Vanilla Buttercream Cake with Dark Viennese Crust and Raspberry Jam

Brush the bottom of the round baking pan (26 cm diameter) with a removable ring (springform pan) with butter or margarine or place a suitable piece of baking paper on top. Preheat the oven to 175 - 180 ° C, slide the wire rack straight into the middle of the oven. Mix the flour with cornstarch, baking powder and cocoa in a bowl. Weigh out sugar, add vanilla sugar. Finely grate the chocolate. Separate the eggs into the egg white and egg yolk, place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and put the egg yolks in a small bowl or cup. Beat the egg white with a pinch of salt and 4 tablespoons of cold water with the kitchen utensil to form firm egg whites. Gradually sprinkle the sugar with vanilla sugar and stir until a thick, foamy protein foam has formed (can take 10 minutes). Now add the egg yolks in two stages and stir in. Briefly stir in the grated chocolate. Continue working with a mixing spoon or whisk. Put the cocoa flour mixture in a sieve and sift in two to three stages over the egg foam and fold in loosely until no flour residues are visible. Finally stir in the lukewarm liquid butter. Pour this airy chocolate sponge dough into the prepared cake tin and immediately insert it into the oven, which has been heated to 175 - 180 ° C in the middle of the oven, and bake with top / bottom heat for about 40 - 45 minutes. Take the cake base out of the oven and let it cool down briefly for a few minutes on a wire rack. Then use a knife to loosen the cake base from the baking tray, open the springform pan and remove it. Place a piece of baking paper on the wire rack, topple the cake base on it and remove and dispose of the baking paper. Let the Viennese chocolate cake base cool down completely, then wrap it in aluminum foil and let it rest in a slightly cooler place (no refrigerator) until the next day or the day after that. Then you can cut the cake base very well in two or three layers, fill it with any cream or cream to make a cake and decorate it according to the occasion and personal taste.

Heat the milk and sugar. Mix a large shot of the milk with the pudding powder. Stir into the boiling milk and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly (this is the only way to remove the starchy taste from the pudding). Remove the thickened mass from the stove, transfer it to the food processor and beat until cold while stirring constantly. Cut the cold butter into approx. 3 cm pieces and toss piece by piece into the lukewarm pudding mixture and stir the cream on medium speed until fluffy.

Brush the cake bases with raspberry jam and fill with vanilla pudding cream. Color the remaining cream with a dollop of pink food coloring and coat the cake with pink cream all around. Then cool the cake in the freezer. When the buttercream is set, take the cake out of the freezer and decorate with ganache. It's best to melt 150g dark chocolate with 100ml cream over a water bath and pour the chocolate over the cake - be careful not to get too hot! Gently spread the chocolate glaze with a large palette and let it run sideways over the edge. With a little skill, pretty drops can be created. Then put the cake back in the freezer - cool again. Finally, decorate the cake with the piping bag and, if necessary, refine it with sugar pearls. Finished. Store the cake in a cool place so that the buttercream sets nicely. Bring to room temperature for at least an hour before consumption. Then the buttercream tastes delicate and delicious.