Preparation

• First, prepare the two sponge cakes. Preheat the oven to 320°F in static mode

• Break the eggs and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer and start beating them with the whisk at moderate speed.

  Slice both vanilla beans, extract the seeds, and add them to the eggs along with a pinch of salt.

  At this point, gradually add the sugar

  

• Continue to beat for about fifteen minutes, until the eggs have tripled in volume and you have obtained a fluid and creamy mixture.

  Stop the mixer and place a sieve directly over the bowl. Sift the flour and potato starch

  

• and gently incorporate them into the mixture from bottom to top using a spatula, otherwise, it will deflate.

  When you have obtained a homogeneous batter, butter and flour two 8-inch diameter pans. Divide the batter between the 2 pans

  

• At this point, bake the sponge cakes in the preheated static oven at 320°F, on the lowest shelf, for about 50 minutes.

  Check if they are cooked by doing the toothpick test; if it comes out completely dry, you can remove them from the oven.

  

• Then, let them cool completely before taking them out of the pans.

  

• Now, start with the pastry cream: cut the vanilla bean, extract the seeds, and set them aside.

  In a pot, pour the milk, cream, and emptied vanilla pod, and heat everything gently until almost boiling.

  

• Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla seeds; you don’t need to whip them, just mix everything together.

  

• Sift the cornstarch directly into the mixture and stir. As soon as the milk is hot, remove the vanilla pod, and pour a little, about a glass, into the mixture, stirring with a whisk to temper it.

  Then, pour everything back into the pot with the hot milk, stirring constantly, and let your pastry cream thicken over low heat.

  

• When it’s ready, place it in a shallow, wide dish and let it cool, covering it with plastic wrap touching the surface when the cream is still hot.

  

• Only when it is cold, pour the fresh cream into a bowl, add the powdered sugar, and start whipping with the beaters.

  

• Once you have obtained a well-whipped cream, take the pastry cream and transfer it to another bowl. Whisk lightly to soften it and start adding the whipped cream. Add a spoonful at a time and mix to dilute the cream, then incorporate the remaining whipped cream very gently moving the spatula from bottom to top.

  

• Cover again with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator to firm up for about 40 minutes.

  

• In the meantime, prepare the syrup for the cake. Pour the water, limoncello, and sugar into a pot.

  Turn on the stove and heat the syrup while stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved, then let it cool.

• First, you need to remove the outer crust from both sponge cakes. Be careful to only remove the darker part. I do it with a grater

  

• collecting the crumbs which I will use later for decoration.

  

• Take one of the two sponge cakes and using a long serrated knife, with a wide-toothed blade, make sure to cut 2 disks.

  

• Place the first layer of sponge cake on a plate, using a brush, spread the previously prepared syrup all over the surface.

  

• Now add about 1/3 of the cream and level it with a spatula.

  

• Layer the second disk on top, soak it again and cover it with another layer of cream as before,

  leaving some aside for the edges. Level everything out well

  

• Also take the second sponge cake and cut it into small cubes, and set them aside in a bowl

  

• Use the remaining cream to cover the edges of the cake, using the spatula, and sprinkle the surface first with the crumbs that were grated, then with sponge cake cubes.

  

• Place the cake in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. When serving, dust with powdered sugar. And here is my Mimosa Cake with Lemon Cream ready