Although it is still autumn... is the name of this chocolate sponge cake filled with blackberry- spicy coffee cream with meringues on top. 

Sponge cake ingredients: 150 g chocolate, 100 g sugar, 5 eggs, 50 g roasted, grounded hazelnut, pinch of salt. It means it is glutenfree. I use dark, fairtrade chocolate; local, free range eggs; local sugar and hazelnut.

The best of course, if you have the chickens back in the garden living around the hazelnut tree. Chocolate is not coming from Europe, so I prefer to pay a little bit more, which is what I call "real" price of ingredients. When you buy chocolate for 1 euro, someone is still making a profit, but who is actually picking the food of the Gods, is living on the edge of the society. Think about the people, who are making it possible for you to eat chocolate and the resources of the Planet, the soil and your health, and vote with buying quality.

Preparation: melt the chocolate over waterbath. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until it is creamy, and add the chocolate when it has already cooled down. Carefully add the hazelnut, and finally the whipped egg whites. Pour the dough into a cake mold (21 cm) and bake on a 180 degrees for about 20 minutes. Do not open the oven while you are baking! When time is up, open the door and leave the cake inside for 10 more minutes, and then take it out. Let it cool in the mold.

Filling ingredients: 3 egg yolks, 125 ml milk, 15 g starch, 100 ml cream, 25 g sugar, 25 g icing sugar, 125 g butter. Flavour: 50 g blackberry puree, 25 ml spicy coffee.

Spicy coffee: add 1 tsp coffee, 3 grounded cardamom, half tsp pepper, cacao powder and sugar to 25 ml boiling water and mix it well.

Preparation: whisk the egg yolks with the starch and a tiny bit of milk. Bring to boil the milk with the cream, sugar. Add the egg yolk mixture to the milk and constantly mix, until it begins to thicken. Cool it down. Whisk the soft butter with the icing sugar and add to the cream. Cool it down. Add the blackberry puree and the spicy coffee to it. Cool it.

Glazing: 50 g soft butter, 100 g icing sugar, 4 tbsp cacao powder, 1 tbsp water. Mix all the ingredients very well.

150 g +50 g blackberry puree

Meringues: read my post from january. https://womensart.blog/2019/01/04/meringue/

For this cake, I used piping bags to make the meringues smaller, and I used half amount of chocolate.

Putting the cake together: cut the sponge cake into two parts, spread with the blackberry puree, and with the filling. Put the second layer of the cake and cover it with the filling on the side. Spread the glazing on the top of the cake. Decorate with the small meringues. Grate one small meringue on the top of the cake, so it looks like snow. Because although it is still autumn...winter is on the way.

To make this cake you will need time, but believe me, it's worth it! Can be a great present for a birthday, or just for a weekend family gathering. Enjoy the autumn and the luxury of having chocolate!