Torta Margherita

This classic Italian cake with a fine yellow crumb dates to at least the late 19th century, when a recipe for it appeared in Pellegrino Artusi’s seminal cookbook, La Scienza in Cucina e L’Arte di Mangiar Bene. In his note accompanying the recipe, Artusi wrote that he served the cake to his friend Antonio Mattei. Mattei, a baker from Prato, was known for being the creator of the famous twice-baked cookies known as cantuccini. Mattei requested the cake recipe and, according to Artu