Pastiera (sweet wheat cake)

Preparation

Mix the ingredients for the shortcrust pastry by hand. Form a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Store it in the refrigerator for a few hours.

For the wheat cream:

In a saucepan, combine the cooked wheat grains, milk, and orange flavor. Cook the mixture over very low heat until it thickens into a cream. Let it cool. Meanwhile, separate the egg yolks from the whites. Add the sugar to the yolks and beat until the sugar granules are no longer felt under the beaters. Add the ricotta cheese to the egg yolk and sugar mixture and continue beating. Add the wheat cream and finally the beaten egg whites until stiff peaks form. Mix well until smooth.

Line a tart pan with the shortcrust pastry, leaving some aside, and fill it with the mixture obtained.

With the remaining shortcrust pastry, form strips and weave them on the surface of the cake.

Baking:

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 200°C (392°F) with a baking tray placed over the pastiera, of the same size. It should act as a lid to prevent our cake from burning during the entire baking process. After 20 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 160°C (320°F) and bake for about 1 hour, still with the lid on. Then remove the covering baking tray and bake for about 20 minutes at 180°C (356°F) to brown the surface evenly. When the color is golden brown, our pastiera is ready. Let it cool before serving.