Gift Cake

⏳ Time

2 hours

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

The main success of the 'Gift Cake' lies in the perfect contrast of textures: the softest sponge cake and coarse nuts. On New Year's Eve, this cake is perfect for visiting friends - as if you brought it from a famous bakery on Main Street, along with some cream-filled pastries.

Ingredients

Chicken Egg - 5 pieces
Wheat Flour - 4.4 oz
Sugar - 12.3 oz
Peanut Sprouts - 4.2 oz
Butter - 6 oz
Milk - 3 fl oz
Rum - 1 tablespoon
Cognac - 2 spoons
Vanilla salt - 0.2 oz
Powdered Sugar - 1 tablespoon

Step by Step guide

Step 1

The syrup for soaking the sponge cake should be prepared first—it needs to be cold. Pour 110 ml of hot water over 100 grams of granulated sugar and heat until boiling. Let it cool, then add rum and a tablespoon of brandy.

Step 2

Take four eggs, separating the whites from the yolks, and beat them separately: the yolks with 80 grams of sugar until you get a thick, light cream, and the whites first until stiff peaks form, then add 40 grams of sugar and beat until you achieve a dense mixture.

Step 3

Combine the egg whites with the egg yolks. Add 120 grams of sifted flour, mix thoroughly, and pour the batter into a greased and floured (preferably square) baking pan, smoothing the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 392°F for 25–30 minutes. Allow the sponge cake to cool and rest for half a day at room temperature.

Step 4

For the "Charlotte" cream, mix 130 grams of sugar with one egg, and then add 90 ml of milk. Stirring constantly, heat the mixture over low heat until it reaches a boil, then simmer for a few more minutes — the mixture should become translucent yellow and sticky. Allow it to cool to room temperature.

Step 5

Beat 160 grams of butter, gradually adding the chilled milk-sugar mixture, then add vanilla sugar and a spoonful of cognac.

Step 6

Cut the rested sponge cake in half and soak the layers with syrup. Spread cream on one layer and cover it with the second sponge layer. Use the remaining cream to frost the top and sides of the cake.

Step 7

Roast the peanuts in the oven at 356°F for 15 minutes. Shell the nuts and chop them into coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the cake with the nuts and refrigerate for 2–3 hours. Before serving, dust the cake with powdered sugar.