Ingredients

Chocolate Sponge:
Eggs -3
Sugar - 75gms /powdered
Cornflour - 1 tbsp
Cocoa - 2 tbsp
Flour - 75 gms minus 3 tbsps
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Pinch of salt
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Strawberry Sponge:
Eggs - 3
Sugar - 75 gms
Cornflour - 1 tbsp
Flour - 75gms minus 1 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Pinch of salt
Strawberry essence - 1 tsp

Filling :
Cream - 400ml (35% fat)
Strawberry essence -1 tsp (optional)
Powdered sugar - 2-3 tbsp (increase if strawberries are tart)
Strawberries - 200gms/ chopped; reserve 3-4 for decoration

Ganache:
Dark chocolate - 200gms
Cream - 200ml

Method

1. Line & grease a 8″ spring form tin.
2. Sift the cornflour + flour + cocoa + baking powder + salt 3 times. Keep aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
4. Beat the eggs & sugar well till it holds thick ribbons; about 10 minutes.
5. Beat in the vanilla essence.
6. Gently fold in the flour mix, a tbsp at a time, in figure 8 hand movements so that the beaten air doesn’t escape.
7. Turn into the prepared tin & bake for 25-30 minutes/ until done.
8. Remove from tin after 5 minutes, take off the lining & cool completely on rack.

Filling:

1. Whip cream, essence & sugar till it holds peaks.
2. Reserve 1-2 tbsp cream in a baggie for the spiral/ web on top.
3. Fold in the strawberries. Don’t make this too much in advance, since strawberries macerate with sugar, & might make the cream runny.

Ganache:

1. Put the chocolate & cream in a pan. Keep on low heat, stirring constantly, till the chocolate melts. Remove & stir vigorously with a spoon.
2. If you want to pipe decorations on top, pass about 1/4 cup through a sieve & reserve separately.
3. Set aside to cool. It will thicken as it cools & get a spreadable consistency.

Finishing off:

1. Cut each sponge into 2, so there are a total of 4 layers.
2. Sandwich them with the strawberry cream, using 1/3 each time.
3. Spread the ganache over the top & sides of cake. Use sprinkles on the sides if desired.
4. For the marbling, see pictures. Draw a spiral, with the cream in the baggie reserved from the filling, beginning from the centre outwards
5. Then drag a wooden pick from the centre outwards, at a 60 degree angle, to equal points on the edge.
6. Do the same in the opposite direction (ie outwards to the centre) between the earlier lines. This will create a webbed pattern.
7. Pipe a ganache edging if you like. Then finish off with sliced strawberries & flaked chocolate etc. Chill till required.

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