Heaven cake – Torta Paradiso

As fluffy and light as the clouds in the summer sky and as sweet as love. It is no wonder that the “heaven cake” from Lombardy has a reputation as being a true seducer.

The monk who forgot his herbs

The story of Heaven Cake - Torta Paradiso - begins with a monk from Pavia. Early one morning, he left the monastery to search for wild herbs. However, he was drawn by the aroma of a freshly baked cake. And when the monk saw the female baker, he completely forgot about the herbs. This was repeated the following days. The monk visited the baker instead of gathering herbs. The suspicious prior finally prohibited him from leaving the monastery. There the unhappy monk dealt with his longing by creating a cake that tasted as sweet and tender as the paradise he had come to know.

The Marquis who wooed with cakes

The continuation of this love story with the cake is happier. It was the no longer very young Marquis Cusani Visconti who commissioned the best pastry chef in Pavia to make a cake that tasted so heavenly that it could enchant a young woman. But the Marquis was not at all happy with the many cakes that the pastry chef presented to him. Only God could help now. So the pastry chef ran to a nearby monastery, where he was given the recipe for Torta Paradiso. And the beautiful young noblewoman tasted it and immediately fell in love with the Marquis. What better endorsement for a cake?

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Paradise cake - Torta Paradiso

Course: Dessert, sweet, sweets

Cuisine: Italian, Lombardy

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings: 16 serves

Calories: 221 kcal

Author: Ale

As fluffy and light as the clouds in the summer sky and as sweet as love. It is no wonder that the “paradise cake” from Lombardy has a reputation as being a true seducer.

Ingredients

• 200 g butter at room temperature
• 150 g granulated sugar
• 5 whole eggs
• 200 g flour
• 200 g potato starch
• 1 packet baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tbsp Maraschino or Marsala

Instructions

1. Grease the cake tin with butter and sprinkle with flour. Pre-heat the oven to 180° C (upper and lower heat). Whip butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract to a fluffy mixture. Add the eggs one by one and then the liqueur.

2. Mix flour, starch and baking powder separately and sieve. This ensures that the dry ingredients are mixed well, which will make the cake fluffy and light. Carefully fold the flour mixture into the egg-sugar-butter mixture and pour into the baking tin.
3. Bake the cake in the oven for about 35 minutes. Test with a toothpick to check if it is ready. Let the cake cool down and serve sprinkled with icing sugar.

Recipe Notes

If you would like to make the cake a little more sumptuous, fill it with whipped cream. For this, whip 300 g cream and mix it carefully with 70 g icing sugar. Divide the cake in the middle and fill with the cream.

Buon appetito!