Fregolotta tart

09/09/2025

Today we present a typical dessert from Veneto and Lombardy: the Fregolotta. It is usually prepared for the Christmas holidays, but it’s so delicious that any time is perfect to bake it.

The main ingredient of this cake is the almond, a fruit symbolizing light and rebirth. The name "fregolotta" comes from the dialectal words "fregola", "sbrisa", "rosegar", which refer to its crumbly texture. Tradition has it that it is served whole and broken with a spoon or by hand to share it. The cake pieces, the "fregole", are then enjoyed by dipping them in a small glass of grappa or good Veneto passito or Moscato. A great idea is to make mini portions to give as gifts or use as place settings on a festive table.

DifficultyEasy

Preparation time10m

Cooking time30m

€

CostLow

Ingredients

Ingredients for 2 cake pans of 20 cm in diameter or 20 mini portions:
250 g almonds
200 g fine cornmeal
200 g type 0 flour or rice flour
200 g soft butter
210 g granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
Organic lemon zest to taste

Method

Bring water to a boil in a small pot and blanch half of the almonds for one minute. Drain and peel them. Let them dry well.
Coarsely chop both the peeled almonds and the unpeeled ones, and if desired, set a few whole almonds aside for decoration.
Quickly mix the flours with the butter, almonds, and grated lemon zest using your hands.
Add 180 g of sugar and the slightly beaten egg yolks. Mix everything together until you get a crumbly dough.
Butter a baking dish or small tartlet molds (ideal for making gifts) and press the dough into them without compacting it too much, with a thickness of about 1.5 - 2 cm.
Sprinkle the remaining sugar on top of the tarts and decorate with the whole almonds, pressing them into the dough.
Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 180°C for about 25 - 35 minutes (depending on the size of your tartlets).
Let them cool, remove from the molds, and serve (or give them as gifts)!

Tip: You can freeze them to always have a piece on hand to serve after an impromptu dinner or to accompany coffee.

The origins of Fregolotta

The dessert originates from Castelfranco Veneto, and although its origins are uncertain (it likely dates back to 18th-century Venice), it is quite certain when its artisanal production began. We need to take a step back in time to 1926: at the Zizzola family trattoria, Aunt Evelina recovered the recipe given to her by a friend from Mogliano Veneto and began baking this delightful dessert for the customers of the restaurant. It didn’t take long for Fregolotta, originally known only to the regulars of the trattoria, to become famous first throughout Veneto and then in other regions.

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