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Ciaramicola is a beautiful Italian Easter cake from Perugia, Umbria. It’s made with a soft and delicious bright pink sponge, flavoured with a special Italian liqueur and topped with whipped meringue and sprinkles. A showstopping cake that’s perfect for celebrations!
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I love discovering unusual Italian recipes that aren’t so well known outside of Italy much like Torta Barozzi, Cuccia and Panpepato.
This gorgeous cake, called Ciaramicola (pronounced chee-ara-mee-ko-la) is a traditional Easter dessert that’s very specific to the city of Perugia in Umbria. In fact the iconic pink and white colour of this cake symbolise Perugia’s coat of arms.
The key ingredient, which gives it its stunning bright pink colour and unusual flavour, is Alchermes. It’s a very old bright red liqueur that dates back to the Renaissance made with rose water, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. It’s used in few different traditional Italian desserts like Zuppa Inglese and Zuccotto.
Alchermes isn’t the easiest ingredient to find (I’m lucky that I can buy it locally) so I have some suggestions on how you can substitute it below or have a go at making alchermes at home with this tutorial.
Traditionally, Ciaramicola was a symbol of love (another reason it’s pink) and was made by young women to gift to their finances for Easter. I love this story and think this cake would be perfect to celebrate Easter (or any celebration for that matter).
Ingredients
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Pin ItAlchermes alternatives
- Juice plus alcohol – replace the alchermes with 1/4 cup (60ml) cranberry or pomegranate juice and 1/4 cup (60ml) alcohol such as rum, marsala, Vin Santo or Grand Mariner. I’ve tested the cake with cranberry juice and although it’s nice, juice just isn’t strong enough to give the cake a pink colour so you’d have to add food colouring to achieve that.
- No alcohol option – milk is another good option if you’re not fussy about adding alcohol or just go with 1/2 cup (125ml) of juice.
- Spices – if you want to replicate the spices in alchermes, then add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon (or a pinch) of ground cloves, ground cardamom, nutmeg and coriander.
Visual walk-through of the recipe
See our step-by-step photos below to give you a visual representation of the recipe. The full written recipe can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1 – whisk the eggs and sugar in a stand mixer until thick and pale (photos 1 and 2).
Step 2 – Slowly pour in the melted butter and alchermes liqueur, then add the lemon zest (photos 3 and 4).
Step 3 – Mix the baking powder and flour together in a bowl with a pinch of salt and gradually add it to the cake batter a spoonful at a time (photos 5 and 6).
Step 4 – Spoon the batter into a prepared bundt pan, then smooth it out. Bake in the oven at 180C (350F) for 30-35 minutes (photos 7 and 8).
Step 5 – 10 minutes before the cake is ready, add the reserved egg whites to a clean mixer. Whisk on medium until white and frothy then gradually add the sugars. Keep whisking until thick, stiff and shiny (photos 9 and 10).
Step 6 – Remove the cake from the oven and lower the temperature to 100C. Remove the cake from the bundt pan onto a cooling rack and place that on a tray (photo 11).
Step 8 – Top the ciaramicola with the meringue and sprinkles, then bake in the oven for another 15 minutes (photo 12).
Top tips
- Grease the bundt pan well – I recommend using a non-stick pan if possible, and make sure to grease it well with butter, then dust it with flour. This will make it really easy to release the cake.
- Cool the oven down quickly – leave the oven door open for 5 minutes so help the oven cool down in temperature quickly.
More Italian Easter desserts to try
Italian Desserts
Zuccotto (Sponge Cake with Ricotta Filling)
Italian Easter Recipes
Pastiera Napoletana
Italian Desserts
Italian Easter Bread (Pane di Pasqua)
Italian Desserts
Zuppa Inglese (Italian Trifle)
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Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Ciaramicola (Italian Easter Bundt Cake)
Equipment
- 9 inch bundt cake pan (non stick)
- Cooling rack
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment or electric whisk
Ingredients
- 280 g all purpose flour, (2 cups spooned and levelled)
- 150 g (3/4 cup) sugar
- 2 large eggs + 2 yolks
- 125ml (1/2 cup) alchermes
- 100 g (7 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted (plus extra for greasing)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Zest 1 lemon
Topping
- 2 egg whites
- 50 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 50 g (1/4 cup) powdered sugar, (icing sugar)
- Sprinkles, for topping
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F) static. Grease the bundt pan with butter, then lightly dust it with flour, shaking off any excess.
- Add 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks (reserve the whites for the topping) to a stand mixer with the caster sugar (150g|/3/4 cup). Whisk on a medium speed until thick and pale.
- Add the melted butter on a low speed and then add the alchermes liqueur (see notes for substitution).
- Once incorporated, add the lemon zest. Combine the baking powder and flour together with a pinch of salt, and add it to the cake batter a spoonful at a time on medium speed until a smooth batter forms.
- Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and smooth out the surface. Bake on the middle shelf for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- 10 minutes before the cake is done, add the 2 reserved egg whites to the clean mixer. Whisk the whites until white and frothy, then add the caster sugar and powdered sugar gradually, a spoonful at a time, until combined. Continue to whisk on a medium-high speed until stiff, thick and shiny.
- As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, drop the oven temperature to 100C (210F). Open the oven door to help it cool down quicker if needed.
- While the cake is still warm, place the cooling rack on top of the bundt pan and turn it upside down to release the cake. Remove the bundt pan and place the cooling rack on top of a baking tray.
- Top the cake generously with the whipped meringue, then dust it with sprinkles. When the oven is at temperature, return the cake to the oven for 15 minutes to cook the meringue.
- Remove the cake, then let it cool before serving.
Notes
- Mix 1/4 cup (60ml) cranberry or pomegranate juice with 1/4 cup (60ml) of alcohol such as rum, marsala, vin santo or Gran Mariner. Please note that the juice will not give the cake the same pink colour as alchermes. You’ll need to add some red food colouring to achieve the same colouring.
- Spices – add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon with 1/8 teaspoon (or a pinch) of ground cloves, nutmeg, coriander and cardamom. Add the spices to the flour when making the cake.
- Alternatively, just use milk as a liquid replacement.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
It was sort of a boring cake. I felt like it needed more alchermes. It did look nice.
Not a great deal of flavor and I know it’s supposed to be subtle.
I guess that’s why Baskin Robbin’s has 31 flavors.