Torta Sacripantina, or Sacripantina Cake, is a Ligurian dolce that originated in Genoa. While it's available by the slice at bakeries and restaurants, the cake is often served on special occasions like weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. It comprises three layers of liqueur-soaked sponge cake separated by two layers of cream filling – often a standard custard and one flavored with chocolate and hazelnut, though some versions contain a layer of zabaglione. Pastry chef Giovanni Preti, whose dolciaria still stands in Genoa's Piazza Portello, created the cake in 1851.
This recipe, which uses two layers of custard cream, has been adapted from chef Carlo Cracco's book, La cucina regionale come piace a me. We've included the option of adding a liqueur-soaked canestrello, a daisy-shaped, powdered sugar-topped shortbread cookie with a hole in the center. These cookies are found around Liguria and parts of Piedmont. Giovanni Preti, who was famous for his, always baked one into his Sacripantina Cake.
As for the cake's name, it comes from literature, the hero of Orlando furioso (1516) by Ludovico Ariosto.
Sacripantina Cake Recipe
Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Ingredients for 6
For the sponge cake
3 large eggs
¾ cup/150 g. sugar
3½ oz./100 g. 00 flour
3 ½ oz./100 g. potato starch
5 large egg yolks (100 g.)
¼ cup/ 40g. maraschino liqueur
1 ⅓ Tbsp. /20 g. apricot jelly (or apricot jam sifted)
1 vanilla bean
1 untreated lemon
powdered sugar
For the custard cream
6½ oz./200 g. milk
10 large egg yolks (180 g.)
5 oz./150 g. fresh cream
4 oz./120 g. sugar
3 ½ tsp./18 g. flour
½ vanilla pod
Make the sponge cake
Whip the eggs in a stand mixer at high speed with the sugar, the seeds of the vanilla pod, and the
grated lemon zest for about 15 minutes, until the mixture is foamy with bubbles on the surface.
Add the egg yolks, incorporating them one at a time and continuing to whisk at low speed. Finally, mix the sifted flour and starch using a spatula or spoon, so as not to dismantle the dough.
Pour it into a pan (ø 20 cm/8″) and bake in a static oven at 180°C/350°F for about 20 minutes.
Make the custard cream
Bring the milk to the boil with the scraped vanilla and cream.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and then add the flour. Remove the milk from the heat, filter it and add the mixture of eggs, sugar, and flour, mixing well.
Place it back on the heat and cook for another 3 minutes, then transfer the cream into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to cool.
Divide the sponge cake into 3-4 discs, trim them so that they are even, and sprinkle them with the maraschino. Don't discard the scraps – keep them for garnishing.
Cover each disc with the cream and overlap the previous one.
Spread the surface of the latter with the sifted jam, then cover everything with more custard.
Finally, garnish the surface and edges of the cake with the scraps of sponge cake, crumble them with your hands and sprinkle with icing sugar.
Canestrello option: Place a Maraschino-soaked canestrello on top of the first layer of cream before covering with the second layer of sponge cake.