Austrian Cardinal Slice

Following my local specials, “Kardinalschnitte” or Austrian Cardinal Slice, very traditional and luxurious dessert among all. Combination of typical Christian Church colors – white and gold, accompanied by a whipped cream and marmalade of your liking (depending on your sweet tongue). Even though it looks relatively difficult, it is actually quite easy to make. Gather with your beloved and enjoy this little piece of heaven.

Total Time: 1,5 hour

Shopping List

The Classic Sponge:
2 whole eggs + 7 egg yolks
35g of caster superfine sugar + 1 package of vanilla sugar
50g of coarse flour, sifted
1 teaspoon of baking powder, sifted

The White Sponge:
150g of caster superfine sugar + 1 package of vanilla sugar
6 egg whites
1 splash of vinegar to finish

The Filling:
1 jar of whipped cream (250-300 ml)
4-5 tablespoons of desirable marmalade (I used a good quality currant jelly marmalade)
2 tablespoons of icing sugar to sprinkle with
Seasonal fruits to serve with: strawberries or raspberries

Instructions

The Classic Sponge

In a large bowl place eggs with egg yolks and sugars. Start whisking on low speed until all eggs are running.
Then, increase the speed to the highest and mix for about 5 minutes (depends on your mixer) until it gets whiter and foamy.

Next, gently stir in the flour with baking powder. Done.

The White Sponge

Place egg whites and sugars into a medium metal bowl and mix. Start on lower speed, then increase to the highest until you get firm snow peaks. Add splash of vinegar and gently mix with a whisking spoon. Done.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Presentation

Fill up 2 large frosting bags. One with The Classic Sponge Dough, the other one with The White Sponge Dough. Cut the endings, approximately about 1,5 cm wide.
Spiral the dough directly onto baking tray lined with some baking paper (I used a deeper tray 35x25cm), as visualized below.

5 strips of The White Sponge Dough. This the amount for 2 good layers, you can nicely put them on top of each other.

Then, take the frosting bag with The Classic Sponge Dough and fill up the gaps of white stripes in between, 4 in total.

Place the sponge into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Then, lower the heat to 150 degrees and continue drying for another 15 minutes. Done.

Take it out and let it cool down completely.

The Filling

When the sponge is ready to work with, cut the cake in the middle.

Transfer ½ onto a baking paper sprinkled with icing sugar (upside down, flat side on the top). Remove the baking paper from the top easily. Put a good amount of marmalade and layer with whipped cream.

Gently remove the baking paper from second half of the cake and place it crunchy side on the top. Sprinkle with icing sugar. Serve immediately with desirable fruits or refrigerate until serving. Yummy!

Makes 10 serves.