Italian Mimosa Cake

An Italian Mimosa Cake is not only pretty to look at but really delicious to eat. A layer cake filled with an Italian chantilly cream. This cake isn’t just any cake, it was made in Italy to honour women on March 8th for International Women’s Day.

What is International Women’s Day?

The first International Women’s Day was celebrated on March 8, 1946. The Mimosa was chosen by the “Italian Women Association” probably because of the beautiful yellow flowers and the fact that the flower blooms in the beginning of March in Central Italy.

Most believe it was a Roman Female Pastry Chef that invented the Mimosa Cake, she cut up pieces of the cake and sprinkled them on the cake’s surface in an attempt to produce the Mimosa flower.

On this day women / girls are given a small bouquet of Mimosa flowers.

Recipe Ingredients

For the cake

• Flour – cake/pastry flour
• Salt
• Baking powder
• Eggs – room temperature large eggs
• Sugar – granulated sugar
• Vanilla – vanilla extract
• Water – hot water

Filling

• Pastry cream either Lemon Pastry Cream or Classic Italian Pastry Cream.
• Cream – whole, heavy or whipping cream with at least 30% fat content
• Vanilla – vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar – also known as icing or confectioners’ sugar

Syrup for wetting the layers

• Water
• Sugar – granulated sugar
• Lemon – you can use lemon juice, lemon zest or even a limoncello liqueur mixed with a little water if you wish.

How to Make Cake Flour

For every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb, it will also help the cake to rise.

Why use room temperature ingredients?

With cakes and other baking, it’s always better to use room temperature ingredients. So, take any cold ingredients out of the refrigerator an hour ahead of time or sooner if it’s cool in your kitchen. Room temperature ingredients blend easier, creating a silky batter, which will help to create a light tender baked good.

How to make a Mimosa Cake

You can either make the pastry cream the day before which is what I do or make it at least 3-4 hours before you plan on making the cake.

In a medium bowl sift the flour, salt and baking powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment beat the egg whites until stiff. Set aside.

In a separate large bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy.

Add the vanilla, add the flour a little at a time and beat to combine between each addition.

Add the hot water and beat to combine.

Gently fold in the egg whites.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake. Leave in the pan to cool, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling make the filling and sugar water

In a large bowl beat the cream and vanilla until soft peaks form, sift in the powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold the pastry cream into the whipped sweet cream until completely combined. Cover the bowl and chill until ready to use.

In a small pot add the water, lemon peel and sugar. Heat until boiling and continue to boil for about 5-10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

Putting it together

Once the cakes have cooled completely, remove the tops (golden brown parts) from both the cakes to make a flat surface. Slice each cake into 3 layers.

One set of layers remove the golden parts from the sides of the cake. Cut each layer into long narrow strips and cut the strips into small square pieces, set aside.

To make it easier to assemble the cake, place the first layer of the cake back into the spring form pan, wet the cake with a some of the sweetened water, then spread about a quarter of the filling on top, place the second layer on top and repeat.

Place the third layer on top, top with some filling, remove the cake from the pan and place on a cake plate. Continue to spread the filling to completely cover the whole cake.

Cover the frosted cake with the small cubes of cake, refrigerate for at least 4-5 hours, overnight is even better. Dust with powdered/icing sugar before serving if desired.

If you wish you can make the cubes even smaller or some people like to blend the cake to form crumbs and cover the cake with crumbs instead of cubes.

Don’t toss the trimmed cake pieces, you can use them to make this delicious Coffee Cake!

What is Chantilly Cream?

French chantilly cream is a sweetened whipped cream, cream usually with a little vanilla extract that is whipped with some powdered sugar. Whereas Italian chantilly cream is lightly sweetened whipped cream that is gently combined with Italian pastry cream.

What is the difference between custard cream and pastry cream?

The two are very similar hence the confusion but pastry cream is actually thicker, so thick that you could actually eat it with a spoon like pudding! Custard cream is often served warm and is a bit more runny. 

The Mimosa cake is not a difficult cake to make at all, just a little bit of patience and time and the process of making it becomes fun.

Don’t let the bright yellow colour scare you, there is not a drop of food colouring in this cake. The brightness of the cake comes from the type of eggs that are used. The colour of the yolk depends on what the hen eats, it can go from very pale to a very bright yellow.

How to store the Mimosa cake

The cake should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for up to two days in the fridge. It’s not advised to freeze as the filling will separate.

So if you have the urge to celebrate International Women’s Day like the Italians or just because it seems like a good day to eat an amazing cake, then this pretty Italian Mimosa Cake is for you. Enjoy!

Updated from February 12, 2016.