I am really inexperienced when it comes to layered cakes. They always intimidated me. I’ve only just dared to venture into the world of creamy cakes a couple of weeks ago. The reason: my bae was having a birthday. I wanted to make him a proper cake. Proper chocolate cake. I needed something really simple, something I just can’t mess up. I worked around a recipe I got from a co-worker for a delicious cake she once brought. The original recipe was simple and straightforward enough. With some tweaking, the birthday cake turned out just right. The bae approved.

INGREDIENTS:

Yields one 28 cm tart / 12 slices = 4.35 EUR for the whole tart / 0.36 EUR per slice

For the cake base:

3 large eggs – egg whites only (0.6 EUR)

Pinch of salt (0.01 EUR)

4 tbsp vanilla sugar (0.26 EUR)

1 cup finely ground walnuts (2.00 EUR)

For the chocolate cream:

3 egg yolks (–)

4 tbsp sugar (0.01 EUR)

80 g dark cooking chocolate, cut into chunks and at room temperature (0.67 EUR)

80 g butter, softened at room temperature (0.8 EUR)

Butter for greasing the tart pan

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 150°C. Lightly grease tart pan and set aside. In a bowl mix egg whites with a pinch of salt until peaks form, 3-5 minutes. Mix in vanilla sugar until creamy and even and then gently fold in ground walnuts with a spatula. Spread the base evenly on a prepared tart pan and gently shake to even everything out. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until top startes browning lightly. Remove from the oven and heat oven to 250°C.

Meanwhile, whisk yolks with sugar and place on a double broiler. Whisk for a minute or two, then add in chocolate and stir until melted and fully incorporated. Lastly, add in softened butter, stir for another minute or two until all of the butter melts and cream is even and glossy. Pour the chocolate cream over baked cake base, even with a spatula and place in the oven preheated to 250°C for a minute, so a thin crust forms. Take the tart out of the oven and let it fully cool on the counter top before placing in a fridge for a couple of hours, but best overnight.

The tart will slightly shrink from the pan as it cools, so you shouldn’t have trouble getting it out of the pan. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, berried fruits, or simply on its own with a glass of cold milk.

Moram priznati da nemam iskustva sa kremastim tortama. Uvijek su me nekako plašile. Usudila sam se zakoračiti u svijet kremastih torti tek pred nekoliko tjedana. Razlog: približavao se rođendan mojeg dragog i htjela sam mu napraviti pravu rođendansku tortu. Trebalo mi je nešto jako jednostavno, nešto sa čim neću moći zabrljati. Prilagodila sam recept kolegice s posla za ukusnu tortu koju nam je jednom donijela. Originalni je recept bio dovoljno jednostavan, a uz neke je male izmjene torta ispala baš kako treba. Dragi je odobrio.

SASTOJCI:

Za jedan tart od 28 cm / 12 šnita = 32,61 kn za cijeli tart / 2,72 kn za šnitu

Za bazu:

3 velika jaja – samo bjelanjci (4,50 kn)

Prstohvat soli (0,01 kn)

4 žlice vanili šećera (2,00 kn)

1 šalica sitno mljevenih oraha (15,00 kn)

Za kremu:

3 žumanjca (–)

4 žlice šećera (0,10 kn)

80 g tamne čokolade za kuhanje, izlomljene na komade i na sobnoj temperaturi (5,00 kn)

80 g maslaca, omekšanog na sobnoj temperaturi (6,00 kn)

Maslac za namastiti kalup za tart

PRIPREMA:

Zagrijte pećnicu na 150°C. Lagano premažite kalup za tart maslacem i odložite na stranu. Istucite bjelanjce sa prstohvatom soli u čvrsti snijeg, 3-5 minuta. Umiksajte vanili šećer dok ne jednolično i kremasto. Nježno umiješajte mljevene orahe, istresite u pripremljeni kalup za tart, poravnajte tako da lagano protresete kalup i pecite 20-25 minuta, dok vrh ne postane zlatno-smećkasti. Izvadite tart iz pećnice, pećnicu stavite grijati na 250°C.

U međuvremenu izmiješajte žumanjce sa šećerom i stavite kuhati na pari, uz stalno miješanje na minutu-dvije. Umiješajte komade čokolade i kuhajte dalje uz stalno miješanje, dok se čokolada skroz ne otopi i ne dobijete glatku masu. Na kraju dodajte omekšali maslac i miješajte još minutu-dvije dok se sav maslac ne otopi i krema ne bude sjana i jednolična. Istresite kremu na pečenu bazu, poravnajte sve sa špatulom i stavite u pećnicu ugrijanu na 250°C na minutu, da se uhvati korica. Izvadite tart iz pećnice i ostavite da se ohladi na sobnu temperaturu prije nego ga stavite u hladnjak na nekoliko sati, a najbolje preko noći.

Tart će se malo stisnuti u kalupu, tako da ne bi trebalo biti problema sa vađenjem. Poslužite sa tučenim slatkim vrnjem, sladoledom od vanilije, bobičastim voćem, ili bez ičega, uz čašu hladnog mlijeka.