Grandma Irene didn’t leave me the recipe for her Presnitz, which she stopped making when I was really young.
I don’t know why. She only prepared Strudel for the latest Christmas, and as the years have gone by, it’s been filled with more and more dried fruit, so much so that it almost looks like a Presnitz.
Her Presnitz still remains one of the most vivid memories for my uncles, while I have unfortunately almost forgotten it.
Presnitz is an Easter cake; the circular shape resembles Jesus’ crown of thorns, but in my family, it has always been associated with Christmas.
The few times I’ve made it, I’ve used and adapted the recipe of the Gorizia delegation of the Italian Academy of Cuisine.

The Gorizian Presnitz

  • Preparation time: 90 minutes
  • For 8 people
  • Difficulty: Average difficult recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 300 g of puff pastry
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • For the filling:
  • 100 g of crushed, dry biscuits
  • 100 g of walnuts
  • 100 g of almonds
  • 100 g of hazelnuts
  • 100 g of raisins
  • 50 g of sugar
  • 200 g of honey
  • 50 g of candied citron
  • 50 g of candied orange
  • 50 ml of rum
  • 50 ml of white wine
  • 1/2 tbs of cinnamon
  • 1 g of nutmeg
  • 4 cloves
  1. Instructions
  2. Prepare the filling. Grind the dried fruit and toast it in the oven at 250° F for about fifteen minutes.
  3. Cut the candied fruit into cubes.
  4. Soak the raisins in a cup of hot water for about ten minutes, then drain and squeeze them well.
  5. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and add the rum and the white wine.  Simmer until hot the honey with the sugar and the spices. Add to the filling and mix. Leave the mixture to macerate covered for at least a day, stirring occasionally.
  6. Preheat the oven at 350° F.
  7. Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle.  Brush with the egg yolk whipped with the sugar. Place the filling inside the long side of the pastry, roll it up to close the filling, and then roll it into the shape of a snail shell.
  8. Place the cake on a baking tray covered with baking paper and brush it with the egg yolk.
  9. Cook in the oven for about forty-fifty minutes.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The ratio between pastry and filling is approximately 1 to 3.
  • If the cake darkens too much in the oven, cover it with aluminum foil.

 Grandma Irene with her sister in law and her sister Lina