Praline Birthday Cake

Walnut sponge cake filled with Praline cream. I have come up with this cake, as I was asked to make a special one for a lady who just turned 90years. The cake had to be big enough to feed about 50-60 people at the Church.

All measurements are for 50-60 people.

The Sponge:

24 eggs separated

750g Plain Flour

250g Fine Ground Walnut

800g White Sugar

Quarter Teaspoon of Salt

Combine the egg yolk with the sugar and salt, beat the whites with a drop of lemon juice.

Add half of the whites to the sugar & yolk and mix well. Add the flour gradually. Finally add the second half of the egg whites, and very gently mix it in with a spatula.

Pour mix into a large enough pan covered with baking paper.

Bake on 180c for 60 minutes. (Smaller cake require less time - eg. 6 egg cake about 20min)

The Praline Cream:

First you need to make a Creme Patisserie, which is a thick basic vanilla creme, made with corn or plain flour, or a combination of the two.

Melt about 300g of sugar till caramelize, then add about half cup of flaked almonds. Pour mixture onto a lightly buttered marble board and let it cool down. Chop the caramelized almonds to smaller pieces. Put these pieces into a plastic bag and smash it with a hammer till well broken.

Add this mix to the cooled down creme patisserie and mix it in a blender with some pouring cream. Add enough gelatin to set the volume.

Cut the cooled down sponge into 3 layers and spray with milk each layer before you spread the filling.

Chocolate topping:

250g dark chocolate

300g butter

2 Tablespoon of Castor of Icing Sugar

2 tablespoon of fresh brewed coffee

Melt the chocolate and add the butter. Cool to a workable consistency and spread on the top. This mix need to be slightly bitter to compliment the cake. Add some shaved extra dark chocolate if need to.

Decorate as you wish.

The feedback I have received for this cake was that it was well balanced and not overly sweet.