Sultan's indulgence: A New Year's cake fit for royalty

For Christmas, we usually enjoy a selection of traditional cakes: poppy seed roll, cheesecake, and gingerbread. For New Year, you can go a bit wild and prepare whatever baked goods you fancy. Often, to highlight the special occasion, we opt for festive and elegant desserts. Recently, traditional cakes have been replaced by layered cakes.

Layered cakes are the highlight of every party. They often require considerable effort, but each bite makes it all worthwhile. Recently, I showed interest in the Sultan cake. It immediately brought to mind the sultan-style herrings my aunt introduced me to in December. It's about rather exotic additions in both cases. The herrings had raisins, whereas this cake features dates. Generally, the cake is quite extravagant, befitting a sultan, who is a powerful ruler.

The base of the cake is a spiced sponge with cinnamon. The subsequent layers are two meringues: coconut and walnut. Between them lies a tangy blackcurrant jam. Everything is crowned with chocolate cream infused with dates, raisins, and dried plums. The dessert is suffused with the aroma of coffee. Altogether, it's truly an explosion of flavour. Even a sultan would surely be tempted by a piece of this cake. I'm not recommending you prepare this dessert frequently, as it demands considerable effort, but for New Year's Eve or New Year, it's definitely worth it!

Ingredients:

For the spiced sponge cake:

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

For the coconut meringue:

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

For the walnut meringue:

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

For the chocolate cream:

• approximately 475 millilitres of milk,
• 2 tablespoons of sugar,
• a packet of vanilla sugar,
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa,
• about 45 grams of potato flour,
• 2 egg yolks,
• roughly 200 grams of soft butter,
• about 100 grams of dark chocolate,
• around 50 grams of raisins, dried plums, or dates (or a mix of these dried fruits).

Additionally:

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

Instructions:

1. Begin 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 bicarbonate of soda. Add to the beaten mixture and gently combine the ingredients.
3. Pour the batter onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in an oven preheated to 160°C for about 35 minutes. When the sponge cake has cooled, 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 tray 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. Start preparing the chocolate cream by boiling 240 millilitres 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 cling film 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 the sponge cake, then apply half of the chocolate cream. The next layer is coconut meringue, followed by blackcurrant jam. Continue with the walnut meringue and the remaining chocolate cream.
15. Cover everything with the second sponge layer. Soak it with coffee, and finally sprinkleit with flakes and dried fruits.

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