To celebrate all the women

As many of you may know, my mom was born and raised in Italy. Her mom (my nonna) still lives there. These two women are two of the most magnificent women I know. They are strong, funny, and resilient —  they are my heroes. 
With International Women’s day approaching, I naturally turn my thoughts to my mom and nonna. I think of them and the sacrifices they made for their families, and for me. I think of how much they mean, and how they stand for all the things that make women so important: strong, loving, caring, givers. For International Women’s day, I wanted to find a way to honour both of these women here on my blog. After a deep search, the perfect way came to me. I thought, why not a torta mimosa? 

A torta mimosa, (a mimosa cake), is the traditional recipe made in Italy for the festa della donna (women’s day) every March 8. It is made to resemble the mimosa flower which is yellow, fluffy, and fragrant. It’s a reminder of the women who are so dear to me and my roots. So I made the traditional mimosa cake. I didn’t cover it with cubes of yellow sponge cake as is custom, but instead I decorated it with real mimosa flowers. 

I made this cake to celebrate international women’s day. I made this cake to celebrate my mom. To celebrate my nonna. To celebrate women everywhere.

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Torta Mimosa (Italian Mimosa cake)

Ingredients

For the first sponge cake (pan di spagna):

• 2 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 tbsp potato starch
• 1 tbsp honey

For the second sponge cake (pan di spagna):

• 2 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 tbsp potato starch
• 1 tbsp honey

For the cream:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 8 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1 tbsp vanilla

For the liqueur soak:

• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup Grand Marnier
• 1/3 cup sugar

For the whipping cream:

• 2 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar

Instructions

For the sponge cake (pan di spagna):

1. In a stand mixer, beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar for 15 minutes until the consistency is light, creamy and smooth. Towards the end, add the honey. Sift the flour and potato starch then add it to the egg mixture using a spatula. Mix well until the flour and potato starch is incorporated into the egg mixture.
2. Add the egg and flour mixture to a buttered springform pan (23 cm in diameter). Bake in the oven at 350° for 25 minutes.

For the second sponge cake (pan di spagna):

1. Repeat the above procedure.

For the cream:

1. In a saucepan, add the milk, whipping cream, vanilla, and the egg yolks. Beat with a whisk to mix everything together. Add the sugar and corn starch. and mix again, making sure to eliminate any lumps.
2. Turn on the heat to medium, and whisk continuously until the cream thickens. Once it starts to thicken, beat faster until the consistency is smooth and creamy.
3. Turn off the heat, and put the cream in in a shallow baking dish. Cover it with saran wrap (make sure the saran wrap makes contact with the cream - this will eliminate bubbles), and put it in the fridge until it cools.

For the liqueur soak:

1. In a saucepan, add the water, liqueur and sugar. On medium heat, mix ingredients together until well combined. Put the liquid mixture in a squeeze bottle and put in the fridge to cool.

For the whipping cream:

1. In a stand mixer, beat the whipping cream and sugar together until stiff peaks form.

To make the diplomat cream:

1. Take the cream out of the fridge and with a hand mixer, transfer it to a mixing bowl, and mix until it returns to a creamy consistency.
2. With a spatula, add the whipping cream so that together, the two creams form a velvety, smooth diplomat cream.

To assemble the cake:

1. Cut off the outside dark portions of the pan di spagna so you are left with only the yellow inside of the cake. Cut each pan di spagna in half so you have 4 layers in the end.
2. Start with the first pan di spagna and place it on a cake stand. Drizzle the layer with the liqueur soak. With a spatula, spread 1/4 of the diplomat cream on the pan di spagna.
3. Repeat this process with all 4 layers.
4. Decorate the top of the cake with fresh mimosa flowers.