Strawberry Almond Cake

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 120 g sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 80 g flour
• 50 g cornstarch
• 200 g strawberry jam
• 0.5 l milk
• 1 Vanilla bean
• 5 egg yolks
• 100 g sugar
• 30 g flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 500 g small strawberries
• 80 g almond slivers

Instructions

1. 1.

   Whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks, adding half of the sugar before they are fully set; continue whisking until the meringue is firm. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until fluffy. Fold the meringue into the yolk mixture using a spoon. Sift flour and cornstarch over the batter and fold in gently.

2. 2.

   Grease a springform pan, pour in the batter, smooth the top, and bake on the middle rack of a preheated oven at 180 °C (160 °C fan; gas: level 2–3) for 25–30 minutes. Remove the finished base from the oven, let it cool slightly, then carefully loosen it from the pan with a thin knife, turn onto a cooling rack and chill for at least two hours.

3. 3.

   For the vanilla custard cut the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and stir them into the milk; bring to a boil.

4. 4.

   Whisk egg yolks with sugar in a bowl, incorporating flour. Gradually pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture while whisking, then return everything to the pot. Remove the vanilla bean and thicken over low heat under constant stirring (do not boil). Strain the custard through a sieve, let it cool, sprinkling a thin layer of sugar on the surface to prevent skin.

5. 5.

   Wash, pit and pat dry the strawberries; quarter about one‑quarter of them. Toast the almonds in a dry pan until fragrant.

6. 6.

   Cut the sponge base horizontally into two layers. Spread strawberry jam on the lower layer, place the upper layer on top. Spread vanilla custard over the top layer, arrange strawberries decoratively, and sprinkle toasted almond slivers around the rim. Slice the cake into pieces and serve.