Cocoa sponge cake
- Easy
- 27 min
This time you have no excuse, at the next party you will make the cake with your own hands! You will not need any cake designer's skills for the brick cake (layered no-bake cake) we have designed for you. Inspired by the goodness and simplicity of tiramisù (mascarpone cheese and ladyfingers dessert), we have created a layered dessert in which custard, cocoa and dry biscuits soaked in milk alternate, a small trick to make a quick and easy base to fill! All topped with a white, frothy layer of whipped cream, as what kind of cake would it be without whipped cream? The ingredients for an easy-to-make dessert are all there and, once you have tried the cake, you can unleash your imagination by experimenting with other delicious fillings.
To make the brick cake (layered no-bake cake), start by preparing the custard: first cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds 1 with a small knife. In a thick-bottomed pan, pour the milk and cream 2, add the vanilla bean 3 and seeds and bring everything to a boil
Pour the yolks into a separate bowl, add the sugar 4 and beat quickly with a wire whisk 5 until the mixture is light and homogeneous. Next, sift the cornstarch 6 directly into the bowl and stir to blend in the starch.
Add a ladle of hot milk and cream mixture 7. Now remove the vanilla bean from the pan and pour in the egg mixture 8. Let it thicken over low heat, stirring continuously with a whisk 9.
Continue cooking until the cream has thickened; now pour it immediately into an oven pan 10, let it cool, then cover with plastic wrap 11 and place in the refrigerator to harden. Take a rectangular 11x15-inch (29x39 cm) pan. Cover the bottom and sides with plastic wrap and start making the cake: soak a biscuit in room temperature milk for about 10 seconds 12 and place it in the baking pan.
Add the first layer of custard on the biscuits, about 3 tablespoons 13 will be enough. Level the cream well with a spatula or the back of a spoon, then sprinkle the unsweetened cocoa using a sieve 14. Continue with a second layer of soaked biscuits 15,
then with custard and cocoa 16. You will need to obtain 6 layers in total. Finish with a layer of biscuits and put the cake to harden in the fridge for 3 hours. Then take out the cake, transfer it to a serving plate using the plastic wrap to lift it 17. Dust the surface with more cocoa 18
to completely cover the cake 19.Pour the cream into a bowl, add the sugar 20 and whip with a mixer 21 until frothy.
Spread a generous layer of whipped cream on top of the cake 22, sprinkle with a little more cocoa 23 and your brick cake (layered no-bake cake) will be ready to be enjoyed 24!