Sunday, January 3, 2021

The Imperial Cake: Torta Infernale

In the world of How To Cook Your Dragon there is one dessert to rule them all. Crafted by the Archmagirist and high-chef of the Empress of Latium, Dario d'Ambrosio, this dessert is a testament to the great poet Dante of Florentia. D'Ambrosio imagined this dish as his Magnum Opus, to fully articulate his prowess as a cook. The Torta Infernale, is a decadent nine-layer caked with each layer corresponding to one of the Nine Layers of Hell in Dante's Divina Commedia. The cake is tiered with each layer getting smaller and thinner is it moves towards the top. The dish is reserved for those of noble blood and is only served at royal weddings, coronations, and banquets. It is said that people are inherently drawn towards slices from the tiers that represent their sins. 

Depiction of the Inferno

Layer One - Limbo: The bottom layer is a traditional Hellenic Honey Cake with Pomegranate seed, the favorite of many ancient pagans.

Layer Two - Lust: The second layer is a decadent Cheese Cake with slices of Apple, Figs, and Dates resembling the fruit of temptation and seduction.

Layer Three - Gluttony: The third layer is possibly the richest layer of the cake, being a decadent dark chocolate fudge cake, molten chocolate endlessly oozing when a slice is cut.

Layer Four - Greed: The fourth layer represents the treasures of the earth by incorporating walnuts, peanuts, and macadamia nuts with ginger root.

Layer Five - Wrath: The fifth layer represents the heat of anger as a cinnamon spice cake with ground chilis, cloves, and other spices.

Layer Six - Heresy: The sixth layer represents the burning tombs of the Heretics as a rum cake with fire-scorched meringue.

Layer Seven - Violence: The seventh layer represents the blood of the violent by a layer of red velvet cake with cherry cream.

Layer Eight - Fraud: The eighth layer is not a cake but a cream pie.

Layer Nine - Treachery: The ninth layer represents the icy nature of treachery as an ice cream cake.

1 comment:

  1. Image from Antonio Manetti's 1506 "Overview of Hell", https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manetti_Overview_of_Hell_1506_Cornell_CUL_PJM_1004_03.jpg

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