Make Ahead
Torta all'Arancia (Orange Cake Inspired by Ada Boni and Marcella Hazan)
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12 Reviews
lzbthdnl
July 22, 2019
Hi Emiko, I made this cake a couple days ago and the taste and inside texture are great, but the top crust is soggy from pouring the juice over it. I'm wondering if this an unavoidable symptom of pouring liquid onto a cake, or if there's a better way to do it that I'm not aware of? The top crust looks so good; I'd love to preserve some of that "chewiness" :)
nancy E.
February 7, 2018
Hi Emiko, am making this for a dinner party but the instructions are a tad vaque. Do you cream the butter with the sugar and zest or just toss it in there?
Emiko
February 8, 2018
As described, I mix it in with the zesty sugar but I haven't described creaming it for a long time because by the time you have creamed each of the three eggs well, one by one, the soft butter is also well creamed -- but feel free to do what you normally would want to do with it!
sissy
April 7, 2016
We loved this cake. Made it for Easter and even the non-dessert eaters loved it. Making it again and serving with whipped cream. So good, not too sweet.
Curtis J.
March 14, 2016
Driest cake I've ever made, sorry to say I won't be doing this one again.
Emiko
March 14, 2016
Oh dear, you find it dry even after pouring the juice of 4-5 oranges over the top of the cake?! I find this really surprising considering that a juice-soaked cake is the very opposite of dry, it should be ridiculously moist and fluffy, so much so that I tend to use even less juice as it can too easily get soggy. I also find it surprising that two of the most famous Italian cookbook queens, Marcella Hazan and Ada Boni, could be wrong.
Curtis J.
March 15, 2016
I don't think anybody is wrong. It happens, some are home runs other not so, food is a personal taste. The fun part of baking is trying new things. I'll check out the cook books, maybe they have a super Torta della Nona.
Curtis J.
February 10, 2018
Sorry Nancy, it was two years ago and I've not make this particular cake again. That said, the recipe directions were to pour the sweetened orange juice over the cake while it is still hot so I'm pretty sure that's what I did. I've since picked up a Marcella Hazan book and love it.
Greg
April 14, 2018
Thankfully I checked on it very early since I had never made it before. Mine baked in 30 minutes, not the stated 45. (golden, edges pulled away from the sides, clean toothpick...)
Holly D.
December 5, 2015
Do you think this would work doubled as a layer cake, or too spoungey/tender?
Emiko
December 6, 2015
Absolutely but without the orange juice syrup over the top! The cake in general would be ideal as a layer cake as it's quite compact and sturdy but once the juice goes over the top it and it soaks it all up it's much more difficult to handle and will be more delicate. You could try it without the syrup, then when you slice it in half to layer it, brush a little of the orange syrup over the cut side before putting your filling on, and brush the top of the cake again with it too -- almost like a glaze to gently moisten and flavour the cake rather than soak it.
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