The Torta Mimosa is the iconic dessert for Women's Day, celebrated in Italy (March 8). One of the most popular versions of the this Italian lemon cake includes layers of Italian Sponge Cake soaked in Limoncello. If you'd prefer a non-alcoholic version, you can use lemonade or lemon simple syrup instead.
15" x 12" (40 cm x 30 cm) Baking Pan or Cookie Sheet
whisk
Ingredients
FIRST CAKE
6wholeeggs
1cupgranulated sugar
3tbsphot water
¾cupcake flouror all-purpose with low gluten
¾cupcornstarch
1lemon zestfrom one
SECOND CAKE
6wholeeggs
1cupgranulated sugar
3tbsphot water
¾cupcake flouror all-purpose with low gluten
¾cupcornstarch
1lemon zestfrom one
PASTRY CREAM
2cupswhole milk
10egg yolks
1vanilla bean
1lemon zestfrom one
⅔cupgranulated sugar
3 ½tbspcornstarch
3 ½tbspflour
CHANTILLY CREAM
1cupheavy whipping cream
¼cuppowdered sugar
¼vanilla bean
SOAKING CAKE
1cuplimoncelloor lemonade
Instructions
MAKE FIRST SPONGE CAKE
Sift together the cornstarch and flour and set aside.
¾ cup cornstarch, ¾ cup cake flour
Add whole eggs, granulated sugar and lemon zest to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment.
6 whole eggs, 1 lemon zest, 1 cup granulated sugar
Begin whipping the eggs at medium speed. Add 3 tbsp of hot water and continue whisking for no less than 15 minutes.
3 tbsp hot water
Whisk until you can ‘write’ with the egg mixture. In other words, when you drop egg on top of the rest of the whipped egg, they should sit on top distinctly and not sink into the rest of the eggs.
Fold the sifted flours into the whipped eggs, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Spread the cake batter evenly into a large baking pan or jelly roll pan.
Cover the bottom (but not the sides) of the pan with parchment paper.
Bake the cake at 350° F (180° C) for 15 minutes. Shut off oven, crack the oven door, and let cake cool inside of the oven slowly for 5-10 minutes.
When cake is cooled, loosen edges and remove from the pan. Set aside.
MAKE SECOND SPONGE CAKE
Follow the same instructions for making the first sponge cake.
6 whole eggs, 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 tbsp hot water, ¾ cup cake flour, ¾ cup cornstarch, 1 lemon zest
MAKE THE PASTRY CREAM
A half an hour before starting the pastry cream, chill a large bowl into the freezer.
In a medium pot, bring the milk and vanilla to a simmer—hot but not boiling. If using fresh vanilla, split the pod and remove the seeds. Add the seeds and the pieces of pod to the milk as it warms.
2 cups whole milk, 1 vanilla bean
While the milk is warming, combine the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and flour into a large bowl. Whisk until the mix is thick and smooth.
10 egg yolks, 1 lemon zest, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, 3 ½ tbsp cornstarch, 3 ½ tbsp flour
When the milk is hot, remove the pieces of vanilla bean pod. Then, slowly pour the milk into the egg mix, whisking continuously. When all of the milk is whisked into the eggs, strain the liquid back into the milk pot.
Add the lemon zest and and heat the custard over medium heat until it thickens. Whisk constantly to prevent lumps.
When the custard has thickened, pour it into the chilled bowl, whisking continuously—this time to quickly cool down the custard.
When the custard is mostly cool, lay plastic wrap or a silicon lid directly on top of the custard and put in the refrigerator.
MAKE THE CHANTILLY CREAM
A half an hour before starting the pastry cream, chill a large bowl into the refrigerator. A cold bowl speeds up the process of whipping heavy cream.
Combine the heavy cream and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip until soft peaks form.
1 cup heavy whipping cream, ¼ vanilla bean
Add the sugar and continue whipping until the cream is stiff. If you turn the bowl over, the cream should not move.
¼ cup powdered sugar
MAKE THE DIPLOMAT CREAM
Diplomat cream is simply pastry cream plus the chantilly cream we’ve made! Fold all of the chantilly cream into the pastry cream a little at a time.
Fill a pastry bag full of the Diplomat Cream, setting aside about 1/4 of the cream for decorating the top and outside.
CUT THE CAKES
Cut two rounds out of one sponge cake and one round out of the other.
Dice the remaining cake into 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) pieces. These will serve as our fake mimosa flowers. We will use them to decorate the outside of the cake.
ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
Place one layer of sponge cake on the serving dish. Use a pastry brush or squirt bottle to soak the top of the sponge cake with limoncello or lemonade.
1 cup limoncello
Top the first cake layer with 1/4 of the cream filling and. Spread it evenly. You can use a pastry bag (no decorative tip required) to pipe on the cream to get an even later.
Top the cream with the second layer of sponge cake. Soak it with limoncello, top with more cream.
Top that cream with a third (and final) layer of sponge cake. Soak it with limoncello and add a generous amount of diplomat cream to the top. Spread it to create a dome like effect.
Apply any extra cream to the sides of the cake. Be sure there is a medium thick layer of cream on the sides. Use a wet cake spatula to smooth out the sides of the cake. This serves as a ‘stucco’ for attaching our little pieces of diced sponge cake.
DECORATE THE CAKE
Apply handfuls of diced sponge cake to the sides and top of the cake. Start with roughly covering the entire cake with these ‘mimosa flowers.’ Then, fill any visible holes with individual pieces of the diced sponge cake.
The goal is to have a cake completely covered in diced sponge cake. Chill before serving. Store in the refrigerator.
Video
Notes
Make this cake non-alcoholic!Make this cake non-alcoholic by replacing the limoncello with lemonade.Super creamy pastry cream?To make the creamiest pastry cream: Chill a large bowl in the freezer an hour before you pan to make the pastry cream. Then, transfer the thickened custard to the cold bowl and keep whipping to cool it off.Egg Whipping TipsFor the cake, use cold eggs here. Eggs whip better warm, however rather than just using eggs that have been left ‘out’ at room temperature, we prefer to use cold eggs from the fridge and add hot water to achieve the right temperature. We’ve found this to be the more foolproof method for making Italian sponge cakes.Or... Bake in a Round Pan!Yes, you can bake in round cake pans instead of a jelly roll pans! Use a8" - 9" pan (20-22 cm) pan for each sponge cake.Bake the cakes in a pre-heated static oven at 350° F (180° C) for 20 minutesThen, lower the temperature 10° to 340° F ( 170° C ) and cook for the last 20 minutes.Turn the oven off and let the cakes cool slowly in the oven for 5-10 minutes before removing them. This will help reduce deflation.You will then need to cut each cake into 2 slices to make this recipe.