Colomba: The Delicious Italian Easter Cake

In Italy, this sugary confection marks the coming of Spring. With its beautiful gift-wrapping and signature dove shape, its hard to resist purchasing one for the household. Perfect as a gift, a sweet treat after dinner, or simply a late night snack, here is everything you need to know about this light and fluffy gourmet treat.

What's Up With The Dove?

The traditional Colomba cake was first sighted in Milano, Italy. There are many different stories speculating the reason for the signature Dove design. One legend states that the cake was created to commemorate the 1176 Lombardian victory over the Holy Roman Empire, when two doves were sighted on the battleground. Another story bows its head to a young girl in the sixth century who offered the cake as tribute to a vicious and tyrannical King. Enamored with the cake, the King spared the little girls hometown and set her and her family free. Who knows what the specific origins of the cake actually are, but it's safe to assume anything worth sparing a village and its people is worth our time today!

How Is It Made?

The list of ingredients needed to create the Colomba Cake include:

• Farm Fresh Eggs
• Butter
• High Quality Flour
• Sugar
• Natural Yeast
• Sliced Almonds

The iconic cake is baked in the dove design and garnished with almonds and pearl sugar, along with cherries and honey in other versions. Even the bravest souls hesitate when considering making the cake from scratch- It is common to simply purchase one off the shelves as the process for making this cake is delicate and time-consuming. Don't fear....We carry enough of these cakes here at Nick's to spare you the time and effort!

What Does It Go Well With?

We're going to leave it up to you to decide what to eat it with - We can say for  certain that there are no limits when it comes to food pairing, and this dessert is no exception. We CAN offer some suggestions though...

• Fresh Mixed Berries
• Whipped Cream
• Ice Cream
• Dark Chocolate
• Nutella
• Prosecco (or any dessert wine)

Eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner....by yourself or with a friend... 

One suggestion to pair with the cake that we know you will LOVE is any of our imported Greek and Italian wines that are carried in-store. We will discuss the different wines carried in upcoming posts, so stay tuned.

Limited supply as these cakes go by FAST...come by our store today to purchase one of these delights and see for yourself what all the hype is about. We promise you won't be disappointed!