Grandma's Cake

Easter and Passover are all about being with family, and this is exactly what we have here today: Lots of family.  This is a way of saying why this post is very, very late. I had a crazy busy week, as my kids did. Although I had very ambitious plans for the posts and recipes for the holidays, I was mostly entangled with some other stuff - like preparing the house for the arrival of  the kids' grandparents and uncle and future auntie, to stay here with us for Passover and Easter.

Lucky us — the delay brought me a sweet and delicious surprise: This new recipe, tested yesterday, was brought by Hila, one of our guests who is going to get married to my brother in-law, Michel, in July.

The most important  for me — as we have a interfaith family — is to keep both traditions alive, and for that we wouldn't save energy to bring the best of our cultures to the table. For that reason, each of the families brought a grandmother's recipe. We tasted a classic matzo ball soup made by my in-law, following her mother's most successful recipe, and all the staples like gefilte fish and a Moroccan version of charosset.

With no doubt the star of the night was Hila, who was kind enough to allow us to share this amazing cake recipe with us and now here. Happy Passover, and Happy Easter.

Hila's Grandma Cake

We adapted the recipe from Hebrew to English with the amazing help of our mother-in-law.

Cake
6 eggs, separated
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
8 oz 72% chocolate, grated

Cream
1 carton heavy whipping cream
2 tesapoons vanilla bourbon  extract
1/4 cup sugar


Preheat oven to 356 F. Coat two round cake pans with canola oil. In one bowl of a standing mixer beat egg whites with half of the sugar to soft peaks and set aside. In another bowl beat egg yolks, oil, and the other half of the sugar, and gradually whisk flour and baking soda sifted together. Mix coconut and then fold into the egg whites. Grate dark chocolate into the mix.

Divide batter between the two cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes, checking for readiness with a toothpick after about 20 minutes.

While the cakes cool, whip the cream with the vanilla extract and sugar. Top one cake with whipped cream and set the the other cake on top. Spread whipped cream over cake and grate more chocolate on top. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.