Genoa cake, known in Italian as or , is a
fruit cake consisting of
sultanas (golden-coloured raisins), currants or raisins, glacé
cherries
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...
,
almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...
s, and
candied orange peel or essence, cooked in a batter of flour, eggs, butter, and sugar.
[Ingredients and nutritional analysis of commercially made Genoa Cake]
at Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
supermarket
Origins
Although the name ''Genoa cake'' is mainly used in the United Kingdom, where recipes for it have been around since the 19th century, it is a variant of the (; , ; ) cake which originated in 16th century
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
as a
Christmas cake
Christmas cake is a type of cake, often fruitcake, served at Christmas time in many countries.
British variations
Christmas cake is an English tradition that began as plum porridge. A traditional English Christmas cake is made with moist Zan ...
. Unlike Genoa cake, traditional includes
pine nut
Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locall ...
s as a major ingredient and uses
yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
as its
raising agent, which requires several hours to rise, like bread. This original form is today known as ('deep '), whilst a simpler variant which uses baking powder is known as ('flat ') and is essentially the same as the Genoa cake sold in the UK, with a moist but crumbly texture.
The term ''Genoa cake'' is also sometimes used to refer to two other Genoa-related cakes, neither of which are fruit cakes:
Genoese cake, a light sponge cake, and ''
pain de Gênes'' ('Genoa bread'), a dense almond cake.
Cook's Info: Genoa Cake
/ref>
See also
* Cuisine of Liguria
* List of Italian desserts and pastries
* Genoese cake
* '' Pain de Gênes''
Notes
References
{{Cakes
Italian cakes
Cuisine of Liguria
Christmas cakes