Torta delle rose

Torta delle rose, also called torta a rose and literally meaning rose cake, is a typical cake of Mantuan and Brescian cuisine in northern Italy. It is made from a leavened dough that is rich in butter and sugar. The dough is rolled up and placed in the baking tin, where the rolls take the characteristic shape of a basket of rosebuds, which gives the cake its name. Its history section ties the cake to the Mantuan court: when Isabella d'Este married Francesco II Gonzaga in 1490 and became Marchioness of Mantua, the cuisine of Mantua was influenced by that of Emilia, and the cook Cristoforo di Messisbugo, who served the lords of Ferrara, advised her and seems to have created the torta delle rose especially for her. The article describes it as a cake and places it with Lombard cuisine.