When I was a little girl, my grandmother always baked a coconut cake for Easter. She decorated it with the green grass, jelly beans, and peeps. I thought it was the greatest thing in the world! It was a tradition that became synonymous with this Spring holiday.Both of my grandmothers are incredible bakers, so I believe this is where I inherited the love for sweet creations. This year, I decided to start the Easter cake tradition for the crumb. Hand-painted blown eggs (a definite labor of love) set perfectly atop my double-layered coconut cake along with the crumb's squeal of "Pink Eggs!" would definitely make my grandmother proud!
I would love to know your fondest Easter/Springtime memories.....
[Reverie-Daydream Images]
We always had the cake shaped like a lamb...oh and the butter too! LOL...one year our cat jumped on the table and licked the lambs head off! Good time!
ReplyDeletewell it is coming into Autumn here so for me Easter is about starting the wood fire for the first time of the year, roast lamb, green beans, lemon curd cake, fish pie, and Easter Egg hunts in the garden.
ReplyDeleteAnd I must ask how can you have such a beautiful coconutty cake with no recipe?
Your cake looks absolutely beautiful! My fondest memory is of my Mum hiding all her handmade chocolate nests and chocolate bunnies she had made for us in the garden. Have a sweet day!
ReplyDeleteThe cake sounds delicious for the tummy and eyes.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite memory was taking those chocolate Cadbury eggs and picking all the blue colored ones out. Then I would find twigs from outside and make my version of a "Robins Nest"
Not fair..you can not post a pic of that yummy cake up when it is so far away from me ;) Nice job, it looks amazing! Cabbage soup for lunch and coconut cake for dinner! x
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely tradition...my memories of Easter..have always been how sick I would feel for days afterward because of consuming way too many chocolate eggs..and I still hold that tradition today..lol
ReplyDeleteYummy coconut cake-my favorite! Now that we have family living closer, we are just now starting our traditions. I think coconut cupcakes and a fairly traditional Easter dinner for most-with lots of fresh veggies for those of us that prefer those.
ReplyDeleteah! What a beautiful cake! I love any excuse to eat copious amounts of chocolate.
ReplyDeleteNow all you gotta do is post your recipe for you favourite coconut cake! i"m a coconut FEIND!!! Please do tell!
ReplyDeletePs. It's so pretty and elegant too :)
ReplyDeleteNow that is a perfect coconut cake, Melissa! If I lived nearby I might try to find an excuse to pop by. Can one stop by to borrow a slice of cake? Is that done?
ReplyDeleteI have lots of lovely Easter memories, but maybe one of the best was the year my mum came to visit us when we were in Indiana for grad school. We cooked and baked together a lot that weekend, and I remember making a particularly wonderful lemon meringue pie with her.
Happy Easter & Happy Spring! xoxo Gigi
I am so impressed! Are the eggs edible? That is one gorgeous cake. Sadly, I don't think we have any easter rituals...but I do love to bake year-round! This weekend, I made a yellow cake. Unfortunately, Dublin the black lab counter-surfed while we were out and demolished it! bad dog!
ReplyDeleteSuper yummy-looking cake. Will be trying my hand a lemon coconut version this weekend. Favorite Easter memory? The corsages my mother, grandmother, sister and I would wear to church. Old school Southern for sure but special to a little girl!
ReplyDeleteYour coconut cake is divine. Love your decoration! How fun to keep the tradition alive. My memories would be the seeking in the garden, my grandparents gardens and our own. Oh, and that cute cute little basket to store the eggs.... so lovely, thank you for having me recollecting! xo
ReplyDeleteoooh la la sweet one...love it! Those eggs are amazing as well.xoxoxo Happy Monday!
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to have traditions as a family. My parents use to hide the Easter eggs that we colored the night before. Then they would hide the Easter basket - what fun!
ReplyDeleteThat is GORGEOUS!!!!!
ReplyDeletelovely cake! :)
ReplyDeletemy grandma and i always make chocolate easter eggs and bombons for the family.. every year we try different designs.. this time we'll give it a go to polka dots..
i love that tradition!
have a wonderful easter time!!
ps: do you think you could share the recipe for your coconut cake? ;)
oh I love Easter so much. I am having an egg hunt with 40 kiddos on Friday so this is the perfect thing make. It is beautiful. ox
ReplyDeleteOh that is painfully sweet to imagine - can't we have a slice in the mail? I suppose that is exactly what we've been given - a slice of cake in the blog mail :)
ReplyDeleteYour friends and family are so lucky to get to eat it!!
Loved the reflection of memory inspiring to make an Easter coconut cake - your gran would have been proud!
This post made me smile! Love your family's coconut cake tradition and that you are passing it on to your sweet girl. Beautiful.
ReplyDeletexoox,
-maria
One of my fav scents and tastes is coconut, your grandmothers cake must have been delicious!
ReplyDeleteHope your week is off to a fabulous start :)
Mel, this is surely the most wonderful Easter cake! So lovely and colorful..I'm sure Petite Miette was delighted !!
ReplyDelete:-)
ps: i've passed on the Beautiful Blogger award to you...xoxo
so cute and festive!
