The Paradise Cake by Iginio Massari is an extraordinarily soft, light, and balanced dessert. When executed correctly, it has a slightly open structure and a full flavor tempered by the citrus note of lemon.
I have already made many versions of the Paradise Cake, often using it as a base for fruit cakes like peaches and apples or filling it with lemon custard and fresh fruit.
Born in Pavia in the 19th century, it was codified only at the end of the century by Enrico Vigoni, owner of the “Pasticceria Vigoni” at the invitation of Marquis Visconti, and it quickly became famous throughout Italy. The Paradise Cake is the result of the meeting between homemade and bourgeois pastry, a dry cake designed to remain unchanged for several days, perfect to serve with tea.
Master Massari does not overturn the original recipe but makes it even richer by replacing classic butter with clarified butter, which makes the cake even softer and silkier. If you have never tried it, I recommend it. The preparation is very simple; the Paradise Cake is nothing more than a “four quarters”, a French-origin dessert where all ingredients have the same weight; you start by whipping butter with sugar, adding eggs gradually, and finally adding the flours.
Great for breakfast or snack, it is a perfect base to be filled as desired. If you have never tasted it, try it; I am sure you will like it.
Try the other versions too
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 451.68 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 48.24 (g) of which sugars 27.82 (g)
- Proteins 4.83 (g)
- Fat 27.99 (g) of which saturated 17.02 (g)of which unsaturated 9.62 (g)
- Fibers 0.45 (g)
- Sodium 35.81 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 8.82 oz clarified butter
- 8.82 oz powdered sugar
- 8.82 oz eggs (whole, about 5 medium eggs)
- 4.41 oz all-purpose flour
- 4.41 oz potato starch
- 0.25 oz baking powder
- 1 pod vanilla
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest (grated)
- 0.35 oz butter
- 1 tablespoon flour (or granulated sugar as Massari suggests)
- to taste vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 Scale
- 1 Cake pan Flared for paradise cake, 9.5 inches
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Spatula
Procedure
Cut the butter into cubes, place it in a large bowl, and leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Place the eggs in a small bowl and mix them well with a fork, this way they will incorporate better into the whipped butter, they should be at room temperature.
Sift together the flour, starch, and baking powder.
Extract the pulp from the vanilla pod and grate the zest of an organic lemon.
You can prepare the Paradise Cake with a stand mixer or electric beaters, the Master uses a stand mixer.
Place the soft butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and grated lemon zest in the stand mixer’s bowl and whip the mixture with the whisk at medium speed, it should be fluffy and airy; it will take 4/5 minutes.
While continuing to whip the mixture, add the eggs little by little, incorporating them slowly without losing fluffiness.
Add the sifted flours with baking powder gradually in 3 or 4 times, working the mixture only as long as needed to combine the ingredients.
Butter and flour the mold, pour the batter inside and gently level it. Master Massari suggests buttering the pan and sprinkling it with granulated sugar; I preferred to use flour.
Bake the cake in a preheated static oven at 356°F for about 45 minutes. Perform the toothpick test to verify cooking.
The Paradise Cake by Iginio Massari is ready, remove it from the oven, wait 2/3 minutes and turn it over onto a tray lined with parchment paper and sprinkled with granulated sugar, this will prevent the cake from sticking as it cools.
Let it cool completely, move it to a serving plate and dust it with plenty of powdered sugar.
Tips
Storage
The Paradise Cake by Iginio Massari can be stored at room temperature for 3 days.
You can freeze it whole or in slices.
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