Vignola - The Torta Barozzi, history and secret recipe

The Caffé-Pasticceria Gollini, in the historic centre of Vignola since 1887, looks out from under the portico of an old building, while its retro decor discretely but precisely recalls times gone by and imbues it with all the atmosphere of a warm family welcome.

The Pasticceria is famous for the production of those cakes known as Torta Barozzi and Torta Muratori, so-called in honour of the architect, Jacopo Barozzi, known as Il Vignola, and the historian, Ludovico Antonio Muratori. The two cakes are made by hand in the old way, using absolutely genuine materials without colouring or preservatives, and their recipes have been handed down by the Gollini from generation to generation.

The story goes that Eugenio Gollini loved to try out new recipes to create desserts with a complex architecture. He would prepare an example and let customers try it, and then improve it, day after day, by making subtle changes in the quantities and working methods until he’d decided that it was not possible to do any better.

In this way, the Torte Barozzi began to perfume the porticoes, lanes and stones of Vignola’s historic centre and the population became used to the delicious aroma of chocolate wafting out of the Pasticceria. Even today, the genuine recipe remains scrupulously hidden within the walls of the family workshop: The proportion of ingredients, the dough, the kneading and baking phases, and also the nature of the top quality products without chemical preservatives all remain top secret.