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Golden Fiadone in a fluted tin with one slice cut, beside lemons.

Desserts & pâtisserie

Fiadone

By François-Régis Gaudry, sharing his grandmother Mamyta’s recipe

Lemon zest scents a tender cake of fresh brocciu, with little pieces of cheese giving texture beneath its lightly bronzed top. A spoonful of eau-de-vie adds fragrance to the sweet filling. This Corsican fiadone has no flour or pastry, so the cheese remains its centre. François-Régis Gaudry shares his grandmother Mamyta's version: a simple dessert to cut into slices and enjoy warm or cold.

Prep
5 min
Cook
30 min
Published total
35 min
Serves8
Jump to recipe ↓Hachette ↗

Ingredients

Fiadone

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C (356°F).
  2. Combine the brocciu, eggs, sugar, eau-de-vie and lemon zest. Mash gently with a fork, then mix while leaving a few small pieces of brocciu.
  3. Butter a 20 cm cake tin generously. Add 20 g sugar and turn the tin so it coats the base and sides.
  4. Pour in the mixture and bake for about 30 minutes, until set and lightly browned. If the top is pale, brown it under the grill for a few minutes. Cool, then unmould.

Equipment

Mixing bowl; Fork; 20 cm cake tin; Oven

Notes

  • Brocciu and alternatives: choose it very fresh. Gaudry makes fiadone in what he describes as its season, from autumn to early summer. Good ricotta, sérac or fresh brousse can stand in if needed. His one condition is playful: don't tell anyone.
  • Keep a few curds: gently crush and mix with a fork, leaving small pieces of brocciu in the otherwise fairly even batter.
  • Prepare the tin: butter the 20 cm cake tin generously, then spread the separate 20 g sugar over the base and sides. Bake until set and lightly bronzed; a brief spell under the grill can colour a pale top.
  • Cool before unmoulding: serve cold or warm once the cake has cooled enough to release. The 35-minute headline covers the five-minute preparation and 30-minute bake; cooling is additional and has no stated duration.

Photos

1 photo
Fiadone : la recette du cheesecake corse de François-Régis GaudryServingA slice of fiadone

Fiadone

Recipe photos

About this dish

For François-Régis Gaudry, this fiadone belongs to his grandmother Mamyta of Bastia. He includes her recipe in Recettes et récits, a collection of food with personal meaning. Its few ingredients give the brocciu room to show its character: eggs set the cheese, sugar sweetens it, and lemon zest and eau-de-vie bring fragrance.

Fiadone sits within Corsica's wider tradition of cooking with brocciu. Made from heated whey with added sheep's or goat's milk, the cheese forms soft curds that are gathered from the surface. Corsican cooks use it in sweet fritters and cakes as well as savoury dishes, making its freshness part of the island's cooking.

Mamyta's version keeps some of those curds intact. A fork breaks up the cheese gently rather than turning it completely smooth. The sugared, buttered tin and a light browning finish a cake whose appeal is its simple texture, eaten cold or still warm after cooling enough to unmould.

Recipe and cooking notes adapted from Hachette.