Easter wafer-sheet cake

Name: Easter wafer-sheet cake
Ingredients: 500 g milk; 3 egg yolks; 3 tablespoons flour; 200 g sugar; 250 g butter; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 6 egg whites; 6 egg yolks; 1 g salt; 180 g sugar; 3 tablespoons flour; 3 tablespoons oil; 3 tablespoons water; 10 g baking powder; 3 tablespoons ground walnuts; 100 g candied fruit; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 wafer sheets

Dessert - Easter wafer-sheet cake by Natalia A. - Recipia

This Easter wafer-sheet cake has a walnut sponge with candied fruit layered between crisp wafer sheets, with cooked vanilla cream. Once cooled, the cream holds the layers together, while the sponge stays soft and the candied fruit shows when you cut into it. I serve it cold, cut into narrow pieces. Preparation: 35 minutes. Cooking: 40 minutes. Resting: 4 hours and 30 minutes. Total time: 5 hours and 45 minutes. Servings: 12. Approximately 510 kcal and 9 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

For the cream

500 g milk
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons flour
200 g sugar
250 g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the sponge

6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1 g salt
180 g sugar
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons water
10 g baking powder
3 tablespoons ground walnuts
100 g candied fruit
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For assembling

2 wafer sheets

Preparation

1. For the cream, mix the egg yolks with the flour and sugar in a saucepan. Gradually pour in the lukewarm milk, stirring constantly. 2. Set the saucepan over low heat and stir for 10 minutes, until the cream thickens like pudding. Remove it from the heat, stir in the butter, cut into cubes, and the vanilla extract, then cover the cream with plastic wrap and leave it to cool for 60 minutes. 3. Heat the oven to 180°C. Beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy, then gradually add the sugar and beat until you have a glossy meringue. 4. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, mixing after each addition, then add the oil and water. 5. Mix the flour with the baking powder, ground walnuts and candied fruit. Fold them into the meringue with a spatula using gentle strokes. 6. Pour the mixture into a baking pan lined with parchment paper and bake the sponge for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave it to cool for 30 minutes. 7. Place one wafer sheet on a serving platter and trim it to the shape of the sponge. Spread on half the cream, add the sponge, then the rest of the cream and the second sheet. Put a weight on top and chill the cake for 3 hours.

Notes

You can assemble it a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; the sheets gradually soften. For a variation, you can replace the candied fruit with the same amount of raisins, adding them directly to the batter. The cake contains gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts. Serve the pieces with black tea. Cooling the cream is the part you shouldn’t rush: warm cream can soften the sheets before the layers have settled. Choose whole wafer sheets without broken corners so you can lift the cake easily once assembled. The ground walnuts should smell fresh; if they’re bitter, the taste will carry through into the sponge. Chop the candied fruit finely if the pieces are large, so they don’t pull at the batter when you slice it. Spread the cream almost to the edges of the sponge, without pressing down on the wafer sheets.