Want to try a simple and delicious Italian Torta Paradiso? Check the traditional recipe of the Italian Paradise Cake, and you will be in the seventh heaven (or rather in a gastronomic paradise). It’s very easy to make, and you will be surprised by how tasty and fluffy it is.
The original recipe of the Torta Paradiso is made with eggs, butter, all-purpose flour, starch, and a little bit of orange and lemon zest. (If you like the Italian cakes and orange flavor, I highly recommend trying the Traditional Sicilian Orange Cake.)
This cake from paradise appears by a wave of a magic wand! Otherwise, its taste and structure can not be explained in words. You need to taste it.
This cake has a lot of variations, but today, I want to share with you the traditional Italian Torta Paradiso Recipe without any cream.
The tenderness and softness of a yellow cloud, a pleasant sweetness that dissolves on the tongue like cotton candy-sounds tempting, doesn’t it?
Even the sight of this heavenly cake makes your mouth water, how can you not want to try it? Such Italian work of art is a truly heavenly pleasure.
The best part? It’s so simple and quick that you can make it yourself in just under one hour.
Are you still hesitant to start making this cake? Do not repeat my mistakes, do not put this recipe on the back burner! The only thing I regret about this recipe is that I didn’t prepare this cake earlier!
So, let’s surprise your friends and your loved ones with this moist paradise cake.
What ingredients do you need for that?
Butter. ¾ cup (170 grams). Is one of the most important ingredients for the perfect result for the Paradise cake. Make sure that the butter has room temperature. By using butter, you will get a more intense taste.
Powdered Sugar. 1 1⁄3 cup (170 grams).
Vanilla Sugar. ⅓ cup (40 grams).
Salt. ½ tsp (2.5 grams) or to taste.
Starch. ½ cup (70 grams). By using starch in combination with flour, you will get a fluffier cake. Check our recent article to find the best starch alternatives.
Baking Powder. 3 grams.
All-Purpose Flour. ⅔ cup (100 grams).
Eggs (4 pieces). I found multiple recipes starting from 2 eggs and going wild to 8-10 eggs. For me, the best spot is somewhere between. I’m always using 4 eggs for this recipe and it never disappointed me.
Additional aromas. I decided to pick the orange and lemon zest. This will give you an interesting fine taste of citrus that will make your cake more special.
How to make the Torta Paradiso (Paradise Cake)?
Quick Tip: Before you start the recipe, put all the ingredients on the table 2 hours ahead. This will make ingredients reach room temperature. Because of that, they will not separate from each other when you will mix all of them together.
Let’s begin.
Put the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of the mixer, or in the bowl in which you will mix the ingredients by hand. Also at this stage, you can add the flavors you prefer. I added vanilla sugar, orange, and lemon zest.
Mix well all these ingredients.
When the composition becomes quite thick and uniform, start adding the eggs one by one and mix continuously.
After the eggs are incorporated well, add flour, starch, baking powder, and salt into the bowl.
Mix well until you get a uniform mixture.
After that, get ready the baking tray. Cover the bottom of the tray with baking paper and grease the baking tray with butter (both: bottom and walls).
Next, pour the previously obtained composition into the baking pan.
Quick Note: I used a 9-Inch Springform Cake Pan. If you will use the same amount of ingredients but your cake pan is smaller or bigger, the height of the cake will differ and because of that, you should also adjust the baking time. To be safe, just use a toothpick to test from time to time if your cake is baked enough.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake the cake for about 40 minutes. It’s important to not open the oven until a solid surface will be formed.
Quick Note: Baking time may differ from oven to oven because not all of them are working in the same way. The cake may be ready in 35 to 45 minutes. A good hint will be to test your cake with a toothpick to understand when it is done.
In the end, after the cake has cooled down, you can decorate it with a little powdered sugar. If you will powder over the hot cake, the sugar will melt.
Quick Tip: You can serve it next to a sour jam to get a pleasant contrast between sweet and sour tastes.
Tips to make the best Paradise Cake:
- A slight change that I made from the original recipe is that in the genuine recipe, isn’t used baking powder. I added a little bit of it to stabilize the rising of the dough.
- For the best results, make sure that all ingredients are at the same temperature.
- Don’t open the oven door during baking time.
How to keep for longer the Torta Paradiso / Paradise Cake?
If you have a few slices leftover, then you can cover the cake with a cling film or other alternatives and keep it for another 1-2 days.
Traditional Recipe of Torta Paradiso / Italian Paradise Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Description
Torta paradiso or Italian Paradise cake is a fluffy buttery cake with a slight vanilla taste. It is super soft and it will melt in your mouth. The best part? you can make it in under one hour.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170 grams) of Butter.
- 1 1⁄3 cup (170 grams) of Powdered Sugar.
- ⅓ cup (40 grams) of Vanilla Sugar.
