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Russian sponge slices with butter cream
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Russian sponge slices with butter cream

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 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Cooling time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 8 slices

Equipment

  • 24 cm x 24 cm square springform pan
  • piping bag

Ingredients

for the dough

  • 5 eggs (room temperature)
  • 150 g sugar
  • 150 g flour
  • vanilla
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • butter to grease the baking pan

for the cream

  • 130 ml milk
  • 130 g sugar
  • 300 g butter (room temperature)
  • 20 g cornstarch
  • vanilla
  • 1 tbsp rum or cognac (room temperature)

for the sugar syrup

  • 90 ml water
  • 70 g sugar
  • 1 tbsp rum 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.