Easter (“Pascua”) is an important time in the Spanish holiday calendar. After looking back on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus during the Holy Week (“Semana Santa”), Easter is a joyful and sweet celebration.
Even though the tradition varies slightly in each region, Easter is mostly celebrated by eating the “Easter cake”, which in Catalonia is known as “Mona”. Children receive a “Mona” from their godfather each year until they’re 12. Traditionally, the godfather would pick it up on Sunday and on Easter Monday the whole family would go to the countryside and eat the “Mona”, like a picnic.
The cake has changed a lot through the years, from a simple sponge cake decorated with hard-boiled eggs (as many as the child’s age), to a multiple-layer cake decorated with sophisticated chocolate figures. The three essential elements to call a cake a “Mona” are: little chick figurines, colored feathers and chocolate eggs.
In Spain you’ll see these “Monas” in bakeries, cake shops and supermarkets from about a week before Easter Monday until a week after, approximately. Don’t be shy to order your perfect “Mona”, they’re usually customizable in flavor and figurines!
Have you ever tried the Easter cake “Mona”? How is Easter celebrated in your country?
Let us know in the comments!
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*Imagen Mona de Pascua por CPGXK. Extraída de Flickr, con licencia Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
