Butterfly-Shaped Cake

Ingredients

• soft butter (for springform base)
• soft flour (for springform base)
• 8 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• 175 g sugar
• 175 g flour
• 50 g cornstarch
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 4 sheets gelatin
• 250 g pineapple canned (unsweetened; with juice)
• 50 ml orange juice
• 50 g sugar
• 200 g quark
• 200 g Cream cheese
• 200 ml whipping cream
• 2 pineapple rings (canned)
• 3 strawberries
• 1 untreated lime
• 2 tbsp chopped pistachios
• 400 ml whipping cream
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar
• 2 packets whipped cream stabilizer
• lemon balm leaf

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Brush the bottoms of two springforms (26 and 18 cm diameter) with butter and dust with flour.

2. 2.

   Separate the eggs for the sponge. Beat the egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating into a glossy, firm meringue. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder; fold into the yolks alternately and gradually into the meringue. Pour into the prepared pans and bake for about 35 minutes (test with a skewer). Remove from oven and cool. Then release from the molds and cut each base horizontally in half. Place each base on a cake ring.

3. 3.

   Soak gelatin sheets in cold water. Drain the pineapple well, reserving the juice. Chop the pineapple finely. Refill the juice to 100 ml with orange juice and warm with sugar. Stir in the drained gelatin and pineapple pieces; let cool lukewarm. Mix quark with cream cheese until smooth. Take 4 tbsp of the mixture, stir into the pineapple juice, then fold into the remaining cream (temperature balancing). Fold in stiffly beaten whipped cream. Spread the filling over both bases and place the top layer on. Chill for at least 2 hours.

4. 4.

   For decoration, pat dry the pineapple rings, cut them horizontally and slice into 3–4 cm wide pieces for butterfly wings. Cut small notches along the outer edges. Wash, trim, and slice strawberries into halves. Rinse lime hot, dry, and zest the peel.

5. 5.

   Beat whipped cream with powdered sugar and stabilizer until firm. Use it to cover both cakes and stack them on top of each other.

6. 6.

   Arrange pineapple, strawberry, and lime zest butterflies on the cake, gently pressing into the whipped cream. Sprinkle pistachios and garnish with lemon balm before serving.