A Very Nutty Birthday Cake!

So as you already know, I've just turned one year older and hopefully wiser. And this is the cake I had for my lazy birthday party in a small circle of friends and relatives.

I combined a Daria Cvek recipe with some of my own ideas. You can see on the first picture a Daria Cvek cooking book. It's an old edition, which I bought years ago on a street book market, which is a popular place in Lviv. Basically it's just a little square with an Ivan Fedorov monument in the middle, occupied by used book sellers. That's where I got my cooking book. My sister has a new fancy edition, but I like my old one with old fashioned photos, that look nothing like today's food photography.

A Very Nutty Birthday Cake

Ingredients:

Walnut Sponge Cake:
6 eggs
150 grams grated walnuts
200 grams granulated sugar (or less - my sponge cake turned out pretty sweet)
4 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Frosting:
250 grams mascarpone
100 grams butter
50 grams sugar powder
40 grams coconut
Decoration:
mini meringues
grated walnuts
coconut

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven till 375 degrees Fahrenheit (or 190-200 degrees Celsius).
2. Separate egg whites from the yolks. Beat egg whites till stiff peaks, gradually adding the sugar.
3. Add the yolks, walnuts, bread crumbs, baking powder, salt and vanilla to the egg whites. Mix till well blended.
4. If the batter is too runny, add more bread crumbs or walnuts. Although thin batter won't ruin your cake, it'll just be more moist.
5. Pour the batter into a pan lined with greased paper and bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
6. To make the frosting, mix together mascarpone, butter, powdered sugar and coconut. It'll be easier if the butter is room temperature. It's okay, if the frosting isn't very smooth. Just make sure, that there are no big chunks of butter in it.
7. Once the sponge cake is baked and cooled down, cut it in half horizontally.
8. Spread the frosting over one half of the cake, put the other half on top. Use the rest of the frosting to cover the top and sides.
9. Decorate with mini meringues, grated walnuts and coconut.
10. Before serving leave the cake in the fridge for a few hours or over night.

Enjoy!
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