peel, cut into neat pieces

Method

1. 1
   Heat the oven to 150–160 °C. Butter a 22–24 cm round cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Warm the honey and saba together in a small saucepan over low heat until fully liquid and combined. Remove from the heat and stir in the melted chocolate and the softened butter until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
2. 2
   Sift the flour into a wide bowl. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and stir to distribute the spices evenly through the flour. Pour the warm honey and saba mixture over the flour and work the two together with a wooden spoon or your hands. The result is a dense, stiff, confection-like dough rather than a pourable batter — this density is correct. Fold in the chopped almonds, the pine nuts reserved for the batter, and the finely diced candied citrus peel until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
3. 3
   Transfer the dough to the prepared tin and press it firmly and evenly to a level surface approximately 4–5 cm in height. This is where the cake lives or dies: the top must now be decorated before baking. Working from the centre outward, press whole almonds, pine nuts, candied cherries, and pieces of candied orange peel into the surface in concentric circles or a geometric pattern. The mosaic should be dense and complete — it protects the surface during baking and provides textural contrast in the finished cake.
4. 4
   Bake at 150–160 °C for 50–60 minutes. The high sugar content of saba and honey demands this low, slow heat — a hotter oven will burn the sugars before the centre sets. The cake is done when the surface is deep mahogany-brown, firm to the touch across the whole top, and still very slightly yielding at the absolute centre when pressed gently with one finger.
5. 5
   Remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool completely in its tin — do not attempt to unmould it while warm. Once cold, lift it from the tin, peel away the paper, and wrap the cake tightly in foil. Store at room temperature for a minimum of one week before cutting. The cake is ready when the spices have mellowed into a single unified warmth and the crumb, though dense, yields cleanly to a thin blade without crumbling.