Notes from the Cheap Seats (Schiaciatta Alla Fiorentina)

We have written many times in past blogs about our love affair with the food here. We have also highlighted how much we love the fact that Italians eat based upon the seasons. They are also VERY tradition oriented when it comes to their food. One such example is that of Carnival and Lent. In Florence, the time of Carnival (The days leading up to Lent) and Lent itself (The days leading up to Easter), means the window of opportunity to eat Schiaciatta alla Fiorentina. What the hell is that you may ask? Let’s put it this way, you’ve never eaten cake this good! NEVER!

All over town there are places called Pasticerias (Italy’s much better version of the American bakery) and during this period, many of them make Schiaciatta. There are many famous Pasticerias in Florence, but the king of all Pasticerias is “Georgio”. Words simply can not describe how we feel about this place. Everyone that has visited us has been to Georgio and only those that have been can truly understand how special it is.

When you mention Schiaciatta to a Florentine, an instant smile comes over their face and the next words that they murmur are “Georgio ha Migliore Schiaciatta” (Georgio has the best Schiaciatta). So what is this cake that we have bought no less than five different times in the past month and that gets better every time we eat it?

The best way to describe Schiaciatta is that it’s a light and fluffy yellow cake (Don’t lose me chocolate fans, chocolate cake used to be my undisputed favorite cake until I had Schiaciatta!) with a hint of orange flavor in it, topped with a light dusting of powered sugar. That’s it, you say??? Well, no not exactly. Georgio puts a nice healthy layer of Chantilly Cream in the middle and the result is pure magic. Waking up at 2:00 in the morning to have something sweet with a glass of milk has never been so good, neither has a cappuccino had a better partner in the morning for breakfast!

I told Anna that I will fly back to Italy for Lent just to eat Schiaciatta! It’s only available for 8 weeks during the year and is worth the pilgrimage!