Michaela cake

Chocolate base:

• Flour – 230 g
• Cocoa powder – 65 g
• Baking powder – 10 g
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Sugar – 250 g
• Vanilla sugar – 10 g
• Large eggs – 2
• Butter (soft, of room temperature) – 60 g
• Oil – 60 g
• Milk (room temperature) – 260 g
• Walnuts (chopped) – 100 g

Meringue base:

• Cashew nuts – 100 g
• Egg whites – 4
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Sugar – 80 g
• Vanilla sugar – 20 g
• Cornflour – 2 heaped tbsp

Cream:

• Butter (soft, of room temperature) – 360 g
• Condensed milk – 280 g
• Cocoa powder – a little

Cream for covering the cake:

• Double cream – 300 ml
• Icing sugar – 50 g
• Ice cream cone, melted chocolate, coloured sprinkles – for decoration (optional)

Method is explained and illustrated below. Enjoy! 🙂 🍰

The chocolate sponge base is very quick and easy to make, so you may start pre-heating your over to 160 C right away.
Sift the flour into the main bowl…

Sift the cocoa powder…

Add the baking powder…

… and salt…

… and sugar…

… and vanilla sugar…

… and mix all the dry ingredients together.

Add eggs…

… and butter…

… and oil and milk…

… and walnuts…

… and mix together (not for a long time, just to combine all the ingredients).

Prepare the baking tray. I covered the bottom with the parchment paper and slightly greased the sides of the tray.
Bake in the pre-heated oven at 160 C for about 50 minutes.

The sponge base may crack up a little in the oven – don’t worry about it, you can cut off the cracked top once the base has cooled off.
When it’s ready, take it out of the oven…

… run a sharp knife round the edges, and take it out of the tray.

Flip it round, take the parchment paper of the bottom and let the sponge base cool on the rack.

Now, make the meringue layer.
Separate the whites from yolks…

… put the yolks away, and whisk the whites until foamy.

Add the lemon juice…

… and sugar…

… and whisk until you get hard peaks.

That’s what your REAL hard peaks are like – when you turn the bowl upside down, they stay in it! Cool! 🙂

Now, add the chopped cashew nuts…

… and the cornflour…

… and mix it all together gently, in a slow motion and in one direction, lifting the mixture from the bottom of the bowl.

Cover the bottom of the tray with parchment paper and place the batter into the tray.

You do not have to pre-heat the oven – just put the tray into it while it’s still cold, and only then switch the oven on. To improve the air circulation, you may leave the door slightly open, using a small object to hold it in place (I used a wine cork); and if your oven is fan-assisted, it’s even better. Bake at 150 C for about 2 hours or longer, until the meringue turns hard all through.

When the meringue is ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool slightly…

Then run the knife round the edges, take it out of the tray and leave to cool.

Now, make the cream.
Place the butter into the bowl (butter should be soft and of room temperature…)

… and whisk until light and fluffy.

Add condensed milk…

… and whisk to combine.

Sift in the cocoa powder…

… and whisk to combine.

Now it’s the time to assemble the cake.
Carefully cut the upper crust off the chocolate layer, and then cut it into 2 layers.

Break the upper crust into crumbs and put aside for decorating the cake.

Place the chocolate layer onto the cake base…

… and cover it with cream.

Now, cut the rough edges off the meringue layer…

… and put it on top of the cream layer, rough side down.

Cover the meringue layer with remaining cream…

… and cover it with the second chocolate layer.

Now, make the cream to cover the cake.
Whisk the cream until fluffy and glossy, but be careful not to over-whisk.

Add the icing sugar, and mix it in. Don’t mix for too long, as the icing sugar melts in really easily.

Cover the cake with the cream and put it in the fridge.

Now, it’s time to decorate the cake.
Break the chocolate into small pieces, place it into a microwavable bowl…

… and melt it in the microwave, in small intervals, stirring after each interval.

Take the cake out of the fridge – it should be cool.
Make a small ball from crumbs off the chocolate layer and remaining cream, and place it on top of the cake.

Place the ice-cream cone on the ball, and gently pour the warm melted chocolate onto the ball and the base of the cone, “gluing” the cone to the ball. Let the chocolate run off the sides of the cake, making drips.
Sprinkle the base of the ice-cream cone and the ball with coloured sprinkles.

And your cake is ready!

It’s absolutely delicious, and the birthday girl loved it 🙂