Sultan cake: A regal indulgence for your festive table

We usually have a collection of traditional cakes for Christmas: poppy seed roll, cheesecake, and gingerbread. For New Year's, you can go wild and bake the goods you love the most. Often, to highlight the special occasion, we choose festive, elegant desserts. Recently, traditional cakes have been replaced by layered cakes.

Layered cakes are the highlight of every party. They often require a lot of work, but every bite makes it worthwhile. Recently, I became interested in the Sultan cake. It immediately reminded me of the Sultan-style herrings my aunt served in December. Similarly, it's about rather exotic additions. The herrings had raisins, and here, dates appear. Generally, the cake is quite extravagant. After all, a sultan is an all-powerful ruler.

The base of the cake is a spiced sponge cake with cinnamon. The next layers are two meringues: coconut and walnut. Between them is a tangy blackcurrant jam. Everything is topped with chocolate cream, dates, raisins, and dried plums. The dessert is infused with the aroma of coffee. Altogether, it's a true explosion of flavour. Even a sultan would be tempted for a piece of this cake. I'm not urging you to prepare this dessert often, as it requires a lot of work, but it's truly worth it for New Year's Eve or New Year!

Ingredients:

For the spiced sponge cake:

• 4 eggs,
• about 115 g of fine baking sugar,
• about 115 g of cake flour,
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa,
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon,
• half a teaspoon of baking powder,
• a pinch of baking soda.

For the coconut meringue:

• 2 egg whites,
• about 115 g of fine sugar,
• about 100 g of coconut flakes,
• a pinch of salt.

For the walnut meringue:

• 2 egg whites,
• about 115 g of fine sugar,
• about 100 g of walnuts,
• a pinch of salt.

For the chocolate cream:

• about 475 ml of milk,
• 2 tablespoons of sugar,
• a packet of vanilla sugar,
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa,
• about 40 g of potato flour,
• 2 egg yolks,
• about 200 g of soft butter,
• about 100 g of dark chocolate,
• about 50 g of raisins, dried plums, or dates (or a mix of these dried fruits).

Additionally:

• a small jar of blackcurrant jam,
• about 100 g of dark chocolate (optional),
• about 95 ml of whipping cream (30% fat) (optional),
• freshly brewed coffee for soaking.

Instructions:

1. Start by preparing the spiced sponge cake. Beat the egg whites until they form peaks; as it begins to thicken, gradually add sugar by the tablespoon, then the yolks, while mixing continuously.
2. Mix the flour with cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to the beaten mixture and gently mix to combine the ingredients.
3. Pour the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in an oven preheated to 160°C for about 35 minutes. When the sponge cake cools, cut it into two layers.
4. To prepare the coconut meringue, beat the egg whites into peaks. As they begin to stiffen, add sugar in small increments, along with a pinch of salt, while continuing to mix.
5. When the meringue is whipped, add the coconut flakes and mix.
6. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in an oven preheated to 170°C for 25 minutes.
7. Similarly prepare the walnut meringue. Add finely chopped walnuts to the meringue.
8. Begin preparing the chocolate cream by boiling 250 ml of milk with sugar and vanilla sugar.
9. Mix the remaining milk with cocoa, potato flour, and egg yolks. Pour into the boiling milk, stirring the mixture continuously.
10. Once the chocolate pudding is ready, cover it with plastic wrap and set it aside to cool.
11. Mix the soft butter, then gradually add the cold pudding, continuing to mix constantly.
12. Add the chopped chocolate and dried fruits to the finished cream, and mix everything together.
13. Brew a strong coffee and let it cool.
14. Start assembling the cake by soaking it in the sponge cake. Then, apply half of the chocolate cream. The next layer is coconut meringue and blackcurrant jam. Follow with the walnut meringue and another portion of chocolate cream.
15. Cover everything with the second sponge layer. Soak it with coffee and sprinkle it with flakes and dried fruits.

For an even richer version, prepare a glaze: heat the cream, melt the chocolate in it. Decorate the cake with the glaze, and you can sprinkle more dried fruits on top.