Corsican cheesecake
Soft and fresh, fiadone is a unique Corsican specialty. Composed mainly of eggs, sugar and brocciu, it is halfway between cheesecake and flan. Moreover, brocciu is an authentic Corsican product. This fresh cheese, made from sheep’s or goat’s whey, benefits from an AOP and an AOC. They mention, among other things, that the raw materials of brocciu must have been produced in Corsica. It is also rather difficult to find real brocciu in metropolitan France. And beware of those who will tell you that brousse “is the same thing”. We tell you loud and clear, this is totally false. The first is, in fact, native to Provence and contains cow’s milk. If the texture remains similar to brocciu, its taste is lighter. Now, what makes fiadone so tasty and unique is precisely this typical Corsican cheese. If we want to respect tradition, we use products that come from the same place.
So we remember: fiadone is made with brocciu, period!
The imbrucciatta, the sister of the fiadone
Also sometimes called “ambrucciata”, this specialty is actually very similar to fiadone.
However, we tend to say that fiadone is a specialty of northern Corsica while imbrucciatta comes from the south. The only real difference in this variant is that the mixture of eggs and brocciu is based on shortcrust pastry. Before baking, the edge of the pastry is then pinched in several places to form corners.
Other than that, it’s a bit like comparing flan pâtissier and flan parisien.
How to make a Corsican fiadone?
Preparation: 20 min
Cooking: 35 min
For 4 people
- 250 g of brocciu
- 1 long lemon zest
- 3 eggs
- 100 g caster sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- butter for the mold
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Wrap the brocciu in fresh cheese muslin to drain.
Blanch the lemon zest for 3 minutes in boiling water. Pat dry then chop finely.
Break the eggs, separating the whites from the yolks. Beat the yolks with the sugar until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the brocciu and lemon zest, whisking.
Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold them into the mixture using a spatula. Always turn in the same direction so as not to break them.
Pour into a buttered mold. Level the surface and bake for 35 min. The surface should be golden brown and the blade of the knife should come out dry.
Sprinkle with granulated sugar and refrigerate until ready to serve.
How to store a fiadone?
Homemade fiadone is a cake made mainly with eggs and fresh cheese. It is best not to keep these fragile products for too long. We therefore recommend not to keep them in the refrigerator for more than 3 days.
But there still has to be some left…
