Bakers expect to sell up to 900,000 “Mones de Pasqua”, the traditional Catalan Easter cake

Barcelona (ACN).- Around the world people celebrate Easter with a range of different activities, and eating delicious cakes is one of them. Different countries or regions have developed different recipes. In Catalonia, Easter is associated with "mona de Pasqua" ("mones" in plural), a cake topped with chocolate figurines. This year, Catalan bakers expect to sell between 800,000 and 900,000 of them. Elies Miró, Chairman of the Patisserie Guild of Barcelona, confirms that he is "moderately optimistic", expecting sales to increase by 2% over 2014 figures. According to 2015 estimates, each Catalan family will spend on average between €40 and €50 on this Easter cake. The most popular versions of "mones" are still those made with butter, chocolate and candied fruit. This year, the top most-wanted characters are princesses Anna and Elsa from Disney Animation movie Frozen. The younger kids also request Peppa Pig or figures related to the Barcelona football club.

These days, Catalan bakers are working at full speed in order to prepare "mones de Pasqua", the traditional Easter Catalan cake. This sweet gift is made of a cake topped by chocolate figurines of different shapes and sizes, ranging from small chocolate eggs to one-metre-high chocolate castles. Nowadays, the marzipan and sweet fruit cakes are considered the traditional ones, although in the last decades chocolate cakes and other creations have been receiving a large part of the “mona” market share. Most of the people buy their "mones" on Good Friday or Easter Monday. According to estimates for 2015, in Barcelona province alone between 460,000 and 480,000 "mones" will be sold.

In Girona, between 135,000 and 140,000 cakes will be sold, 10,000 more than in 2014

In the Province of Girona, it is expected that Easter 2015 will be "a little bit more lively" than the previous year in terms of sales. In particular, estimates predict that between 135,000 and 140,000 "mones" will be sold, about 10,000 more than in 2014. "On Palm Sunday, a lot of people already bought their "mona" with "tortell de rams""(another Easter Catalan pastry typically O-shaped), said Josep Costa, Chairman of the Patisserie Guild of Girona. In this Catalan city, most of the bakeries decided to keep last year's prices. "We did not want to modify anything. We want to give customers quality," said Costa.

In Tarragona, last year's sales will be matched, for a total of 50,000 "mones" sold

In the Province of Tarragona, the Patisserie Guild is confident of matching last year's sales for a total of 50,000 "mones" sold, but does not rule out the possibility that this figure will increase. Vice-Chairman of the Patisserie Guild Josep González, underlined that customers tend to buy increasingly smaller "mones". "Before it was normal to buy a 6-kilo "mona" for the whole family but currently the largest ones bought weigh a kilo-and-a-half", he explained. People tend to prefer very elaborate chocolate figures and the last few years' prices have remained stable, varying between €30 and €35 per kilo. With regard to flavours, cakes made with candied fruit are still the most requested.

In Lleida, bakers think that 2015 sales will exceed the 2014 figures by 5%

In the Province of Lleida, bakers think that 2015 sales will exceed the 2014 figures by 5%, showing a deal of optimism. According to the Patisserie Guild's estimates, 177,000 "mones" will be sold, which means 7,000 more than last year. Manuel Llaràs, Chairman of the Patisserie Guild in Lleida explained that this increase can be attributed to two main factors. First, this year, Easter Monday falls at the beginning of the month, when families' purchasing power is higher. Second, weather forecasts suggest that there will be good weather, something that will encourage more people to go out and eat this traditional cake. In Lleida, bakers will bet on consolidating initiatives already undertaken by the Guild during previous years, such as making cakes suitable for celiacs, diabetics or the traditional "mona" with chocolate eggs. The local Patisserie Guild will also organise a charity collection of "mones" to be distributed to soup kitchens in the Catalan city.