Hello from Vienna. I’m going to write about a sponge cake, but first I would like to tell something little about Vienna. It’s the third day of our trip and we’ve already been to the Naschmarkt, which is a must when you are in Vienna. The Viennese cuisine has been influenced by many other cultures and includes a wide range of unique dishes; the most known is the “Wiener Schnitzel” of course. Then you have also Tafelspitz (boiled beef), Beuschel (veal lungs and heart ragout), Gulasch and Selchfleisch (smoked meat).
But “Wiener Küche” is best known for its pastries. You can treat yourself with Palatschinken (crêpes), Buchteln (baked goodies filled with apricot jam), dumplings (Germknödel and Marillenknödel) and the two most known Apfelstrudel and Sachertorte. I promise I will make a visit to the Konditorei one of these days.
But for now, I am posting one of the recipes that I did a couple of months ago. My parents came to Hamburg in July for five days. It was a short visit. So I needed to prepare something special, something that could be made in between the “tourist guide” time. I decided for a cake. It was not a Sacher cake but still a cake. I had to make the whole plan. Baking in the evening, cutting, filling and covering the next morning, eating in the evening of the same day.
I started with the base, which was a sponge cake. Really simple, with only four ingredients that are easy to remember. And there is no butter and no yeast or baking powder in this recipe.
Ingredients for 15 cm round sponge cake:
- 100 g sugar
- 100 g flour (type 405)
- 3 eggs (at room temperature)
- vanilla bean
With a small piece of butter (this is the only time I used it in this recipe) grease the baking springform (bottom and sides). Put in 1 spoon of flour and make it cover the inside of the springform. It will stick to the butter. Put the baking form aside.
For the sponge cake put the whole eggs, sugar and vanilla (scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean) in a bowl. Mix with an electric mixer for 15 minutes. I know it sounds long, but at the end, it is just standing there and holding the mixer. It should become pale (very light) yellow and fluffy. To see if it is really ready take some of the mixture with a teaspoon and drop it in the bowl. If it stays at the top and doesn’t sink it is ready.
Then add the flour a little at a time and fold it in with a wooden spoon. Turn on the oven to 160 °C so that it will be warm when you put the “cake to be” in.
After that pour the mixture in the springform that you buttered and floured before. Leave it as it is, don’t use a spoon to make it smooth and don’t shake it.
Put it in the oven for 40 minutes. Don’t open the oven door before the baking time is over. After 40 min place a wooden spoon between the oven door for 10 minutes, so that the hot air goes out slowly. Furthermore, take the cake out, wait for 10 minutes, remove the baking form and flip the cake upside down on a wire rack to cool down.
After the cake was cooled I wrapped it in the transparent foil for food till next morning. Like that the sponge cake doesn’t dry.
The next morning I started with the cake cream. Also, this is simple and with five ingredients.
The cream inside the cake:
- 30 ml whipping cream
- 100 g mascarpone
- 30 g sugar
- vanilla bean
- 2 passion fruits
Put the mascarpone in a bowl and mix it until smooth. I used a spoon. But with a mixer it will also be ok. Then in the second bowl whip the cream. I didn’t use much of it because I didn’t want the filling to be too soft. So, add the whipped cream to mascarpone and mix them with a spoon. Add the vanilla seeds. Done!
Take the sponge cake, place it on the flat side and cut through with a serrated knife (yes, the knife with the teeth on the blade). Try to cut slowly and parallel to the platform, so that you will get two evenly pieces for the two-layer cake. Take the bottom layer and spread the filling cream on it. You can leave it like this or add any fruits of your choice. I added the passion fruit.
Place the second layer on top and press a little. The filling reaching out of the cake is not a problem. With a knife or spatula go around the cake and make it smooth. You can place the cake in the fridge if it is too warm in the kitchen. Be careful that there are no onions or other food with a strong smell in the fridge. The cake could absorb the smell and like that ruin the taste. Imagine an onion sponge cake!
Now the most challenging part. How to make a chocolate glaze without getting dirty? Not possible! Don’t wear white. Hehehehe. And to protect your kitchen I would suggest taking a baking tray, with some baking paper on it. in the middle place a small bowl and on top of it the platform for the cake. Like this, all the excess chocolate will go in the tray and you can still reuse it for a second glaze. I poured the glaze on the cake two or three times.
Chocolate glaze for the sponge cake:
- 120 ml water
- 250 g sugar
- 80 g chocolate
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 80 ml whipping cream (liquid)
- 20 g gelatine powder
Put sugar and water in a pan. As soon as the sugar melts add the whipping cream, cocoa powder and mix with a spoon. Keep stirring all the time. The cocoa powder should dissolve completely. When it is about to boil remove from the stove. Add the chocolate pieces (I used the dark chocolate Easter bunny from Lindt) and continue stirring with a spoon. When it starts cooling down add the gelatine powder and mix it well in. After that pass the chocolate mixture through a fine-mesh sieve (maybe 2 times) until it becomes smooth and glossy. I have noticed that when the mixture gets colder it also gets thicker (like that it really covers the cake). So no worries if the glaze looks too liquid when hot.
Place the cake on the platform (it is good if it is the same size as the cake). Start pouring the chocolate glaze in the middle of the cake and make slow circle motions, slowly moving towards the edge of the cake. Take the excess glaze from the tray and pour it again if necessary.
Place the sponge cake in the fridge, so that the glaze becomes really firm. Serve it with some sweet wine or a tropical cocktail or a simple juice will also work.
A piece of cake! Enjoy!
