Apricot Speculoos Cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 3 eggs
• 1 pinch of salt
• 75 g sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 50 g flour
• 50 g cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pack of pudding powder, vanilla, for cooking
• 500 ml milk
• 1 tbsp spice mix (speculoos)
• 75 g sugar
• 1 can apricot(s), 850 ml
• 8 sheets of white gelatin
• 300 g whipped cream
• 450 g whipped cream
• 2 packets of vanilla sugar
• 3 tbsp almond flakes
• 100 g Spekulatius, mini, with chocolate

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes; Rest time approx. 14 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 15 hours 45 minutes

For 16 pieces

Preheat oven to 150°C fan/convection oven. Line the bottom of a 26 cm springform pan with baking paper. Dough: Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla sugar. Beat the egg yolks in one at a time. Sift the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder over the mixture and fold in. Spread into the springform pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Halve the sponge cake and place the bottom layer on a cake plate. Place a rim or springform ring around the base. Filling: Mix the custard powder with 5 tablespoons of milk until smooth. Bring the remaining milk and sugar to a boil. First stir in the speculatius spice, then the mixed custard powder. Simmer for about 1 minute. Cover with plastic wrap, press the film onto the pudding, and allow to cool. Drain the apricots in a sieve. Soak the gelatin in cold water. Beat the pudding for about 5 minutes using the whisk attachment of a hand mixer until creamy. Squeeze out the gelatine and dissolve it in a saucepan over low heat. First stir in 4 tablespoons of pudding, then stir this into the remaining pudding. Whip 300g of cream until stiff and fold in. Spread half of the pudding cream on the base. Spread the apricots (set 3 aside for decoration) and the remaining pudding cream on top. Place the second layer on top. Cover and chill overnight. Decoration: Toast the almonds in a dry pan, remove from the pan and let cool. Whip the cream with the vanilla sugar until stiff. Remove the cake ring from the cake. Spread a good half of the cream all around the cake. Decorate the bottom edge densely with speculatius cookies. Finely chop 5-6 biscuits, mix with the almonds and sprinkle on the cake. Cut the remaining apricots into wedges. Put the remaining cream in a piping bag and pipe tufts onto the cake. Place apricot slices on top.