Emiko Davies’ pinza di pane

This bread pudding is possibly the most ancient of the Venetian dessert repertoire. Wash it down with a glass of Marsala wine.

Moreish: pinza di pane

This is an ancient recipe, possibly the most ancient of the Venetian dessert repertoire, with a special role on January 6 – the Epiphany and the start of Venice’s Carnival season. As old traditions went, young singles on this day had to eat a slice of pinza in seven different houses to guarantee getting married within the year. As it is a homely dish, making good use of leftovers or whatever you have on hand, pinza can be made with all kinds of grains as the base – polenta is common, but also buckwheat, plain flour or stale bread. I have a soft spot for bread puddings so this is my favourite version. It’s quite a soft pudding, not too dense, full of dried figs and sultanas and perfumed with citrus and fennel. Wash it down with a glass of sweet wine such as Marsala.

Guest chef Emiko Davies. Picture: Valeria Necchio

Pinza di pane (Bread pudding)

250-300g stale bread (about half a large country-style loaf)

500-750ml (2-3 cups) warm full-cream milk

150g (1 cup) sultanas

60ml (¼ cup) grappa, rum or white wine

2 eggs

80g (1/3 cup) sugar

60g (¼ cup) butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed slightly in a mortar and pestle

Zest of 1 orange

Zest of 1 lemon

150g (1 cup) dried figs, roughly chopped

Icing sugar, for dusting

Tear or cut up the bread (whether you leave crusts on or off is up to you, but you should end up with a total of about 250-300g). Let the bread soak in 500ml of the warm milk until you can easily crumble or mash it – add more milk if needed, or leave overnight (see tips).

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan). While the bread is soaking, place the sultanas in a bowl to steep in the grappa. If not using alcohol, simply use water.

Stir the bread with its leftover milk with a wooden spoon (it should break up easily) until you have a dense, crumbly sort of batter. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together with the butter. Add the fennel seeds and zests and then, with a spoon or spatula, fold in the bread mixture until it is creamy and well combined. Add the sultanas (with their grappa) and the chopped figs and combine.

Grease a baking tin with butter and line with baking paper or dust with flour (use whatever tin you have – a round springform cake tin about 22-25cm diameter or a 23cm square tin, like a brownie tin, would work perfectly. I’ve even done this in an oval ceramic dish). Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the pudding is golden brown and set. It should feel firm on top. Serve warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar before serving, if you wish. The pudding will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Serves 10

Top tip

The quantity of milk needed will depend on the texture of your bread and how stale it is. Start with 500ml (2 cups) of milk and leave to soak; you may need to add 250ml more. The soaked bread should be easy to crumble or mash.

Cinnamon and Salt

Edited extract from Cinnamon and Salt: Cicchetti in Venice by Emiko Davies (Hardie Grant Books, $40). Photography: Emiko Davies