This week is very sweet, as the forthcoming 27 January is Chocolate Cake Day, and that’s why we’re bringing you a recipe for you to enjoy this weekend in the finest company, chocolate and saffron sponge cake, and we have thought up of a way to give it a different and delicious touch with a chilled mint cream. If you wish to taste this explosion of flavours, grab a pen and paper and let’s start cracking on the recipe!

Sponge cake ingredients:

• 200 g pastry flour.
• 100 g butter cocoa
• 5 eggs
• 300 g milk
• 100 g butter
• 1 sachet of baking powder
• Saffron strands
• 160 g sugar
• Grated lemon peel
• 30 g hazelnuts
• 60 g almonds
• 80 g pure chocolate broken into  small pieces
• Salt

Mint cream ingredients:

• 600 g milk
• 2 eggs
• 30 g starch
• 130 g sugar
• 30 g mint leaves

Sponge cake method:

We shall first focus on the sponge cake, as it is a more elaborated process and is more time consuming.

Add sugar to butter and beat.

Separate the egg whites and yolks, and to the above mixture, whilst still beating it, add the yolks.

The egg whites are beaten into stiff peaks and add a pinch of salt.

The nuts, that is, the almonds and hazelnuts, are grinded into a  powder to be added later to the flour, baking yeast and the grated lemon peel.

To extract the flavour of the saffron, dissolve the strands in hot milk, whilst the flour mixture is added to the eggs and butter.

After a little while, mix the milk and the saffron with the egg whites beaten into stiff peaks, caution!  – this mixture should be whisked gently so as not to separate the egg whites. Once mixed, add the delicious chocolate morsels.

Place all the batter into a mold, and grease all sides so that it does not stick, and finally place into the oven and wait 40 minutes.

Mint cream Method:

Once the batter is in the oven now is the right time to start on the mint cream.

Mix the eggs with sugar and starch. At the same time add the mint leaves to the milk and boil the entire mixture. When it has been boiling for a little bit, strain the mint leaves from the milk.  Continue boiling the milk, eggs, sugar and starch until the mixture has thickened.

Then it’s time to set aside the mint cream and the sponge cake after taking  the cake out of the oven, leave to both to cool.

What do you think of this sweet yet at the same time fresh combination?  Are you game to try it, especially this weekend to commemorate Chocolate Day, tell us about it on our social  Antonio Sotos‘  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social networks.