This Mouthwatering Italian Cake Gets Its Flavor From A Boozy Soak

Who doesn't love lobbing off a hunk of a tender, freshly baked pound cake to enjoy with hot tea or a cold glass of milk. Well, what if that pound cake was soaked not only in a simple syrup to keep the crumb satisfyingly moist, but in a triple whammy of tipples. Enter Italian hangover cake, a pound cake dessert sweetened with orange juice and then infused with a combo of Disaronno, Grand Marnier, and vodka.

While its name does give a nod to its juiced-up ingredients, the beauty of this cake is that the soak is readily absorbed into this somewhat toothsome sweet, giving it more of a flavorful punch like a rum cake or bourbon pound cake rather than hitting you in the face as if you'd taken a shot. The buttery cake tastes citrusy from the orange juice and Grand Marnier, along with notes of almond marzipan, apricot, and vanilla from the Disaronno. Meanwhile, vodka's neutral, crisp taste plays up the overall booziness more than any particular flavor. Although there isn't a definitive answer about where Italian hangover cake was first created, many give the nod to DeFazio's Pizzeria in upstate New York. 

The magic of Italian hangover cake comes with the step of poking holes in the cooling cake and then pouring over the simple syrup-anchored liqueur soak. The liquid gently saturates the cake, penetrating every nook and cranny for bite after tempting bite. While many types of alcohol like bourbon, whiskey, and coffee liqueur often find their way into desserts from tiramisu to boozy whipped cream, the mixture of Grand Marnier, Disaronno, and vodka keeps this cake's profile a bit brighter.

If you find yourself a fan of Italian hangover cake, you may want to try other baked goods where an addition of liquor brings an unexpected depth of flavor, including ganache and macerated fruits. In fact, Princess Diana's favorite bread and butter pudding called for its raisins to be soaked overnight in amaretto before being added to the batter. But, for a classic cake that beckons with just a nod towards the warming, citrusy notes of its boozy interior, Italian hangover cake may be your new requested on-repeat treat, just as welcome midday as it is after dinner.