Florentine orange cake (Schiacciata alla fiorentina)

Schiacciata alla fiorentina is a traditional Florentine orange cake. It is maybe better described as an aromatic sweet bread, but either way it is delicious. It has a lovely aromatic flavor and soft texture - perfect as a coffee time treat.

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Many places have traditional dishes for Mardi Gras or Carnival that tend to fit in with the theme of the festivities. Some are classic festival foods such as fried pastries and other treats. Others are final indulgences in ingredients that are traditionally given up during Lent. Some are more simply a celebration of spring produce.

For me growing up in the UK, it simply meant pancakes, but other places have a broader variety. In Italy, you will find everything from fried treats (like ravioli dolci, ricotta filled sweet ravioli) to cakes, and savory dishes like torta pascualina. Lasagna is also a popular dish in many areas.

This cake/sweet bread is traditional during Carnevale in Florence, which typically falls when oranges are in season as well. Though really, it is something that is worth enjoying year round.

Origins of schiacciata alla fiorentina

This dish is from Florence in the Tuscany region of Italy - "alla fiorentina" translates as "Florentine style". But other than that, the origins are not really known. 

"Schiacciata" is a little trickier here as it translates as "squashed" or "crushed". It's generally considered to refer to the process of making it, which makes a little more sense with other versions of schiacciata which are more flatbreads like focaccia.

One well-known version, also from the same region, is all'uva which is a bread topped with grapes, found during the harvest season. In Sicily, they make a version filled with potato and often meat.

This orange version was traditionally made with brewer's yeast (sticking with the bread style) and lard (remember, timing of right before Lent when this was something to be given up etc).

Recipe variations

These days, while many versions still use fresh yeast, the lard may be switched to butter and/or olive oil. Some modern versions also make this more of a cake using baking powder rather than yeast. 

Here I have gone with a bit of a compromise, still using yeast so it keeps that bread-ish texture and flavor, but using dried since it is much more widely available. True, using yeast takes a little longer due to rises but I think it's worth it flavor-wise. And it is mainly hands off time, anyway.

I have also switched out the lard for a mix of butter, partly for flavor and I for one always have butter but not lard. Other than that, I have kept things pretty traditional. The ingredients are pretty simple with eggs to enrich the dough, and flavorings from orange and vanilla.

Not all recipes use the orange juice, and the liquid quantity can be a bit vague (like the recipe here), but having played around, I came to the mix of orange juice and water here.

I also found a few recipes that made a 'biga' - kind of like a starter - first but I didn't find it worked for me liquid-wise nor did it really make that much of a difference to the end result. Instead, I just mixed everything together, let it rest and I found that worked well. 

Traditional decoration

You typically make this in a shallow rectangular shape and dust the top with confectioner's sugar (icing sugar). You then add a fleur-de-lis decoration on top by dusting cocoa powder through a stencil.

While you'll find a fleur-de-lis used in heraldry in many countries, it has a special symbolism in Florence. The design is often said to be a stylized take on the Florentine lily (also called giaggiolo) which grows wild around the city. As a result, the fleur-de-lis is the symbol of Florence. 

While more traditionally, this cake was served by itself, these days you'll also find another version where it is split through the middle and filled with chantilly cream or custard. Feel free to do that if you prefer, but I have kept things simple. The cake/bread has a lovely flavor to it and the little bit cocoa pairs perfectly with the orange flavor. 

While schiacciata alla fiorentina may be traditional for carnival time, this Florentine orange cake is certainly delicious enough to enjoy more often. It has a wonderful balance of light sweetness and aromatic orange flavor. True, making this as a yeast cake takes a little longer, but the end result is worth the wait.

Try these other cakes and pastries:

• French pear cake
• Tarta de Santiago (Spanish almond cake)
• Lemon madeleines
• Swedish cardamom buns
• Plus try more Italian recipes and snack recipes in the archives.

I used this small baking sheet/tray which was the perfect size for this (affiliate link).

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

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