My favorite way to celebrate International Woman’s Day is with a traditional Mimosa Cake.. ..the mimosa is the traditional flower associated with this day because the yellow of the mimosa symbolizes vitality,warmth, joy and wisdom..here are some quotes to inspire you from women (besides my mother and grandmother) who have inspired me….
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa (Philanthropist/Charity Worker)
“We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington (AOL/Editor In Chief of Huffington Post)
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” – Ayn Rand (Novelist/Philosopher)
Please share any of your inspiring quotes with us here in comments!
Now onto the recipe….the smell and taste of the Italian cream brought me back to the days of making this with my grandmother,mom, aunts and and cousins… in the kitchen..I would always get to lick the cream off the long strips of lemon peel as they were removed from the cream…….here’s the recipe
Torte Mimosa
for the sponge cake
5 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons of potato starch
rest of the cake
16 ounces of pineapples in syrup
3 egg yolks
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons of flour
peel of 1 fresh lemon
1 vanilla bean
1 cup of fresh whipping cream
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar
for the sponge cake- sift flour and potato starch together twice, set aside, then beat eggs and sugar together in one bowl. You must beat the egg mixture for at least 15 minutes. Then, fold the flour into the egg mixture a little at a time. Place in an 8 inch cake pan that has been covered with parchment paper. Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees
For the Italian cream, place milk in saucepan with lemon peel, vanilla
bean, bring to a boil, remove from heat, set aside. In a bowl, whip egg yokls with sugar, add in flour that has been sifted. Place in milk that has been boiled, then place this mixture back over heat to boil and thicken, stirring constantly, once thick (like pudding) remove from heat. . Remove lemon peel and vanilla bean and refrigerate,
Whip cream with powdered sugar. Add in cooled Italian cream mixture by folding in and refrigerate.
When cake has cooled, cut into 3 layers. cut the top layer into small cubes for decoration. Put second layer in a cake plate, wet with pineapple syrup, then spread cream that has cooled on layer and top with pineapple that has been cut into cubes. Top with 3rd layer, cover third layer with pineapple juice and totally cover with remaining cream . Decorate with small cubes of sponge cake and a mimosa in the center and serve
Happy Women’s Day!
For more recipes get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Holidays and Special Occasions
