Caramel puffed rice cake

Today I want to show a cake that I've been planning to make for some time now. Caramel puffed rice cake is a delicious, beautiful dessert, but there are certain elements we need to talk about!

I have some reservations towards the caramel puffed rice layer, but I still find the cake delicious. Moist sponge cake that combines the flavours of cocoa and coffee is soft and melt-in-your-mouth. Cherry jam adds a nice balance to the sweetness of the cake, while vanilla cream brings everything together. If only the cramel layer was a bit more crunchy...

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (18 x 28 cm baking tin)

Sponge cake

• 80 g cake flour
• 25 g cornstarch
• 25 g dark cocoa
• 1 flat tsp baking powder (optionally)
• 4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 100 g sugar
• 50 g vegetable oil

Cream layer

• 6 g gelatine
• 80 ml water
• 300 ml whipping cream (36%)
• 125 g mascarpone cheese
• 30 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste

Cake soaking mixture

• 100 m water
• 100 ml coffee liqueur
• 200 g sour jam - I'm using cherry jam

Decoration

• 200 g caramel filling
• 40 g puffed rice or, better yet, 200 g peanuts

Method

1. Prep work for our dessert starts with cocoa sponge cake. Sift 80 g cake flour, 25 g dark cocoa and 25 g cornstarch through a fine sieve to remove any lumps. If you want, add 1 flat tsp baking powder, too. Stir through the dry ingredients shortly with a whisk until they get evenly distributed.
2. Pour 4 large egg whites into a separate large bowl. Beat them with an electric mixer until the mixer starts leaving visible marks in the foam. I recommend starting at low mixer speed and increasing it gradually as egg whites increase in volume. This way protein structure that forms in the process is more stable and you will be less likely to overwhip the egg whites.
3. Once you get the right texture increase mixer speed to medium-high and start adding 100 g fine white sugar to the egg whites. Add sugar in batches, about a spoonful at a time, and beat the egg whites after each batch until sugar dissolves completely. Sugar dissolves more readily if egg whites are at room temperature, so I suggest taking them out of a fridge at least an hour ahead. Once you've added all of sugar egg whites should become shiny and stiff enough to hold their shape - even if you turn the bowl upside down.
4. Once you've added all of sugar turn the mixer speed down to medium-low and add 4 large egg yolks to the egg whites. Add egg yolks one at a time and mix each one in until fully combined. It won't take a lot of time, around 20 s per egg yolk should be enough.
5. Once you've used up all egg yolks add 50 g vegetable oil to the batter. Pour oil in a slow trickle while mixing the batter at medium-low speed. Adding oil this way you won't remove too much air from the eggs, and the sponge cake will come out light and fluffy. Once you've added oil you can set the mixer aside, we won't need it at this stage anymore.
6. Add dry ingredients to the batter. Do it in two batches, a few tablespoons at a time. Combine each batch carefully with the batter with a silicone spatula, only until you can no longer see raw flour. It is worth being attentive and gentle here not to remove too much air from the batter. It's especially important if you're not using baking powder and you're fully depending on how well the egg whites are whipped.
7. Pour the batter carefully into a rectangular baking tin, 18 x 28 cm, and spread it across the whole surface with a silicone spatula. The bottom of the cake tin should be lined with baking paper, and its sides should be dry and clean. This will make the cake stick to the sides and it will prevent it from shrinking as it cools down.
8. Bake the sponge cake in an oven preheated to 170 deg C (no fan) for around 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven then and drop it onto a worktop from a height of 30-40 cm. This will rapidly remove air from the cake what should also help it from shrinking as it cools down. Set the cake aside for an hour or two, to cool completely.
9. Prepare the cake soaking mixture. Pour 100 ml cold water into a medium jug and add 100 ml of your favourite coffee liqueur. Stir through the contents of the jug shortly and set it aside until you need it. Alternatively, prepare 200 ml of strong coffee.
10. Once the sponge cake is cool, carefully cut it off the sides of the baking tin, remove baking paper and transfer the cake onto a working surface. Cut through the cake roughly at 2/3 of its height, getting two sponge cake layers: one thinner that will be underneath the caramel puffed rice layer and one thicker that will serve as a cake base.
11. Transfer thicker cake layer into the clean baking tin. Line its bottom again with baking paper, and its sides: with baking paper or acetate foil. Pour a half of cake soaking mixture onto the cake base. Put 200 g lightly sour jam on tom of soaked sponge cake and spread it in an even layer across the whole surface.
12. Dissolve 6 g powdered gelatine in 80 ml freshly boiled water and set it aside to cool slightly.
13. Pour 300 ml cold whipping cream (36%) into a separate large bowl. Add 125 g cold mascarpone cheese, 30 g icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla paste. If you don't have vanilla paste at hand, you can also use vanilla extract or substitute part of sugar for with vanilla sugar. Make sure that your vanilla paste doesn't contain pectin as they will prevent gelatine from setting. Whip the contents of the bowl 3/4 of the way, that is until cream visibly thickens and increases in volume, but is not stiff yet. It is best to stop whipping once mixer starts leaving visible marks in cream, but cream doesn't hold shape yet.
14. Add 2 tsp whipped cream to cool gelatine solution and mix them until fully combined. Pour tempered gelatine in a thin trickle into whipped cream while mixing at medium-low speed. This way you will ensure gelatine is evenly distributed and it doesn't form any lumps. After you've added all liquid keep mixing until cream starts to thicken up again.
15. Transfer whipped cream onto the cool cake base straight away and spread it in an even layer across the whole surface. Don't wait with this step because cream may start setting quickly and you may have issues with spreading it nicely. Cover cream with the thinner cake layer and press the cake down lightly so that it sticks to cream. Put the cake into a fridge for 10-15 minutes until cream starts thickening.
16. Prepare the caramel puffed rice layer. In keeping with traditional recipe, put 40 g puffed rice into a large bowl and add 200 g warmed up caramel filling. Stir them together for caramel to cover rice. If, like me, you prefer your caramel layer to be crispy, you can substitute puffed rice with 200 g unsalted peanuts.
17. Soak the upper cake layer generously with remaining cake soaking mixture. Spread caramel layer evenly on top and put the cake into a fridge overnight for all cake layers to set.
18. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

• 319 kcal
• Carbs: 28 g  
• Fat: 20 g
• Protein: 5 g
• Fibre: 1 g

1 slice (recipe makes 15 slices)

• 325 kcal
• Carbs: 28 g  
• Fat: 20 g
• Protein: 5 g
• Fibre: 1 g