Prague cake with butter cream

The flour needs to be sifted and mixed with cocoa (115 + 25 g).

Separate the egg whites from the yolks (8 eggs) and divide the sugar into two parts (150 g).

Mix one part with the yolks and beat with a mixer: first on low speed, then on higher speed.

First, beat the chilled egg whites at low speed, then at higher speed. When the egg white foam becomes firmer, gradually add sugar. Beat until a stable foam is obtained. Combine the egg whites with the beaten yolks and gently fold in the flour and cocoa mixture.

At the end, we carefully pour in the melted butter (40 g).

Pour the batter into a buttered mold. Make a depression in the middle to prevent the cake from puffing up during baking. Bake the sponge in a preheated oven at 180°C for 35 minutes.

Separate the yolk from the white (1 egg). Add water to the yolk (1 tablespoon of water per yolk). Add condensed milk and heat until thickened.

Immediately remove from heat and let the cream cool.

Pour ice water into a large bowl, place a smaller bowl on top, and add softened butter (200 g) to the smaller bowl.

Beat the butter at low speed. Add the cream made from the yolk and cocoa (10 g).

Continue whipping until the cream reaches a smooth consistency.

Combine sugar (5 tbsp) with water (7 tbsp) and heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.

We cool it down and add cognac.

After baking the sponge, cut it into three equal parts. Soak each layer with a sugar-brandy syrup and layer the cake with cream. Coat the sides of the cake with apricot jam.

We melt chocolate in a steam bath. Half of the chocolate is placed in a pastry bag, and we draw shapes on parchment and put them in the fridge to harden. We add butter to the remaining chocolate, mix it, and cover the entire cake with the resulting glaze. We send the cake to the fridge to let the glaze set. When it firms up a bit, we place chocolate decor on top.