Spice cake according to Grandma Traudel from Thuringia

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 150 g butter
• 4 eggs, separated
• 300 g sugar
• 350 g flour
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 100 g baking cocoa
• 35 g gingerbread spice (1 pack)
• 125 ml milk
• Fat for the mold
• 500 ml milk
• 1 pack of pudding powder
• some sugar
• 125 g butter
• Apricot jam, alternatively quince, cranberry or currant jam
• 130 g chocolate, 70% cocoa content
• 75 ml sweet cream

Instructions

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

with buttercream and jam filling, from a loaf tin

For the pastry, first cream the butter, sugar, and egg yolks until light and fluffy. Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside. Add the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, spice mix, and milk to the butter, sugar, and egg yolk mixture and use the dough hook of a hand mixer to make a dough. Finally, fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour everything into a well-greased loaf pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (convection oven) for approximately 50–60 minutes, depending on the skewer test. Let the cake cool, then cut it horizontally into 3 pieces. Spread jam as desired on the bottom layer and place the middle layer of pastry on top. For the buttercream, make a pudding from the milk, pudding powder, and sugar according to the package instructions and let it cool thoroughly (without a skin forming; cover with cling film instead). Then cream the butter until light and fluffy and add the pudding a spoonful at a time until the consistency is creamy. Spread the buttercream on the middle layer of the cake and place the top layer of pastry on top. For the icing, melt the chocolate in a double boiler and fold in the cream. Cover the entire cake with the chocolate icing and let it cool. Tip: Decorate with leftover buttercream or sugar sprinkles, if desired.