It took a leap of faith and my avid curiosity to try this cake: could a basic sweet batter and some grated courgettes make a good cake? No nuts, no sultanas, no spices…really? A resolute “yes!” is the answer.
This is a most unusual and excellent cake come dessert: delicate, plain and light, but not at all boring, with a delicious custardy quality. Burnished golden outside, yellow with specks of green inside, it is also pretty.
Scarpaccia means “nasty/old shoe” and no one really knows why such an uninspiring name; it is possibly something to do with the appearance of this dessert: a genuine scarpaccia should be a fairly thin and crusty affair – like an old, over-worn shoe. It is the contrast between the sugary and crusty exterior (due to a good drizzle of olive oil) and the custardy, vanilla scented interior that make this unposessing looking dessert sing.
It is a Tuscan speciality and you will not find anywhere else in Italy –in fact there are not many mentions of it in cookery books either. It is always made only with courgettes but it can be both savoury and sweet: the former is the most ancient version, according to renowned Tuscan food expert Paolo Petroni, and it is typical of the town of Camaiore; the latter is more recent and it is typical of the Viareggio. That two very close towns have contrasting versions of the same dish and this well exemplifies the incredibly diversity of our food culture.
The following version comes from Paolo Petroni’s book, with minor amendments. I have slightly altered the technique, added some lemon zest and sprinkled the top with flaked almonds, which bakes to an irresistible sugary crunchiness. These changes do not alter the spirit of this homely and yet sophisticated dessert, one that asks for so little and delivers so much.
Petroni calls for pale green courgettes and for some courgette flowers (cut into ribbons) to be used: should you be so lucky to find them, your scarpaccia will be even sweeter and more authentic.
La scarpaccia di Viareggio – sweet and custardy courgette cake from Viareggio, in Tuscany
6 to 8 portions
a 20 x 20 cm square tin, buttered and sprinkled with fine breadcrumbs: do not use a tin with a removable base as the batter will escape. I also baked this one in a 23 cm shallow cake tin
500 g courgettes: the traditional Italian way would be to slice them finely, I preferred to spiralize them and then to cut them into short ribbons. I also grated them coarsley and that works too
a few courgette flowers, cut up into ribbons, if available. Once, I added many more (about ten) and this worked too.
3 eggs
150 g sugar. Update September 2023: it is possible to reduce the sugare by 10 %.
50 g butter, just melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated zest of one lemon
60 ml milk
150 g 00 flour + 1 teaspoon baking powder
a small handful of flakes almonds
olive oil, to drizzle over the top of the cake
Sprinkle the courgettes with a pinch of salt and leave them for one hour. Drain and squeeze them dry.
Preheat the oven to 180.
Beat the eggs with the whole of the sugar minus a couple of tablespoons, which will be used for the topping, a little salt, the vanilla and the lemon zest.
When the eggs are thick, bulked up and considerably lighter in appearance, slowly add the butter and the milk. Incorporate the flour and then the courgettes: do not overwork the batter, but make sure there is no speck of flour.
Pour the batter in the tin, dust the top with the flaked almonds, the remaining sugar and drizzle some olive oil all over it.If you do not have almonds, just sprinkle the top with a couple of tablespoon s of dry, unflavoured breadcrumbs
Bake for 45-60 minutes, until deep golden.
This cake is superb barely warm and at its best on the day it is baked.
Notes
use pinenuts, instead of the almonds
Italian home cooking 
This cake sounds delicious I’m going to give this a go as I have a glut of courgettes. In saying this I have been making various courgette cakes over the years. Usually sponge cake and always delicious.
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this is a batter cake, quite different from the typical (USA) courgette (zucchini) cake. it belongs to the family of clafoutis, so to speak (i think) let me know if you try it
s
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This is so interesting! I never knew about scarpaccia until last week, when I attended a talk by Cristiano Tomei, the wonderful chef from Lucca. His own version was distilled into a nectar that he served pasta with. I thought it was brilliant. Thank you for your post!
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Hi there, It is a lovely cake and right now it is the best time to make it. Did Cristiano Tomei make a savoury courgette “sauce” for pasta?
thanks
Stefano
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You always have such interesting recipes. I was in Camaiore last year and did not come across this, but then again I was there only for a single day. Think I’ll try the savory version.
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Ciao stefan and thanks…I have great pleasure digging into my old books and find things that sound interesting, weird ecc… I guess this is the advantage of using Italian sources.. (having said that I have learnt a lot about authentic Italian food by non Italian books, which are often excellent: Anna del Conte and Mary Tyler Simeti, just to name few greats..)
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I have made the savory version and loved it. The blog post I did about it got a lot of positive response, also from Italians. Did you like it?
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I did…. and yes, I loved it too… a nice addition to one’s repertoire
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That looks delicious! I love the almonds on top.
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Ciao Mimi
this is a good dessert. David from Cocoa and Lavander mentioned u have something similar in the US called zucchini casket.. curious to see the differences/analogies… ciao, stef
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That sounds really good, Stefano. I’d be really interested in the savoury version, too. How does it differ?
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ciao Linda
I have never tried the savoury version (but I want to make it soon). this is what Paolo Petroni (mentioned in the post says)
scarpaccia (salata, savoury) di camaiore
500 g courgette, thinly sliced, salted to degorge and rinsed
2 white small onions (fresh ones would be better), thinly sliced
4 basil leaves, optional
150 g plain flour
2 eggs
50 g butter, just melted
half a glass of milk
oil and salt
make a batter with the above ingredients. add the vegetables and the basil
pour into a buttered tin: the mix should be on the thin side, 1 cm (says Petroni)
drizzle with oil
bake at 200 C for half and hour
the scarpaccia must be thin and crusty
if u play around with the recipe, let us know. thanks
stefano
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That sounds delicious, Stefano, thank you very much for taking the trouble to write it out. I’ll definitely try it when our courgettes are ready. Cheers, Lx
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I had no idea that “zucchini casket” (as it is called here in the states) had an ancestor in Italy! Fantastic. Look forward to trying this, Stefano!
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ciao davide
one never stops learning: never heard of a casket …. just checked: u performed a miracle: google does not have “zucchini casket” :it is not mentioned either in Richard Sax’s Classic American Desserts/James Beard/Fannie Farmer ecc… do not have the Joy of Cooking… interesting …
…. does it differ somewhere (I am expecting some spices and it to be sweeter, perhaps).. very interesting
ciao
st
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