Fluffy, moist, soft, creamy, tender – these Russian sponge slices with butter cream, which were very popular in the Soviet Union, taste heavenly delicious. Classically decorated with flowers and leaves in pastel colors, they are a sweet eye-catcher that looks good enough to eat. According to this recipe, you can make the mini cakes yourself. It's easy, and you only need common ingredients for it, which you may already have at home.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Russian
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Cooling time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Servings 8slices
Equipment
24 cm x 24 cm square springform pan
piping bag
Ingredients
for the dough
5eggs(room temperature)
150gsugar
150gflour
vanilla
1pinch ofsalt
butter to grease the baking pan
for the cream
130mlmilk
130gsugar
300gbutter(room temperature)
20gcornstarch
vanilla
1tbsprum or cognac(room temperature)
for the sugar syrup
90mlwater
70gsugar
1tbsprum or cognac
for decorating
pink food coloring
green food coloring
Instructions
Preparation of the dough
Line the bottom of the square springform pan with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.
Beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until you have a fluffy white mixture.
Fold in flour to make a fluffy, thick batter.
Pour the sponge mixture into the baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C top and bottom heat for about 20 minutes. Allow the sponge cake to cool and then store in an airtight container overnight.
Preparation of the sugar syrup
Put sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring to a boil while stirring constantly so that the sugar dissolves before it boils, take it off the heat and let the sugar syrup cool.
Add rum or cognac and stir it.
Preparation of the cream
Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of milk.
Put the remaining milk and sugar in a small, thick-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Once the mixture boils, add the cornstarch dissolved in milk in a thin stream, stirring constantly, and continue to cook over medium hint, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 3 minutes.
Take the cornstarch syrup off the heat, add vanilla and stir. Then let the syrup cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Beat softened butter for about 5 minutes until fluffy and creamy white.
Add the cornstarch syrup in small batches, whipping each time to a homogeneous mass so that you end up with a fluffy cream.
Add rum or cognac and whip again briefly.
Preparation of the slices
Cut the cake lengthwise into two cake layers, soak them from the inside with the sugar syrup and let them dry for about 15 minutes.
Transfer about 1/3 of the cream into a clean bowl and refrigerate it until you need it for decorating.
Spread the remaining cream evenly over the two cake layers and stack them on top of each other. Make wavy lines on the surface of the cake with the teeth dough scraper and chill the cake for 1 hour to set the cream.
Cut off about 0.5 cm thick border from all sides of the cake (it doesn't look so pretty, but it tastes delicious, so you shouldn't throw it away) and cut the cake into 8 slices (in my case, each 10 cm x 5 cm in size).
Decorate the slices
Color about 2/3 of the chilled cream with pink and the rest with green food coloring.
Fill the cream into different piping bags with suitable nozzles and pipe flowers with the pink cream and leaves with the green cream onto the slices. Chill the sponge slices for about 30 minutes.
Notes
To check if the sponge cake is done baking, use a toothpick. Alternatively, you can press a finger on the surface of the sponge and see if it springs back afterwards.
Be sure to simmer the cornstarch syrup for the cream for a few minutes so that the cream does not taste like cornstarch later.
Both butter and the cornstarch syrup and alcohol need to be room warm and all about the same temperature when whipped together to make the cream, so they can combine well.
Alcohol for the cream and sugar syrup is alternative.
Note the detailed tips and tricks for making the Russian sponge slices with butter cream at the top of the post.