Chocolate Strawberry Cream Cake

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 150 g sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 75 g flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 70 g cornstarch
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 40 ml coffee
• 40 ml cognac
• 3 sheets gelatin
• 70 ml orange juice
• 200 g whipping cream
• 0.5 lemon (juice and grated zest, untreated)
• 300 g mascarpone
• 200 g Low-fat quark
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 500 g strawberries
• 500 g whipping cream
• 2 packets vanilla sugar
• 1 packet stabilizer
• 100 g white chocolate couverture
• mint

Instructions

1. 1.

   Separate the eggs for the chocolate strawberry cream cake. Beat the yolks with sugar and salt until fluffy. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Mix flour, cocoa, cornstarch, and baking powder. Fold the meringue into the yolk mixture, sift the dry mix over it, and fold again.

2. 2.

   Pour the batter into a greased springform pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C (fan 160 °C; gas: level 2–3) for about 25 minutes. Remove the sponge, let it rest slightly, then take it out of the pan and allow it to cool completely.

3. 3.

   Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water. Warm the orange juice and dissolve the gelatin in it. Whip the cream until stiff.

4. 4.

   Combine mascarpone and quark, stir in sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Gradually fold in the whipped cream. Stir 2–3 tbsp of the mascarpone mixture into the orange‑gelatin liquid, then mix everything back into the mascarpone base.

5. 5.

   Wash and clean the strawberries. Set aside at least ten beautiful whole berries; slice or cut the rest into pieces and fold them into the cream.

6. 6.

   Cut the sponge horizontally. Place the cake base on a cake plate, set a ring around it. Drizzle half of the coffee and cognac over the base.

7. 7.

   Fill in the mascarpone cream and smooth it out. Pinch holes in the top layer with a fork several times, place it on the cake, drizzle with the remaining coffee and brandy. Cover and refrigerate for 3–4 hours.

8. 8.

   For decoration whip the cream with vanilla sugar and stabilizer until stiff. Remove the ring. Coat the cake with the whipped cream. Scrape white chocolate shavings from the couverture with a paring knife; decorate the cake with the remaining strawberries, mint leaves, and chocolate shavings.