Christmas Chocolate Bread
(Certosino della Tilde)
From: Cooking Up and Italian Life
by Sharon Sanders
(Pergola West; February 2001; ISBN: 0970298137; HC)
Cookbook Heaven @ recipelink.com

My mother's name is Tilde, and this is her famous recipe for making what we call in Bologna Pain Special, or special bread. During the Christmas holidays our bakery sold so many of these that we could hardly keep up with demand.

Serves 8

• 2 cups honey

• 1 1/4 cups sugar 

• 1/2 cup water 

• 1/2 cup golden raisins 

• 1 cup Marsala wine 

• 4 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 

• 2 tablespoons baking powder

• 2 tablespoons cocoa

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs 

• 1/2 cup apricot jelly 

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

• 1/2 cup candid orange peel

• 1 cup toasted almonds

• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts 

• 8 ounces chocolate, coarsely chopped

Decorations 

• Candid cherries

• candied orange peel

• toasted almonds

1. In a heavy 3 quart saucepan, heat the honey, sugar, and water and cook over low heat until the sugar melts. Remove from the heat and reserve.

2. Soak the raisins in the wine. Sift the flour with the baking powder, cocoa, and salt into a large bowl. Slowly pour in the honey mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon.

3. Stir in the cookie crumbs, jelly, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla extract. Add the raisins, orange peel, almonds, pine nuts, chocolate, and wine as needed to the mixture and combine.

4. Line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Grease and reserve. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Decorate with candied cherries, candied orange peel, and almonds.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the cake tests done.

7. Remove cake from the oven and cool before serving.