The other day on Instagram I asked if anyone had any Easter questions about Italy. One of the most interesting questions I received was from an Italian who lives here in Umbria. She asked: Will you be sharing some Umbrian Easter specialties? Like Ciaramicola Easter Cake?
Ciara-what?
I’ve been living in Umbria for 30 years now, and I’d never heard of Ciarmicola. I had to google it to find out that it was a cake that I had never ever seen anywhere. When I asked my neighbors, they were very vague and definitely didn’t have any recipes to share.
As it turns out Ciaramicola a recipe that is specific to Perugia, a city about a half hour north of us. And no one in my little town knew about it. That shows you just how regional Italian cooking is, especially when it comes to holiday sweets.
I decided to make it, and made this video so you can follow along if you’d like to try. The recipe is below, but with one big difference: I didn’t want to use the liqueur that is normally used to both flavor and color the cake. Alchermes is a very old fashioned, spiced, deep red liqueur. And I hate it. So instead I used lemon juice and zest to flavor it, and red food coloring to tinge it red.
The other distinctive aspect of this cake is that it is topped with meringue and sprinkles. The red of the cake, and the white of the meringue are the same colors as the coat of arms of Perugia. The cake, so legend has it, was made by young women and given to their boyfriends. I think it makes the perfect pretty springtime gift to anyone you love. Let me know if you make it!
PS: If my cake looks kind of orange instead of red it’s because I ran out of red food coloring and so didn’t have quite enough. And the egg yolks I used were so deep orange that the color turned orange. Next time I’ll try for more red!
Ciaramicola Easter Cake
Yield 8
This cake is traditionally flavored and colored with Alchermes, and old-fashioned liqueur. I made mine with lemon juice and red food coloring , which is definitely not traditional.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 150 grams / 3/4 cups sugar
- 60 grams / 4 tablespoons of butter, melted
- 60 ml / 4 tablespoons lemon juice (or alchermes )
- red food coloring if not using the Alchermes. Enough to make the cake red. )
- 250 grams 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 16 grams / 1 tablespoon baking powder
- zest of one lemon, grated
Meringue
- 2 egg whites
- 150 grams / 3/4 cups sugar
- sprinkles
Instructions
Butter and flour a tube or bundt pan.
Preheat oven to 160c/ 320F
Put the 2 whole eggs in a stand mixture, and mix until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for several minutes until well mixed. Add butter, lemon juice and mix. Then add the flour, baking power and lemon zest and mix until blended.
Pour the batter into the pan, using a spoon to level it out. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes.
In the meantime make the meringue:
Place the two room temperature egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment beat until fluffy. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
After 30 minutes take the cake out of the oven. Turn the oven down to 100C/ 200F, leaving the door of the oven open to get it down to the low temperature.
While the cake is still warm, turn it out onto a baking sheet.
Spread the meringue over the top. Sprinkle the top with the colored sprinkles.
Place back into the oven and bake until the meringue sets, about 20 to 25 minutes. Make sure you don’t over cook it, since you don’t want the meringue to over cook and turn golden. Take it out of the oven and let cool before cutting.
Courses Dessert
Cuisine Italian
If you’re looking for some more Easter inspiration see my recipe for Pastiera
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Is it actually 3 tablespoons of baking powder for this recipe? Seems a lot for a cake this size. Just wondered if it’s a typo and meant to say 3 teaspoons.
Yes, it was a typo! 1 tablespoon.
I just made this today and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
so happy to hear that!!!