Torta di radicchio (radicchio cake with white chocolate glaze)
Cakes
This is a Tessa Kiros recipe for a traditional, if unconventional, cake from Chioggia, a Northern Italian town famous for its radicchio. It has the simple topping of an easy, thick glaze of melted white chocolate—even for those who aren't fans of white chocolate, it's an addition that works beautifully with this otherwise quite plain, moist radicchio cake. But you could also dust with powdered sugar or do a simple lemon glaze here too. <br /> <br />This recipe comes from Tessa Kiros' <em>Linenwater and Limoncello</em> cookbook, dedicated to her mother in law and really to all Italian "nonne" and women in the kitchen. I have only made one quite different modification, which is to add lemon juice to the water where the radicchio leaves are blanched. This acidic bath keeps the radicchio a bright pink—otherwise, they can turn greenish blue, especially if you happen to live in a place with hard water (I do), or use unprocessed sugar, which can be slightly basic rather than neutral. Radicchio, like red cabbage and other fruit and vegetables that contain anthocyanin, can change color from red to blue in acidic and basic environments. It does not affect the flavor at all. For me, this was simply a question of aesthetic, keeping the radicchio a deep magenta, and the extra squeeze of lemon is quite a welcome flavor. Tessa also adds a splash of brandy to her cake.
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