Parrozzo, or Italian Almond Cake, is a flavor-filled and decadent dessert that will impress your guests for any occasion! It’s an easy cake with amaretto, chocolate, almond flour, and semolina as the main ingredients.
This cake is moist and delicious, best served as a breakfast or snack cake. Pair it with a cup of coffee and you’ll be ready to start your day!
What makes parrozzo unique from other cakes is its dome shape, which comes from the use of a hemisphere pan. Not only does it have a fancy shape, but it’s also covered in chocolate! And while the cake looks impressive, it is actually quite simple to make.
Here are a few reasons why you should make this delicious Italian almond cake:
- It’s as easy as it gets, but no one will ever know–it will make you look like an expert baker!
- It’s a nice alternative to bundt cake. Switch up your dessert routine by making parrazzo cake. It’s something that’s a little unique and different since it uses almond flour and semolina instead of regular flour.
- It’s a traditional Italian recipe. If you love traditional cake, this is a good recipe to try. Its uniqueness (and delicious flavor!) is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
- It’s tasty. Parrozzo features prominent almond and chocolate flavors that are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Jump to:
🍫 Ingredients you’ll need
- Eggs (separated into yolks and whites) – The yolks are beaten with the sugar, and egg whites added at the end
- Almond flour – this helps to give the cake its distinct almond flavor
- Semolina flour – gives a beautiful yellow color to the cake and dense, gritty consistency
- Vegetable oil and butter – this combination helps to make the cake extra moist!
- Amaretto liqueur – more almond flavor
- Almond extract (optional) – but just to give an extra kick of almond flavor!
- Semi sweet chocolate – for the chocolate ganache that covers the cake
📋 How to make parrozzo – step by step
Make the cake:
In the bowl of a KitchenAid stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg yolks and the sugar. Cream together at medium speed until a creamy texture is achieved – a few minutes (photo 1)
Add the melted butter, oil, amaretto, almond extract, and lemon zest (photo 2) Mix together until incorporated well.
Add the almond flour, and continue mixing with the mixer until blended into the mixture. Add the semolina (photo 3) and mix until well incorporated.
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form (photo 4)
Fold the egg whites into the cake mixture, working in 3 batches. Fold them in from using a spatula, working from the bottom of the bowl to the top, this will ensure the egg whited do not deflate (photo 5)
Grease a hemisphere pan with butter and dust with semolina.
Preheat the oven to 320F. Pour the cake mixture into the pan (photo 6), place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake the cake for about 1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes. To check if it’s done, ensure a toothpick or knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 8-10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack. If it does not come out easily from the pan, use a spatula to loosen the edges and try again.
Let the cake cool completely.
Decorate the cake:
Once the cake is cooled, make the chocolate ganache. Make a double boiler and place the chocolate and butter in the bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter until combined and liquid.
With the cake still on a drying rack and a piece of parchment paper under the drying rack, pour the ganache over the cake (photo 7) and smooth out with a spatula. Top with sprinkles if desired (photo 8), although this is not traditional.
Let the ganache harden, slice and serve!
💬 FAQ
One of the things that set parrozzo apart from other types of cake is its shape! You can make the cake dome-shaped by using a hemisphere pan. Hemisphere pans are made from aluminum and allow bakers to add a round shape to cakes. They are known to help make the heating and cooling process of cakes more efficient and are available in a variety of different sizes.
The name of parrozzo cake stems from “pan rozzo”, which is a type of bread that originated in Abruzzo. It was made from ground corn, water, and olive oil, before a baker combined it with ground sweet almonds and chocolate–turning it into parrozzo!
🍰 How to store
It is recommended to store parrozzo cake at room temperature. To maintain its quality, keep it in a cake stand with a dome over the top or in an airtight container. Enjoy leftovers within 3-4 days. You can also freeze the cake–simply keep it in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw at room temperature when ready to eat!
💭 Top tips
- If you don’t have lemon zest, you can use orange zest. Or if you prefer orange over lemon, go for orange zest! Or you can use both for extra citrus flavor.
- The almond extract is optional – it just takes the almond flavor up a notch.
- A hemisphere pan sometimes doesn’t sit properly on the wire racks in an oven, so putting the pan on a baking sheet ensures that the cake comes out level.
- I used this hemisphere pan. It is 8 inches by 4 inches
- If you don’t have a hemisphere pan, you can use a regular bundt pan, but please keep in mind that the cake may not be very high, as it is a small cake to begin with.
🎂 More Italian cake recipes
If you tried making this Parrozzo Cake, or any other recipe on the blog, please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to see more delicious food and what I’ve been up to.
Recipe
Parrozzo – A Delicious Italian Almond Cake
Parrozzo, or Italian Almond Cake, is a flavor-filled and decadent dessert that will impress your guests for any occasion! It's an easy cake with amaretto, chocolate, almond flour, and semolina as the main ingredients.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 6 eggs separated yolks and whites
- 3/4 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (60g) unsalted butter melted
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp amaretto liqueur
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 3/4 cup (200g) almond flour
- 1 cup (150g) semolina flour
For the Ganache
- 1 1/4 cup (200g) semi sweet chocolate
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
Make the cake
-
In the bowl of a KitchenAid stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg yolks and the sugar. Cream together at medium speed until a creamy texture is achieved – a few minutes.
-
Add the melted butter, oil, amaretto, almond extract, and lemon zest. Mix together until incorporated well.
-
Add the almond flour, and continue mixing with the mixer until blended into the mixture. Add the semolina and mix until well incorporated.
-
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
-
Fold the egg whites into the cake mixture, working in 3 batches. Fold them in from using a spatula, working from the bottom of the bowl to the top, this will ensure the egg whited do not deflate.
-
Grease a hemisphere pan with butter and dust with semolina.
-
Preheat the oven to 320F. Pour the cake mixture into the pan, place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake the cake for about 1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes. To check if it's done, ensure a toothpick or knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
-
Remove from the oven and let cool for 8-10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack. If it does not come out easily from the pan, use a spatula to loosen the edges and try again.
-
Let the cake cool completely.
-
Once the cake is cooled, make the chocolate ganache. Make a double boiler and place the chocolate and butter in the bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter until combined and liquid.
-
With the cake still on a drying rack and a piece of parchment paper under the drying rack, pour the ganache over the cake and smooth out with a spatula. Top with sprinkle if desired, although this is not traditional.
-
Let the ganache harden, slice and serve!
Recipe Notes
- If you don’t have lemon zest, you can use orange zest. Or if you prefer orange over lemon, go for orange zest! Or you can use both for extra citrus flavor.
- The almond extract is optional – it just takes the almond flavor up a notch.
- A hemisphere pan sometimes doesn’t sit properly on the wire racks in an oven, so putting the pan on a baking sheet ensures that the cake comes out level.
- I used this hemisphere pan. It is 8 inches by 4 inches
- If you don’t have a hemisphere pan, you can use a regular bundt pan, but please keep in mind that the cake may not be very high, as it is a small cake to begin with.
Leave a Reply