Olive Oil Almond Easter Cake
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A Sicilian Easter Celebration Cake Inspired By Chadwick’s Childhood
For years I have been wanting to make Grandma Clara’s traditional Easter Egg cakes. She made what felt like hundreds of them every Eastertime for our family and the community.
Grandma Clara was a self-taught baker who took classes at the local Wilton baking store in the early 1970s, and became a prolific cake baker and decorator. When I was quite young, she would sit me at the maplewood kitchen table with a vinyl-coated practice board, a pastry bag filled with frosting, and a set of Wilton baking tips while she was baking. That was my version of a coloring book to keep me occupied. Rather than doodling, I would watch her and mimic what she was doing with frosting. After a while, she started to teach me how to properly frost a cake, how to make roses on a nail, and how to do intricate cake borders and such. I got quite good at it, and it became something we enjoyed and shared together.
In my adult life, as my culinary career expanded, I wanted to make Grandma’s Easter Egg Cakes. But I didn't want to make them the way she used to. She used a boxed cake mix with a box of Jell-O vanilla pudding, and her frosting was heavy on Crisco and almond extract.
Grandma Clara was Italian. Her parents came to America from Sicily when they were very young. I wanted to reimagine her Easter Cakes as a way to honor her Sicilian heritage and satisfy my more purist tastes.
This Olive Oil Almond Easter Cake is my homage to Grandma Clara in every way. It is a Sicilian inspired olive oil cake with toasted sliced almonds in the batter. The frosting is quite intricate and fancy - way more fancy than Grandma would ever do. It’s an Italian meringue buttercream - with just a hint of almond flavor.
This cake is a project for sure. It takes hours to complete. But, I promise it is worth every minute in the end. I use vintage Wilton metal Easter egg cake molds that I found on eBay - the same ones Grandma Clara used. Interestingly, they are circa 1971, my birth year, which I consider a wink and nod of approval from Grandma. You can use a large silicone egg mold like this one. Or you can just bake them in standard cake pans and make a layer cake. The frosting takes patience, too. But it’s so light and dreamy. Just make sure to cool it down completely before adding the butter so it doesn’t melt and become mush.
Buona Pasqua, y’all! Or as I now say, Happy Spring Thanksgiving.
Much love and happy baking.
-Chadwick
SERVING SIZE: 6-8 ACTIVE TIME: 2-4 hours BAKING TIME: 1 hour
Ingredients
For the cake
¾ cup sliced almonds
2 teaspoons + 3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1¾ cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons sea salt
4 large eggs
1¼ cups olive oil
1½ cups whole milk
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
For the frosting
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
⅓ cup room temperature water
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
6 large egg whites, room temperature
6 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
Directions
To make the cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and spread out to one even layer. Toast in the oven for 6 minutes until browned. Transfer to a plate to cool. Wipe the baking sheet clean.
Spray the egg molds with nonstick spray and lightly coat with 1½ teaspoons of flour each (knock off any excess). Place the metal stands on the baking sheet and set the molds on the stands to stabilize.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.
In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, milk, and almond extract.
Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and whisk until combined.
Fold in the almonds, and pour the batter in the prepared molds. Bake for 1 hour, or until a tooth pick comes out clean from the center.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool on the sheet pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Gently run a knife or offset spatula along the edge of the cakes to loosen, and place cakes on the wire rack to cool completely – about 2 hours – before icing.
To make the frosting
Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and carefully cook over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until it comes to a boil. Attach a candy thermometer and continue to boil – without stirring – until the syrup reaches 250°F.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk and beat on medium speed until frothy. Add the salt and cream of tartar and continue to beat on medium until medium stiff peaks form.
Turn the mixer up to medium-high and slowly stream the hot syrup into the egg whites. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
Place the bowl on the counter and surround it with three large bags of frozen vegetables or a few plastic bags filled with ice cubes. **It is very important to cool the mixture completely before adding the butter so it does not melt.**
Return the bowl to the mixer and turn it on to medium speed. Add the butter 2-3 tablespoons at a time and beat until the frosting is smooth and light.
To frost the cake
On a 12-inch cake stand, place a bit of frosting in the center with an offset spatula and nestle one of the cake halves rounded side down onto the frosting to secure in place.
Add a ¼-inch layer of frosting on top of that cake half, then place the second cake half, flat side down, onto the frosted cake.
Add more frosting the center of the two cakes along the sides to completely fill it in. Continue frosting the outside of the cake until the crumb of the cake is fully covered.
Make a shell border along the base. Fit a small pastry bag with Star Tip #21 and fill it with frosting. Squeeze the bag to let out any air. Hold the bag at a 30°-45° angle with the tip along the edge of the base. Squeeze and let the frosting fan out to a ¾-inch balloon, then relax pressure while dragging the tip back toward you to form a tail. Start the next shell at the base of the tail and continue with the shell border around the entire base.
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