Summery strawberry cake with ganache

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 6 eggs
• 200 g wheat flour type 405 or type 550
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 6 tbsp water, hot
• 200 g sugar
• 2 pinches of salt
• 3 drops butter-vanilla flavoring
• 3 tbsp strawberry jam
• 500 g strawberries
• 2 packs of cream powder (paradise cream vanilla)
• 600 ml cream
• 150 ml cream
• 300 g dark chocolate coating
• 50 ml cream
• 150 g white chocolate coating
• Food coloring

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours 50 minutes

for a 20cm springform pan

For the cake, bake two layers in a 20cm springform pan. Use half of each of the dough ingredients and make everything twice in a row. Please do not make the dough for the second layer until the first one has come out of the oven. If everything is made at the same time, the baking powder will lose its strength and the second layer will not be fluffy. If you have two 20cm pans, you can of course bake them both together. Preheat the oven to 180°C (top/bottom heat). Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. When the peaks are stiff, add half of the sugar and beat for a minute until the sugar has dissolved. Transfer the beaten egg whites to a large bowl. Pour the egg yolks into the mixing bowl and pour in the hot water. Beat until light and creamy. Add the remaining sugar and the flavoring and beat for a minute until the sugar has dissolved. Add the egg yolk mixture to the egg whites and sift the flour and baking powder into the large bowl. Carefully fold everything in until a smooth batter forms. I personally always line the springform pan with parchment paper, as I’ve found that a greased pan doesn’t allow the edges to rise as well, creating a “hump” in the middle. Simply place the parchment paper on the bottom of the pan and stretch the edge over it. I then trim off the excess with scissors and carefully place it on the edge. Bake in the preheated oven on the middle rack for about 30 minutes. Do the skewer test and bake for an additional 5 minutes if necessary. The cake layers can be removed from the pan immediately and set aside to cool. To layer the cake, cut each of the cooled cake layers in half to create 4 layers. Wash the strawberries, remove the green parts, and cut into small cubes. Set aside 3 roughly equal-sized strawberries for decoration. Quarter these strawberries to create 12 strawberry quarters. Make the paradise cream using cream instead of milk, following the package instructions. This makes it more stable and a bit firmer, but not as heavy as buttercream. Spread 1 tablespoon of strawberry jam on the bottom layer and then add a third of the strawberries. Spread some of the paradise cream over the strawberries. Place the second layer on top and press down gently, but with a little force. Repeat with layers 2 and 3, then place the fourth layer on top and press down. Spread the remaining paradise cream on top and sides of the cake. If strawberries are still peeking out, don’t worry, as the ganache will go on top. The cake should rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. For the ganache, bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, cut the chocolate coating into small pieces and place in a bowl. Pour the boiled cream over the top and wait 2-3 minutes. Using a spoon or chopstick, stir the chocolate until it forms a smooth, lump-free mixture. The ganache should now have the consistency of slightly runny Nutella, but not be too runny. If it’s still too runny, just let it cool for a few more minutes. Cover the cake with the ganache and refrigerate until ready to serve. I also used a drip topping: this uses a white ganache that can be colored. I used 50 ml of cream and 150 g of white chocolate coating. It’s made the same way as the dark chocolate ganache. If you want to color the ganache, you have to color the cream while it’s boiling and then add the colored cream to the chocolate. Then carefully spread the drip topping around the edge of the cake with a tablespoon, allowing a little to run down. Simply spread the rest on top for a nice, even surface. Note: I deliberately used a dark chocolate ganache because whole milk and especially white chocolate are much too sweet, and I find the slight contrast between the sweet paradise cream and the dark chocolate perfect. In the picture you can see that I used a cake topper made of edible paper (available in 20 cm) and a drip topping.