Strawberry Grand Marnier Cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 4 eggs
• 4 tbsp water, hot
• 125 g sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 75 g cornstarch
• 75 g flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp, leveled baking powder
• 2 tbsp Grand Marnier
• 800 g cream
• 200 g chocolate (milk)
• 3 packs of cream stiffener
• 1 pack of gelatin, ground
• 500 g strawberries
• n. B. Chocolate shavings, coarse

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

The day before – but at least 5 hours before preparation – combine the chocolate and 400g of cream in a saucepan and melt. The cream should not boil. Let it cool overnight – or at least 5 hours – in the refrigerator. For the sponge cake, beat the egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form. Beat the egg yolks with hot water and sugar until creamy (approx. 6-8 minutes; the volume should almost double and the mixture should be creamy and whitish yellow). Pour the egg whites onto the egg yolk mixture. Sift the starch, flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder onto the egg mixture and fold in. Pour the batter into a 26cm springform pan lined with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for approx. 35 minutes (cover halfway through if necessary). Turn off the oven and let it rest or cool for another 10 minutes. Then remove from the oven and remove from the pan. Peel off the baking paper and let it cool completely. Divide the base horizontally into three pieces. Remove the chocolate cream from the refrigerator and whip until stiff. Stir in the ground gelatin. Wash, dry, and quarter the strawberries. Fold them into the chocolate cream for decoration, except for 4 large ones (which you can then quarter) or 16 small ones. Brush the bottom layer of the cake with Grand Marnier (the amount depends on your taste. Don’t use too much, or the orange flavor of the liqueur will overpower the actual cake flavor of the chocolate and strawberries). For an alcohol-free version, you can omit the liqueur or drizzle a little orange juice onto the base. Place half of the cream on the bottom layer. Place the second layer on top, also drizzle with Grand Marnier, and spread the remaining chocolate-strawberry cream on top. Place the third layer on top. Now whip the remaining 400g of cream with 3 sachets of cream stabilizer until stiff. Stir in 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier. Brush the top layer with half of the cream. Spread some of the remaining cream over the edge of the cake. Decorate the cake with 16 cream dots. Sprinkle coarse chocolate shavings in the center of the cake. Place a strawberry quarter or a small strawberry on each cream dot. Tip: I first coated the strawberries with a thin layer of clear cake glaze using a brush. This gives them a nice shine and also helps them last a little longer.