Today I want to share a simple recipe that is just and perfect for spring, and that tasts as good as it looks! We'll prepare a 'fried egg' cake: a fluffy cheesecake decorated with apricots on a colourful sponge cake base.
Green sponge cake is pleasantly fluffy and moist, and it will let you taste both vanilla and apricot syrup. Cheesecake layer is light, almost foam-like, and lightly sweet. It goes perfectly with refreshing apricots. A simple to make, although slightly time-consuming cake that will be a star of any family gathering.
You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.
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List of ingredients (20 x 30 cm baking tin)
Sponge cake
- 250 g wheat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 150 g baby spinach
- 100 g vegetable oil
- 5 medium or 4 large eggs
- 150 g sugar
- 1.5 tsp vanilla paste
Soaking mixture
- 75 ml juice from apricot can
- 75 ml water
Cheese layer
- 18 g gelatine crystals
- 150 ml hot water
- 300 ml whipping cream (36%)
- 100 g icing sugar
- 1.5 tsp vanilla paste
- 750 g creamy cheese
Decoration
- 2 packets transparent jelly (I'm using strawberry-vanilla flavour)
- 750 ml hot water
- 20 apricot halves from a can (~400 g, drained)
Method
- Add two packets of transparent jelly to 750 ml of hot, freshly boiled water. Stir through the contents of the jug until jelly crystals dissolve completely and uniform liquid forms. Set the jelly solution aside until it starts thickening.
- Meanwhile, work on the dry ingredients required to make the sponge cake. Sift 250 g wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder and a small pinch of salt into a medium bowl. Once you've got rid of all lumps stir through the contents of the bowl shortly with a whisk to distribute everything evenly. Set the dry ingredients aside for a moment.
- Put 150 g well rinsed and dried baby spinach into a separate large bowl. Pour around 50 g vegetable oil onto the leaves and blend them with a handheld blender until completely smooth. Don't rush this step and do it as well as you can. Otherwise you may get an unwanted surprise of spinach stems in your sponge cake.
- Pour 5 medium eggs into a separate, large bowl and add 150 g fine white sugar. Beat the contents of the bowl with an electric mixer until the batter thickens up and becomes light and fluffy. I recommend starting at low mixer speed and increasing it gradually as eggs increase in volume. It will take a few minutes, so be patient.
- Once eggs become fluffy and thicken up, turn mixer speed back down to medium and add remaining 50 g of vegetable oil. Pour oil slowly, in a thin trickle, while continuing to mix the contents of the bowl. This will ensure everything will combine as it should.
- Add blended spinach and 1.5 tsp vanilla paste to the batter next. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly, only until uniform, green batter forms.
- Add dry ingredients to the batter. Do it slowly, in three batches, a few tablespoons at a time, and combine the contents of the bowl each time gently with a silicone spatula, only until you can no longer see raw powder.
- Transfer ready batter into a rectangular baking tin, 20 x 30 cm. Line the bottom of the baking tin first with baking paper, but leave sides clean and dry. This will make the sponge cake stick to the sides during baking, preventing it from deflating afterwards. Spread the batter as evenly as you can and smooth out the top.
- Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 170 deg C, no fan, for 30-35 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Once the cake is ready, take it out of the oven and set it aside in the baking tin for about one hour, to cool.
- Meanwhile, prepare a simple cake-soaking mixture. Pour 75 ml apricot syrup from a can into a medium jug and add 75 ml cool water. Stir through the contents of the jug shortly, until uniform, and put it into a fridge.
- Cut off cool cake from the sides of the baking tin, remove baking paper and transfer cake onto a worktop. Optionally, cut off rounded top with a long serrated knife.
- Pour 120 ml freshly boiled water into a small jug and add 18 g gelatine crystals. Stir through the contents of the jug shortly until gelatine dissolves and set aside for 10 minutes until cool.
- Pour 300 ml cold whipping cream (36%) into a medium bowl. Beat contents of the bowl with an electric mixer 3/4 of the way, that is until cream is aerated and at least doubles in volume, but is not completely stiff yet.
- Put 750 g full fat cream cheese at room temperature into a separate, very large bowl. Add 100 g icing sugar and 1.5 tsp vanilla extract. Mix contents of the bowl shortly with an electric mixer, only until uniform.
- Add a teaspoon of cheese mixture to cool gelatine and stir shortly until uniform. Add tempered gelatine into cheese in a thin trickle, constantly stirring contents of the bowl at medium speed. This way it will be easy to distribute gelatine solution in cheese and avoid unpleasant lumps. Once you've added all of gelatine continue mixing for 30 seconds to ensure everything combined as it should.
- Add whipped cream to cheese mixture and distribute it with a silicone spatula.
- Return spinach cake base into the clean baking tin and soak it generously with syrup mixture. The bottm of the baking tin should be lined with baking paper, and its sides - with paper or acetate foil.
- Transfer cheese mixture onto soaked spinach base and spread it evenly across the whole surface. Once you've added cream mixture may start setting quickly, so it's worth being quite fast. Put the cake into a fridge for 30 minutes, until the top starts to set.
- Arrange a layer of apricot halves from a can on top of the cake. Pour thickening transparent jelly on top. Do it carefully, through a spoon, so that it doesn't flow under the apricots. Return the cake into a fridge overnight, until cheesecake and jelly set completely.
- Enjoy!
Approximate nutritional value
100 g
- 197 kcal
- Carbs: 20 g
- Fat: 11 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Fibre: 0 g
1 slice (recipe makes 20 slices)
- 303 kcal
- Carbs: 31 g
- Fat: 17 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Fibre: 0 g
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