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) of Salt or to taste.
- ½ cup (70 grams) of Starch.
- ¾ teaspoon (3 grams) of Baking Powder.
- ⅔ cup (100 grams) of All-Purpose Flour.
- 4 Large Eggs.
- Additional aromas. I decided to pick the orange and lemon zest.
Instructions
1. Put the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of the mixer, or in the bowl in which you will mix the ingredients by hand.
2. Add the extra flavors you prefer like vanilla sugar, orange, and lemon zest.
3. Mix well all these ingredients.
4. When the composition becomes quite thick and uniform, start adding the eggs one by one and mix continuously.
5. After the eggs incorporated well, add flour, starch, baking powder, and salt into the bowl. Mix them well until you get a uniform mixture.
6. Prepare the baking tray. Cover the bottom of the tray with baking paper and grease the baking tray with butter (both: bottom and walls).
7. Pour the previously obtained composition into the baking form.
8. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake the cake for about 40 minutes. It’s important to not open the oven until a solid surface will be formed.
9. In the end, after the cake has cooled down, pour the cake with a little powdered sugar.
Notes
1. Before you start the recipe, put all the ingredients on the table 2 hours ahead. This will make ingredients reach room temperature. Because of that, they will not separate from each other when you will mix all of them together.
2. Baking time may differ from oven to oven because not all of them are working in the same way. The cake may be ready in 35 to 45 minutes. A good hint will be to test your cake with a toothpick to understand when it is done.
3. You can serve it next to a sour jam to get a pleasant contrast between sweet and sour tastes.
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Calories: 541 cal
- Sugar: 40 gr.
- Sodium: 270 mg.
- Fat: 28 gr.
- Saturated Fat: 15 gr.
- Carbohydrates: 63 gr.
- Fiber: 2 gr.
- Protein: 7 gr.
- Cholesterol: 308 mg.
Keywords: torta paradiso, paradise cake, Italian desserts
Looks amazing! I love all the flavors in it, vanilla and citrus zest.
★★★★★
This looks fantastic and so flavorful the color is awesome!
★★★★★
That looks heavenly. I may have said wow out loud when I got to the shot where you’d cut a slice. What a gorgeous colour!
★★★★★
Wow! This was such a great cake! My family absolutely loved it for my daughter’s boyfriend’s birthday! So delicious and yummy! Definitely going to make this again!
★★★★★
I hadn’t heard of this cake before but now I can’t wait to try it!! It looks like it would be perfect with my afternoon coffee! 🙂
★★★★★
What a moist, rich, wonderful cake! I made this for a co-worker who was getting married. I didn’t try it, but everyone just RAVED about this cake.
★★★★★
Very good! This was the first made from scratch cake I ever made and it was awesome!
★★★★★
This is my SECOND review. Have made this cake somewhere around 7-8 times now. All in the past couple of months. WONDERFUL cake.
★★★★★
This looks delicious and so flavorful the color is awesome!
★★★★★
What a beautiful cake. Simple but looks delicious. The texture is amazing and I love the simplicity. I will definitely make this cake this summer.
★★★★★
This cake looks so simple, but so delicious! Such a great texture.
★★★★★
Wow this looks like the best breakfast cake to go with coffee! I can just tell from the pictures this will taste sooooo good!!!
★★★★★
What size pan is used for this cake?! I read the recipe a few times thinking I had to have missed it but none is given.
Thank you Sara for pointing to it. For some reason, I totally forgot to mention it. I used a 9-Inch Springform Cake Pan but you can also use 8″ for this recipe. If you will go with the same amount of ingredients and a smaller cake pan, you will need also to increase a little the baking time because the dough will be higher and it will need some more time to bake.
Just use a toothpick to make sure that the cake is baked enough and please let me know how it turned!
Victoria.
This was a very good torta. Taste was spot on (I only did lemon zest) but the texture was a bit off for a torta de paradiso. It was missing the wonderful textured crust I’m use to. Growing up, I had a neighbor who made this and other wonderful Italian pastries. Torta de Paradiso was one of my favorites. I remember hers having an almost crunchy surface tho. It was a delightful part of the cake I wasn’t able to achieve with this recipe but perhaps my preparation methods, oven, or baking time might be to blame. Thanks for helping me rediscover a tasty part of my childhood :-).
★★★★
I am glad that I was able to bring back the taste of your childhood. I am also in love with this paradise cake and because of that, I decided to share this recipe that I learned from a friend of mine in Italy.
If you decide to cook this cake again and you want to get the texture as you remember from your childhood, I suggest you try to adjust the temperature and baking time a bit (lower the baking temperature to 325F, and adjust the baking time individually) because the crust that we obtain in the final depends on these two factors. As each oven works differently, it is very difficult to give an exact baking time.
Thank you for your feedback!