Souvenir Cake
Today I want to tell you about a special cake, The Souvenir Cake… Just the name has something fascinating, doesn’t it?
And I assure you that its taste is just as delicious!
The Souvenir Cake is born from the memories I have with this wonderful land, my Romagna husband, the sea, and the hinterland… My mother-in-law always prepared Zuppa Inglese, with its creams, with its red color of alchermes, a red spiced liqueur colored with carmine, once with cochineal.
A sweet memory of Romagna moments…
The cake is filled with a delicious white chocolate cream, caramel, and … The secret lies in using a generous amount of fresh and genuine ingredients, which enhance its flavor and texture.
The contrast between white and black gives the cake a velvety texture full of flavor and aromas.
The ingredients also include flour, fresh eggs from my hens, and sugar…
The cake doesn’t require much preparation time, but it does require attention in its elaboration.
The Souvenir Cake is a versatile dessert that can be served on many occasions. It can be enjoyed as a dessert after lunch or dinner, but it can also be offered as a gift to friends and family. Its aesthetic beauty, with its vibrant color and contrast of white and black chocolate, makes it an excellent choice for celebrating special occasions
In conclusion, the Souvenir Cake represents for me a mix of memories in the land of Romagna and thanks to the inclusion of alchermes and the delicious flavors of white and black chocolate with its velvety texture and its unique taste, it is a true treasure that will satisfy and delight the most demanding palates.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Oven, Microwave
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
Fresh and easily available ingredients… Eggs, sugar, flour, starch, and white chocolate mascarpone…
- 1.4 oz cornstarch
- 4 egg whites (room temperature)
- 1.8 oz flour
- 3 egg yolks
- 3.5 oz sugar
- 9 white chocolate
- 2.1 oz whipping cream
- 9 oz mascarpone
- 3.5 oz dark chocolate
- to taste alchermes
- to taste caramel
Tools
Rectangular baking pan, electric mixer or stand mixer, mixing bowls… Piping bag
The tools I used I purchase on Amazon, so I don’t always have to rush to find the right piece, follow the link for my recommendations
Step by step the Souvenir Cake takes shape
I always recommend preparing all the ingredients so you don’t have to interrupt the process. I used the stand mixer to whip the egg whites until stiff.
After finishing, whip the egg yolks with the sugar until you get a frothy mixture
Meanwhile, combine the two flours and sift them
Carefully mix the two foams and add the sifted flours
Transfer to a rectangular baking pan lined with parchment paper and spread out evenly. About 0.4 inches high across the surface. Bake at 340°F for about fifteen minutes, remove from oven and let cool
In the meantime, chop the white chocolate and combine with the cream, melt in the microwave in short steps, stirring each time; it takes one to two minutes
Then add the mascarpone and mix carefully until you get a velvety mixture; cover until use
Cut your sponge cake into equal strips and pour the caramel over them, I preferred a central filling…
Transfer the cream to a piping bag and fill the strips with the cream…
Now you can assemble the Souvenir Cake, strip by strip, applying slight pressure
After assembling, fill any gaps, and with the help of a small nozzle bottle, pour the alchermes, insist a little to let the liqueur absorb
With the remaining cream, combined with melted dark chocolate, make the outer decoration. Your Souvenir Cake is ready!
In the heart of the cake, colorful shades
The finished decoration
It is a cake with vertical slices, you can also make single servings, or a Souvenir log… I preferred not to overuse the alchermes, to not overshadow the various aromatic nuances. It keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; you can also freeze portions, the taste does not suffer.
