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 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 with a spoon. Sift flour and cornstarch over the batter and fold in.

2. 2.

   Line a springform pan, pour in the batter, smooth the surface, and bake on medium heat at 180 °C (160 °C fan) for 25–30 minutes. Remove the finished base from the oven, let it cool slightly, then carefully lift it from the pan with a thin knife, transfer to a cooling rack, and chill for at least 2 hours.

3. 3.

   For the vanilla cream 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, fold in flour. Gradually pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture while whisking, then return everything to the pot, remove the vanilla pod, and thicken over low heat by constant stirring (do not boil). Strain the cream through a sieve, cool, and dust the surface lightly with sugar to prevent skin.

5. 5.

   Wash, trim, and pat dry the strawberries. Quarter about one‑quarter of them. Toast the almonds in a dry pan without oil.

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 cream over the upper layer, arrange strawberries decoratively, and sprinkle toasted almond slivers around the edge. Slice the cake into pieces and serve.