Sultan cake: The showstopper dessert for New Year's feast

For Christmas, we typically have a selection of traditional cakes: poppy seed roll, cheesecake, and gingerbread. For New Year's, you can experiment and bake your favorites. Often, to highlight the special nature of the occasion, we choose festive, elegant desserts. Layered ones are increasingly replacing traditional cakes.

Layered cakes are the highlight of any gathering. They often require significant effort, but each bite makes it worthwhile. Recently, I became interested in the Sultan Cake. It instantly reminded me of the sultan-style herring dish my aunt made last December, which features exotic additions. The herring included raisins, and this cake incorporates dates. Overall, the cake is quite extravagant—a fitting choice for a sultan, an all-powerful ruler.

The base of the cake is a spiced sponge cake with cinnamon. The subsequent layers include two types of meringue: coconut and walnut. In between, there's a tangy blackcurrant jam. Everything is topped with chocolate cream enriched with dates, raisins, and dried plums. The dessert is infused with the aroma of coffee. Altogether, it's truly an explosion of flavors. Even a sultan would be tempted for a piece of this cake. While I'm not suggesting you prepare it regularly due to its complexity, it's definitely worth making for New Year's Eve or New Year!

Ingredients:

For the spiced sponge cake:

• 4 eggs,
• about 4 oz of fine baking sugar,
• about 4 oz of cake flour,
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa,
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon,
• half a teaspoon of baking powder,
• a pinch of baking soda.

For the coconut meringue:

• 2 egg whites,
• about 4 oz of fine sugar,
• about 3.5 oz of coconut flakes,
• a pinch of salt.

For the walnut meringue:

• 2 egg whites,
• about 4 oz of fine sugar,
• about 3.5 oz of walnuts,
• a pinch of salt.

For the chocolate cream:

• about 2 cups of milk,
• 2 tablespoons of sugar,
• a packet of vanilla sugar,
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa,
• about 1.5 oz of potato flour,
• 2 egg yolks,
• about 7 oz of soft butter,
• about 3.5 oz of dark chocolate,
• about 1.75 oz of raisins, dried plums, or dates (or a mix of these dried fruits).

Additionally:

• a small jar of blackcurrant jam,
• about 3.5 oz of dark chocolate (optional),
• about 0.4 cup of whipping cream (30% fat) (optional),
• freshly brewed coffee for soaking.

Instructions:

1. Start by preparing the spiced sponge cake. Beat the egg whites until they form peaks; as it begins to thicken, gradually add sugar by the tablespoon, then the yolks, while mixing continuously.
2. Mix the flour with cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to the beaten mixture and gently mix to combine the ingredients.
3. Pour the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in an oven preheated to 320°F for about 35 minutes. When the sponge cake cools, cut it into two layers.
4. To prepare the coconut meringue, beat the egg whites into peaks. As they begin to stiffen, add sugar in small increments, along with a pinch of salt, while continuing to mix.
5. When the meringue is whipped, add the coconut flakes and mix.
6. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in an oven preheated to 340°F for 25 minutes.
7. Similarly prepare the walnut meringue. Add finely chopped walnuts to the meringue.
8. Begin preparing the chocolate cream by boiling 1 cup of milk with sugar and vanilla sugar.
9. Mix the remaining milk with cocoa, potato flour, and egg yolks. Pour into the boiling milk, stirring the mixture continuously.
10. Once the chocolate pudding is ready, cover it with plastic wrap and set it aside to cool.
11. Mix the soft butter, then gradually add the cold pudding, continuing to mix constantly.
12. Add the chopped chocolate and dried fruits to the finished cream, and mix everything together.
13. Brew a strong coffee and let it cool.
14. Start assembling the cake by soaking it in the sponge cake. Then, apply half of the chocolate cream. The next layer is coconut meringue and blackcurrant jam. Follow with the walnut meringue and another portion of chocolate cream.
15. Cover everything with the second sponge layer. Soak it with coffee, and finally sprinkle it with flakes and dried fruits.

For an even richer version, prepare a glaze: heat the cream, melt the chocolate in it. Decorate the cake with the glaze, and you can sprinkle more dried fruits on top.