ReplyDeletei'm not a huge fan of easter. i just don't get the hype, aside from the religous aspect. i really haven't celebrated in years but the fam does have brunch just to get together so i guess there's some tradition.
have a fab week mel!
yum! i love coconut cake!
ReplyDeletei'm hosting a giveaway i think you might like i hope you'll check it out:
http://www.wild-and-precious.com/2010/03/whimsey-giveaway.html
That coconut cake looks divine! How gorgeous! It looks too pretty to eat!
ReplyDeleteOur family doesn't really have an Easter Tradition food-wise, but we always had Open House where any one can pop in for breakfast lunch or dinner. We do that at Christmas too, and can have anywhere up to 60 guests.
Mel your cake is so lovely! Our Easter tradition is a continuation of my Easters spent as a child and adult with my English and Italian Grandmothers in Upstate NY. I cook all the traditional Easter Pies, both sweet and savory, always something with coconut, cupcakes for the kids, A glazed baked ham, homemade bread with a lemon icing, side dishes etc. We always have an Easter egg hunt in our gardens and woods with all our pets, family, friends and even our bunnies are out and about. Of course I love to do this in a special Easter dress wearing my wellies and yes even to this day someone buys my an Easter corsage. ( and we go to Church) It is so lovely.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter Mel
xoxo
My grandmother always made coconut cakes too...and I never liked them. I typically sat there, picking off every last piece of coconut before I would eat the cake. But they always looked so pretty. And yours is just gorgeous -- so perfect for spring.
ReplyDeleteDear Mel,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous cake, No wonder your little crumb squealed with delight.
I always remember lily of the valley, Easter eggs and roast chicken. A wonderful time was always had by all....especially the Easter eggs. XXXX
HI Mel
ReplyDeleteThat cake is a work of art... and I'm sure any little girls dream cake.. Well easter in Australia is autumn.. so it's always a little strange to associate easter with spring.. although advertising and media always has... just another upside down factor of living in the southern hemisphere.. Have a fab week xxx Julie
Receipe please! Wadding in shallow oceans with my grandparents off the South African coast and finding pebbles and making faces out of shells and seaweed etc. So fun!
ReplyDeleteThat's a delicious & beautiful tradition Mel!
ReplyDeleteI'm certain your grandmother would be so proud~
xo*
That is a gorgeous cake! And a lovely tradition to continue. I am sure both your grandmothers would be proud. I would be.
ReplyDeletehow beautiful! I bet it tastes delicious as well... as for my memories I remember waking up on easter and having this huge nest in my bed filled with chocolate eggs... my siblings and I would then start the egg hunt through the house. my mom would place bunny footsteps everywhere! she still does :)
ReplyDeletewow you're cake is amazing! looks scrumptious too. no easter traditions here. it always sneaks up on me!
ReplyDeleteOh my, I love your story. That is so sweet. And your cake looks lovely. Easter is my favorite holiday. I love all the colors and sweet treats. My great grandmother always had a beautiful table scape of cute little bunnies and eggs and fake grass and candles. It always felt magical. I have a cake mold to make a giant easter egg that I'm thinking of using again. Care to share your coconut cake recipe?
ReplyDeleteGASP! this is so gorgeous! absolutely beautiful! i don't like coconut, but i LOVE the way it looks!
ReplyDeleteHi Mel, .Coconut Cake is my favorite!!! This is so cute for Easter, love it.
ReplyDeletemy goodness that was a labor of love and I bet your crumb will love his tradition as much as you did as a kid! love the eggs!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like an amazing cake! I can only imagine all possible color combinations!:-)You will, probably, not believe it, but growing up in Russia coconut seemed like something out of the Fairy Tale to me.We were also prohibited to celebrate Easter. The very first time I tryed coconut cake was when I came here, to the USA. I was 26. Your post insired me to make a coconut cake for Easter too. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe always had coconut cake, too - guess it is a Southern thing! LOVE the gorgeous eggs!
ReplyDeleteWe always spend Easter holidays all toghether at my granny's home in Tuscany and we always have the rice and choicolate cake! A fantastic cake but I love your too...any recipe , please?
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how people either love or hate coconut but girl, I could eat coconut for every meal! Love it! And these cakes? Oh how my mouth is watering. DEE-LISH-US!
ReplyDeleteoh my family cooks coconut cake sometimes too! So yummy! I hope you have a great Easter this coming Sunday!! xo
ReplyDeleteOh, girl! Where's the recipe? I love coconut cakes, but haven't attempted making one before. Your photos are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteYour cake is surreal! How can anything be so perfect? My mom and grandmother always went all out at Easter. I loved blowing holes through the eggs to get the yolk out and then painting them and hanging them on the Easter tree centerpiece. My mom still has them! She's a good packer!
ReplyDeleteMel, my mother did as well! It was always topped with a colored coconut nest and jelly bean eggs!
ReplyDeleteSo fun.
Karena
Art by Karena
that cake is darling!
ReplyDeletecompletely and utterly fabulous! this cake looks so good!
ReplyDeletexx
callie
I must have missed this post Mel! How cute it that cake? And what great memories you have of your grandmas...and passing this down to your little crumb. Hope you had a happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteSleepless in SF...