The real apotheosis of the festive table is the cake. The more significant the reason for the celebration, the more difficult it is to choose the recipe for this sweet delicacy. For example, for Valentine's Day or for a wedding, you can bake a delicious and beautiful cake "Castle of Love".
How to make a biscuit for the "Castle of Love" cake
"Castle of Love" refers to biscuit cakes. Therefore, its preparation should be started by baking a lush biscuit base. For this you will need:
- 3 eggs;
- 100 g brown sugar;
- 1 tbsp. l. starch;
- 80 g flour.
First of all, separate the whites from the yolks and refrigerate, and mash the yolks with half a serving of brown sugar. In this case, the mass should increase by 2-3 times. Beat the whites separately with a mixer until they increase in volume by about 3-4 times. After that, gradually, without ceasing to beat, add the remaining sugar. Continue whisking until a firm, stiff foam is obtained. Combine the mashed yolks with the whipped whites. To make the biscuit more fluffy, combine flour with starch and mix well. Then put half of the egg mass into the flour mixture, and slowly, for 5 minutes, thoroughly mix all the ingredients. The foam should completely absorb the flour and the dough should be smooth. Then add the other half of the egg mass and mix again until smooth.
Bake the sponge cake immediately after kneading the dough. Heat an ovenproof dish in a hot oven, grease it with oil and line the bottom with parchment paper. Pour the biscuit dough into a mold and place in the oven. Bake the biscuit for 35-45 minutes at a temperature of 200-220 ° C.
Leave the baked sponge cake to cool in the mold, then remove it from the mold, free it from the parchment and put it on a dish. After baking, the biscuit should "rest" for 4 hours and only then it can be cut and soaked in cream.
Meringue and cream
"Castle of Love" is a complex cake. In addition to the biscuit, it is also necessary to prepare the meringue, cream and impregnation.
For a meringue you will need:
- 3 egg whites;
- 100 g sugar or powdered sugar;
- 2 tbsp. l. starch;
- 1 glass of walnut kernels.
Chill the egg whites well, then beat with sugar or powdered sugar until firm, strong foam. Grind the walnut kernels in a blender or mortar and mix with potato starch. Then combine very carefully with the whites and stir gently with a wooden spatula. Cover the baking sheet with parchment, put the meringue on it and put it in the oven for an hour and a half to bake at a temperature of 100 ° C. After this time, leave the finished meringue in the oven until it cools completely.
Prepare syrup to soak the biscuit. For him you will need:
- ¾ glass of water;
- 100 g of sugar;
- orange peel.
Pour granulated sugar into the water, stir, put on a low heat and bring to a boil. Then add a little orange zest and, stirring, cook the syrup until the sugar is completely dissolved.
For the Castle of Love cake, it is recommended to use custard with mascarpone. To prepare the cream, you need to take the following components:
- 2 eggs;
- 80 g flour;
- 100 g of granulated sugar;
- 2 glasses of milk;
- 250 g mascarpone cheese.
Pour milk into an enamel bowl with a thick bottom and put on low heat. While the milk is heating, grind the eggs with granulated sugar in a bowl until smooth. Then add flour and stir well so that there are no lumps. Reduce heat to low and start pouring hot milk into the cooked mass a little bit, stirring thoroughly. When about 1/3 of the milk remains in the saucepan, pour the contents of the bowl to it and, without increasing the heat and constantly stirring, let the flour simmer. Make sure there are no lumps. Then remove the pan from the heat, cover it with cling film and let the cream cool. Then add the mascarpone cheese and beat everything well with a mixer.
Assembling the cake "Castle of Love"
Cut the biscuit into 2 layers and saturate each with sugar syrup. Apply a thick layer of cream to one of the layers, put the meringue on top, spread it with cream too and cover with the second soaked layer. Brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cream.
To decorate the cake, fry the almond crumbs in a dry frying pan until golden brown and, after cooling, sprinkle the sides of the cake with almonds. Melt white and dark chocolate in a water bath or microwave. Spread them over the waffle cones and set them on the cake, like the towers of the castle. Garnish with walnut kernels and leftover meringues.
