Žerbo Torta – Zerbo Cake

Instructions

Make walnuts and egg whites sponge cake.

1. Preheat oven to 245ºF / 175ºC.
2. In a food processor add the walnuts together with the hazelnuts and blend. Set aside.
3. Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.
4. Cover the egg yolks with film and set aside at room temperature. If it is very hot, refrigerate them until needed.
5. In the bowl of the KitchenAid or of a stand mixer, pour the egg whites together with the lemon juice and whip with the whisk until the become foamy and frothy.
6. Start on low speed and we will gradually increase it, little by little and without reaching the maximum, while we add the sugar in batches.
7. Once we have the egg whites whipped, add the vanilla and mix again until completely homogenized.
8. Add the flour, in batches, and mix with the help of a silicone spatula. We will do it with a lot of care making enveloping movements to avoid that the meringue from deflating.
9. Add nuts and mix again in the same way as we did with the flour.
10. Prepare a baking tray lined with baking parchment and spread the mixture over it. We will try to smooth the surface as much as possible.
11. Bake for 35 minutes, you will see that it acquires a beautiful golden color.
12. Take out and let it cool, face down, on a rack. In this way, it will be smooth on both sides.

Make the syrup.

1. Add all the ingredients in a saucepan. Place at medium heat and let it boil. The sugar must be completely dissolved.
2. Once it comes to the boil, turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
3. Put the syrup in a bottle with the help of a funnel, close and shake to mix well.
4. Set aside at room temperature.

Make yolk and chocolate cream.

1. Place a half-full saucepan with water and heat until it starts to generate steam, but never reach boiling point.
2. Place a heat-resistant bowl over the saucepan and pour the yolks together with the sugar.
3. Cook in a water-bath stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 149ºF/65ºC. You will notice that the yolks turn whitish and thicken slightly.
4. Add the cocoa powder and mix with a whisk until it is completely integrated. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl on top of the saucepan.
5. Heat the cream in a saucepan, but without boiling.
6. Add the chopped chocolate together with the hot cream and mix until a smooth and homogeneous mixture is obtained.
7. Pour the mixture into a glass container and let it cool down to room temperature. Once it has cooled, refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight, if you wish.

Finish preparing the yolks and chocolate cream.

1. In the KA bowl add the butter and mix with the flat beater to soften it.
2. Change to the whisk and beat for 3-4 minutes at medium speed.
3. Stop, lower the butter from the whisk and the sides. Add a little amount of the chocolate mixture and whisk. Start at the lowest speed and increase until you reach the average speed. You will notice that the mixture is light brown and very creamy.
4. Continue adding, little by little, the chocolate mixture to the butter and beating very well after each addition.
5. Once we have integrated all the chocolate, whisk for 1-2 minutes at medium-high speed. You will notice that the texture of the cream is very smooth, creamy and aired.
6. Pour into a bowl, cover with film and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Prepare the sponge cakes.

1. Remove the baking paper from the cake.
2. Cut into 3 equal rectangular portions. Each will be approximately 11 cm x 28 cm.
3. Pour syrup over them and let stand for 15 minutes.

Make the caramel layer.

1. Place the sponge cakes on a silpat or teflon sheet. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan or a large saucepan, add the sugar.
3. Place at medium-low heat and let it begin to melt. Once it begins to caramelize, stir often to prevent some areas from burning. Reduce the heat if necessary.
4. Once we have a golden caramel, add the butter and stir well until completely dissolved.
5. Remove from the heat and pour over the sponge cakes. Spread with the help of a spatula or spoon to help cover the entire surface and prevent the top layer is too thick. I recommend you to do it little by little, because the caramel solidifies immediately.
6. Let it cool completely.

Make chocolate layer.

1. In a bowl add the chopped chocolate together with the butter.
2. Fill 1/4 of a saucepan with water and place at medium low heat. Place the chocolate bowl on top to melt in a water-bath.
3. Leave until the chocolate is completely melted.
4. Whisk to homogenize the mixture.
5. Spread the chocolate over the caramel layers with a spatula.
6. Leave to cool at room temperature and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Assemble the cake.

1. Prepare a tray and line it with paper or place the cake directly on a board or cake stand.
2. Put a small amount of chocolate cream and place the first sponge cake.
3. Spread the chocolate and yolk cream, about 3-4 tablespoons, with the help of a spatula trying to make it as smooth as possible.
4. Place another sponge cake and press lightly. Repeat the same process as the previous time and make this same step with all the layers.
5. Refrigerate the cake for 15 minutes.

Cover.

1. Distribute the cream with a spatula on the top and sides. Remove the excess by using an edge smoother. This layer will help us to "collect" possible crumbs from the sponge cake that could come to the surface when we decorate it.
2. Refrigerate for 15 minutes so that the cream becomes a little firmer.
3. Remove from the fridge, spread another layer of cream by all the surface, smooth removing the excess and place in the fridge for 2 hours.
4. At this point, we can leave it refrigerated until the next day. In my case that's what I did.
5. Cover the rest of the cream with film and refrigerate.

Decorate.

1. Put the yolks and chocolate cream in a piping bag with a Wilton 199 tip. Decorate by piping around the edge.
2. Sprinkle the centre with cocoa powder, trying to cover the side edges of the cake.
3. Place in the fridge.

Make peach leaves.

1. Preheat the oven to 240ºF/170ºC. Place the tray on which we are going to bake inside and at medium height.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients with the help of a whisk.
3. Brush a sheet of Teflon with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
4. Spread the mixture over the Teflon with the help of a spatula. We will try to make it as fine as possible.
5. Place in the oven on the tray inside. Reduce the temperature to 212ºF/100ºC and bake for 14 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven, place on a rack and handle as quickly as possible. The reason is that it cools really fast and it hardens.
7. Cut the sheet with a knife to make portions and model lightly to our liking. Brush some parts with edible gold powder.
8. Take the cake out of the fridge, decorate and serve.
   

Notes

• The sponge cake does not need baking powder. We only have to whip well the egg whites so that the final result is spongy.
• Only one type of nut can be used. In my case I decided to mix it with hazelnuts because I like the taste very much.
• The yolk and chocolate cream needs a long process of preparation, plus hours of rest to cool and acquire the desired consistency. If you wish, you can make the cream before the sponge cakes and thus speed up the process.
• The yolk and chocolate cream loses its firmness as soon as it reaches 70º-71ºF/21º-22ºC, so we will have to refrigerate the cake in several moments to be able to work without problems. Bear this in mind also when you want to pipe the decoration.
  
• Spread a very thin layer of caramel, otherwise it will hard to cut the cake.
• The decoration is completely optional. In my case I decided to decorate it like this, but feel free to do it the way you like or feel comfortable.
• Peach leaves should be made just before serving the cake. The reason is that they stay crunchy for a short period of time, a few hours, and then begin to soften.
• If you prefer, you can make a round format. To make round cakes, you can do it the way I show you in other videos like the Baron Torta or Dobos Torte.
• Due to the caramel and the chocolate layer, the ideal is to cut the cake with a large serrated knife (bread knife).
• We can keep it refrigerated for 3 days from its assembly.
  

Archivado en

• Black Chocolate
• Breakfast
• Caramel
• Hazelnuts
• Walnuts