The Infamous Italian Hangover Cake Is Packed With 3 Different Liquors

Italians are all for using food to cure ailments, everything from a minor cold to a raging fever. Just think about Pasta alla Penicillin, otherwise known as pastina chicken soup, which every Nonna swears will clear up your congestion, or Aglio e Olio, which has so much garlic that every Zia insists the antibacterial properties are hard at work on the first bite. And when it comes to hangovers, an Italian pizzeria from Upstate New York claims it has the perfect cure: the Italian Hangover Cake. 

This beast of a bundt cake is made with not one, not two, but three different liquors either in the glaze or in the cake mix itself. Vodka, Gran Marnier, and Disaronno are mixed with orange juice to create a rich, boozy treat that's ideal for curing hangovers (or, more likely, causing one). Replicas of the famous recipe call for simple cake ingredients such as flour, eggs, and vanilla along with the slightly overwhelming amount of liquor. The cake is meant to be dense and decadent, soaked with the three liquors that make the citrusy undertones shine.

The Italian Hangover cake was popularized by DeFazio's Pizzeria, starting as a local secret and growing to become a nationwide phenomenon. The family-owned pizzeria has offered the Italian Hangover Cake for some time now, but it wasn't until Dave Portnoy's enthusiastic assessment on his YouTube series, "One Bite Pizza Reviews," that the cake blew up in popularity. Suddenly people from all walks of life, and all boroughs of New York, wanted to get their hands on a slice of DeFazio's Italian Hangover Cake, whether they planned to use it to cure a hangover or not. 

The hangover cake recipe is technically a family secret at the restaurant, but thanks to its newfound popularity, many home bakers have released their own copycat recipes of the liquor-packed cake. It's said to be a spin on the classic Italian Ciambellone, a simple, citrusy cake that Italians enjoy eating for breakfast. The Ciambellone has a similar texture to a pound cake, typically sprinkled with powdered sugar, not glaze. It's got all the makings of an Italian Hangover Cake, minus the alcohol. If you're hoping to try DeFazio's version of the Italian Hangover Cake, you'll have to take a trip to upstate New York to steal a bite. DeFazio's specifies on its website that it will (sadly) not ship the Italian Hangover Cake to anywhere in the country.