The most gourmet Easter cakes: uniqueness and ingenuity

This Easter arrives without precedent, and with it, one of the most deeply rooted traditions in its culture, the great protagonist Easter mona. In this article we show you the most daring monas, created by great sweet pioneers such as Jordi Roca, Ale Rivas, Eric Ortuño, Ximena Pastor and Cristian Escribà.

At Rocambolesc Ale Rivas and Jordi  Roca: more than a sweet is an experience.

Rocambolesc lends us a hand and opens a window into the world of sweets. This ice cream parlor is not just an ice cream parlor, it is a door to the creative with a distinction of very different professionals. In this creation process are involved from graphic designers to scientists.  That creates a bridge between different modalities with the aim of bringing together the best qualities of each one to be in constant evolution and learning, resulting in one of the most ingenious Easter monkeys of the year.

Monalisa 

This monkey brings together in a chocolate candy what creativity and design mean. It makes reference to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Gioconda by giving it the name and the posture of the arms of the figure, also including the head of a monkey, giving a flash of humorous wit to the piece.

For the elaboration of the figure, they have collaborated with the sculptor from Girona, Montse Zurilla, to make the mold of the monkey, which was made by Àlex Canosa. The Mona is made with milk chocolate, and is filled with salted peanuts bathed with milk and cocoa.

This Easter monkey is only available in a physical store and it is necessary to reserve in advance.

Casa Cacao: Jordi Roca’s search for the chocolate that makes a difference

This year Jordi Roca presents several different proposals as Easter cakes. At Casa Cacao, they take care of cocoa and chocolate intriguing to show, as nature grain changes like the phases of the moon. Prioritizing those chocolates thatseek difference over uniformity.

Jordi Roca explains that:

“In our workshop, we elaborate the chocolate by hand, taking care of its unique properties in each cocoa bean, letting them show their personality and take you back to their origin in each bite.”

Pods of different chocolates

On the one hand, the Dark Chocolate Pod, made with Cacao de l’Hacienda Cacao Caribe (70%), cocoa flown from Las Trincheras, Venezuela, filled with cocoa beans from Bolivia, roasted and covered with 60% chocolate from Cusco (Peru).

And on the other hand, the Milk chocolate pod, with cocoa from Hacienda Cacao Caribe (60%). This mona is filled with walnut beans, banana and passion fruit.

Casa Cacao House

The construction of this house is based on Kaithapara Forest Cocoa, Kerala, India (72%). It is filled with Bolivian cocoa bean Carambinas, roasted and wrapped with Kaithapara chocolate, and finally finished with white chocolate. This Easter monkey will not leave indifferent any diner sitting at the table, as it highlights the high level of detail.

L’Atelier Barcelona: Proposals for all tastes from Eric Ortuño and Ximena Pastor

Other creative Easter cakes can be found at L’Atelier Barcelona. This year, they have brought together different cultural contexts to unleash the varieties of this very traditional dessert. Using the base of the United States, England, Italy and Spain, Eric Ortuño and Ximena Pastor ttransform this dessert into a cultural assortment of flavor.

The union of creativity, tradition and avant-garde result in these revealing monas that encourage the evolution of haute cuisine. Below we show you the four monas they have created.

Koons (America)

From the Americas, the “Koons” monkey takes its inspiration and its name from the work of artist Jeff Koons. This monkey comes in the shape of the common playground dog balloons, so it will not go unnoticed among the little ones. These “Koons”, are available in different colors and flavors, and rest on top of crunchy praline tablets.

In this monkey also falls a very special initiative, and is that, L’Atelier will raffle the monkey “Koons” of a meter both wide and high reaching out to child cancer research.  The only requirement to participate is to make a donation to the FERO Foundation, proceeds which will go to fund a pediatric oncology project. On Monday, April 5, l’Atelier will reveal the winner among all participants. Who will be the lucky one?

Banksy (England)

It is not the first time that L’Atelier bets to include Banksy, since last Christmas he starred in the solidarity nougat “Open Arms”. Arriving from England, this second proposal among the Easter monkeys, is presented simulating a brick wall. It brings the urban art vision of the protagonist with the print of one of the artist’s most memorable graffiti. This mona has the option for the customer to personalize it with their favorite photograph, you can eat your own work of art.

La Colomba Pasquale (Italy)

We move to the beautiful Italy, to rescue one of its most typical Easter sweets, “La Colomba Pasquale”. A cross-shaped spongy dough containing: orange, candied fruit and almond icing. It is the first cousin of the Panettone, but unlike it, the Easter sweet does not have raisins inside.

The traditional monkey (Spain)

We end this international gastronomic tour with the Easter monkey as we know it in Spain. L’Atelier presents two cakes topped with a Valrhona chocolate nest, and three eggs that reveal a mango compote and a coconut mousse inside. The sponge cake is what makes the difference between the two sweets, and is that on one side we have a sponge cake and coconut mousse with creamy mango and crunchy chocolate, and on the other, a sacher of mango passion and tender chocolate sponge cake.

Cristian Escribà: The step by step of craftsmanship

This year the creativity of Cristian Escribà is beyond the tangible. This spring, all Easter monas from the pastry shop Escribà will include a QR code in chocolate that will reveal a hidden video showing the process of creating the mona. Each mona will have its creation process recorded, so that customers will be able to appreciate both the craftsmanship and its originality and exclusivity.

What is not new this year is that all Cristian Escribà’s designs are original. The fact that the monas are handmade, gives them the essence of a unique piece characteristic of the bakery. Proof that each mona is unique in its essence is the numbered card that is found on each one of them.

Another novelty that includes the Escribà bakery, is its first campaign with online sales. The format will be click & collect, giving the customer the ability to buy online and pick up the product in the store. This initiativetends to preserve the structure of the mona, as they are fragile and difficult to transport with an external courier company.

This year the master confectioners have not left us indifferent. With each passing year, the originality and quality of the product is increasing and this 2021 could not be a point of decline. If any Easter monkey has taken over your admiration, do not hesitate to try it, these exquisite creations will sweeten your Easter.

All images have been provided by the brands mentioned above.