Spongata di Corniglio

Spongata is a traditional Christmas dessert characteristic of the territories situated between Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Liguria, consisting of a cover of crunchy dough and a soft and rather spiced filling.
The hypotheses about the origins of Spongata are various: from the dessert of Roman tradition, whose recipe was handed down and preserved in the monasteries in the Middle Ages, to dessert of Jewish origins, also considering its ingredients and that several centers of Jewish culture were present in the past especially in the territory of Emilia. Spongata is mentioned in documents of the 15th-16th century linked to the families of Sforza, Estensi, Conti Rossi di Bercelo.
Today Spongata is produced in various centers still with traditional methods. However, each small town, Province, or Region uses completely different recipes.

Spongata di Corniglio is prepared with the following ingredients:

• for the filling: roasted bread, dry fruit (almonds and walnuts), honey, sugar, pine nuts, raisins, spices, orange peel, white wine.
• The dough is made with flour, butter, white wine, but without adding eggs. The lack of eggs gives the dessert a long preservation time, at least one year from its production.

At Christmas it is prepared both by the bakeries and by the families for personal consumption, and each family of the Cornigliese area adds one or more ingredients to the above-mentioned ones or uses a particular processing method: these are considered still today "family secrets".

Preparation: the filling is divided into balls, the dough rolled out on a level until it has a thickness of about two centimeters. Then the dough is put around the filling until it closes it in a sort of "pouch". The pouch is put into a wooden mold with a decoration, carved by hand, and squeezed.
The surface will have the same drawing of the mold.
Once baked, Spongata is spread with powdered sugar.

In Corniglio, every year on 8th December the traditional "Fiera della Spongata" is held.