Brita-Kakku- Finnish Sponge, Meringue, Berries and Cream Cake

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease your pans and line with parchment paper. You can use either a baking sheet, or two round cake tins.

Meringue recipe:

2 egg whites

pinch of salt

3/4 cup sugar

Separate the egg whites from the yolks, reserving the yolks for the sponge batter. 

In a large clean bowl, whip the egg whites and the pinch of salt until the egg whites have some volume. Then, sprinkle in the sugar a tablespoon at a time, whipping until the egg whites form stiff peaks. 

Sponge Recipe:

125g butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup (or 78g) all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg yolks and mix well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and stir until half mixed. Then add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. 

Spread the sponge batter evenly in your cake pans. Then spread the meringue over the top of the sponge batter, taking care not to mix the two layers.

Place the pans into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the meringue is slightly golden on top. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature in the cake pans. 

While the cake is baking, make the macerated berries.

Macerated berries recipe:

3 cups mixed berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries (see note)

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp lemon juce

3 tbsp liquer, such as grand marnier

Mix all the ingredients and leave to infuse for at least an hour

Before serving the cake, make the whipped cream filling and topping.

Whipped cream:

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp of vanilla

Whip until peaks form that can hold their shape. 

Cake assembly:

If using a sheet pan, cut the cake in half down the middle and put one half onto your serving dish. If using two round cake tins, put one layer down. 

Spoon half of the whipped cream mixture onto the first layer, followed by half of the berries, taking cake to leave the juice behind. 

Repeat with the second layer. 

Sprinkle the fruit with powdered sugar for extra prettiness. 

Serve immediately as the meringue layer will lose crispiness the longer it sits. 

Enjoy! 

Note: You can use any kind of fruit that can be macerated, such as peaches and plums. You could also try using a fruit compote, such as pear or apple.