Finnish strawberry meringue cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 3 egg yolks
• 150 ml sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 50 ml milk
• 250 ml wheat flour or gluten-free flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 50 ml butter, melted
• 1 egg(s) if using gluten-free flour.
• 3 egg whites
• 250 ml sugar
• 500 ml cream
• 1 kg strawberries and/or blueberries, raspberries, apricots…
• mint
• flowers

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

summery, light and fruity, also available gluten-free, sheet cake, makes about 10 pieces

This recipe makes a two-layer cake the size of half a baking sheet. Sponge cake: Beat the egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla sugar until frothy. Add the milk. Mix the flour and baking powder and stir in. Finally, stir in the cooled, melted butter. Pour the batter onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper and spread evenly. Meringue layer: Beat the egg whites in a dry (!) bowl until stiff peaks form. Slowly (!) add the sugar, continuing to beat. If the mixture becomes runny, just keep beating; it will eventually firm up again. It should be thick enough that it doesn’t run right off the cake, but it doesn’t have to be completely stiff. Spread the meringue foam/cream onto the unbaked sponge cake. Bake the cake at 175°C (top/bottom heat) for about 20 minutes. It’s best to finish the cake just before serving. Filling: Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Wash the fruit and berries, drain, and cut larger fruits like strawberries or apricots into bite-sized pieces. Carefully cut the cooled cake into two equal pieces. Spread half of the cream on one of the cake slices, then arrange half of the berries on top. Place the second cake slice on top and spread the remaining cream on top, then arrange the remaining berries on top. Decorate the fruit with mint leaves and flowers. You can easily replace the wheat flour with a gluten-free flour blend; in this case, add one more egg to the sponge mixture.