Strawberry Flake Cake

Ingredients for 16 servings:

• 125 ml water
• 50 g butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 100 g flour
• 2 eggs or 3
• 1 pinch of baking powder
• 1 kg strawberries
• 10 sheets of gelatin, white or 12
• 200 ml cream
• 500 g quark (low-fat quark)
• 125 ml eggnog
• 60 g sugar
• 2 packets of vanilla sugar
• Chocolate shavings, lemon balm leaves

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon. The dough should pull away from the pan, forming a white layer on the bottom of the pan. Transfer the dough to a bowl and immediately mix with one egg, then let it cool slightly. Knead in the other egg and the baking powder to form a shiny, chewy dough. Spread one-third of the dough onto baking paper in a circle (24 cm in diameter) and bake in a preheated oven at 225°C for 10-15 minutes. Repeat with the other two thirds of the dough. Let the dough cool. During the baking time, wash and stem the strawberries. Reserve 8 smaller ones and halve or quarter the others. Soak the gelatin in cold water. Mix together the Alpine cream, quark, egg liqueur, sugar, and vanilla sugar. After 10 minutes, remove the gelatin from the water, carefully dissolve it in a saucepan over medium heat, stir it into the cream mixture, and let it semi-solidify. Spread half of the cream on one cake layer. Immediately arrange half of the strawberries on top, submerging them in the cream. Place the second cake layer on top, spread with the remaining cream, and arrange the strawberries on top. Place the last cake layer on top and decorate with the reserved halved strawberries, chocolate shavings, and lemon balm leaves.