Torta delle Rose: history and secrets of a stunning dessert

09/29/2025

The Torta delle Rose is a traditional dessert from the areas of Mantua and Brescia, created at the end of the 15th century to celebrate the wedding of Francesco II Gonzaga and Isabella d’Este. This soft and eye-catching cake is made with a leavened brioche dough — light and airy — which gives it a tall, fragrant and incredibly fluffy texture, perfectly golden on the outside.

What makes Torta delle Rose truly special is its shape: the dough, filled with a rich layer of butter and sugar, is rolled and arranged to resemble a bouquet of rosebuds — hence its evocative name. The butter, a key ingredient, must be of excellent quality to ensure the best result.

Over time, many variations of this cake have emerged, some including custard cream. It’s best enjoyed fresh from the oven, as it tends to lose its softness the next day… though it’s so delicious, it likely won’t last that long!

Torta delle Rose by Cesarina Maria Cristina

So let’s get baking with our Cesarina Maria Cristina from Parma, who will show us how to prepare this exquisite dessert.

“This cake, which I adore, takes me back to my childhood. Today I want to share the original recipe with you, along with a few small tweaks I’ve made over the years”.

Torta delle Rose

The tall and soft cake that looks like a basket of rose buds

DifficultyMedium

Preparation time30m

Servings8

€

CostLow

Ingredients

Ingredients for the dough:
450 g of flour (I use 300 g of Manitoba flour and 150 g of all-purpose flour)
1 whole egg
50 g of butter
50 g of sugar
1 packet of vanilla sugar
10 g of yeast
1 glass of warm milk
1/2 glass of sparkling water
Grated lemon zest (to taste)
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of honey
Ingredients for the filling:
130 g of soft butter
130 g of sugar
1 glass of milk
1 packet of vanilla sugar

Method

Preparing the dough:

Put all the ingredients in the stand mixer. For this recipe, I recommend using the dough hook for leavened doughs.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with the teaspoon of honey (which helps activate the leavening) and add the sparkling water.
Work the dough at medium speed until it reaches a smooth, homogeneous consistency.
If you don't have a stand mixer, knead by hand with energy until you form a smooth ball. To achieve good elasticity, hit the dough forcefully on the work surface.

Rolling out the dough:

Once ready, work the dough by hand for a moment, then roll it out with a rolling pin until you get a circle about 40-50 cm in diameter and 2 mm thick.

Preparing the filling:

Whisk the soft butter with the sugar until you get a creamy mixture.
Spread it evenly over the surface of the dough.

Forming the cake:

Roll the dough up on itself, then cut the roll into cylinders of about 4-5 cm in height.
Arrange them in a greased and floured 28 cm diameter baking pan, leaving a slight distance between each piece.

Leavening:

Preheat the oven to 30°C, then turn it off, leaving only the light on.
Place the baking pan in the oven along with a cup of hot water to create a humid environment and let the dough rise until the cylinders are joined.

Baking:

Turn on the oven in fan mode at 170°C and bake for 25 minutes.
Dissolve the vanilla sugar in the glass of milk, pour it over the cake, and continue baking for another 5 minutes.

Unmolding and decorating:

To unmold the cake, gently heat the bottom of the pan on the stove to melt any caramel that has formed. Gently move the pan to detach the cake, then flip it onto a cutting board and, later, onto the serving plate.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.