I belong to the category of people whose birthday brings a little sadness. Until recently, I was always in the process of making an account of what I have accomplished in my life and focusing only on what I have not succeeded in. So, I rarely celebrated my birthday, until I took it out of facebook to not accept wishes. Last year – completely conscious – I did not even get out of the house to celebrate with my friends.
The thoughts that we all make took gigantic dimensions in my head: ‘Have I achieved what I must have achieved until this age? What keeps me back? What steps have I not dared and why? What am I doing for the important people I have in my life? Am I the man I want to be? I even went into the process of challenging my decisions, for example, to quit my “office” career to become a blogger!
All of this somewhat spoil my mood to this day. I decided, however, that I will focus only on the positive! Only to what will help me to be happy and spend as beautiful as possible this day. I decided to change the associations I make and bring them in the direction I want. A more creative and joyful direction. I have learned over the years that when you focus on negatives you are immersed in negativity. It’s not just waste of time but also the wrong turn to misery.
I decided that today, like every other day of the year, is the right day to celebrate our small and big successes. I realized how unnecessary it is to magnify a bad moment and pass by all the beautiful things that happen to us. Let us consider the blessings we have in our lives, our health, our family, our friendships, and not only talking about a “malice” that someone somewhere said about us or about a job that did not go as planned.
This year, I decided I would not follow the same path! That’s why I made my favorite cake, my favorite flavor with hazelnut praline, and I decided to share all these thoughts from here, because maybe I can help some other people who “suffer” from the same chain of thoughts.
So get in the kitchen! Play with flour and chocolate and just think of the beautiful moments of the past 364 days. Think of the love you have received through all the years. See that the result will be more delicious than you expect because happiness and love really have a taste.
Ingredients
For sponge cake:-
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- 250 gr sugar ,
- 300 gr flour ,
- 10 eggs
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- 150 gr sugar ,
- 150 gr water ,
- 50 gr strawberry liqueur
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- 250 gr hazelnut praline ,
- 250 gr mascarpone ,
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
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- 30 strawberries
Instructions
For sponge cake:-
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- Beat the eggs with sugar in the mixer until they foam, a process that takes at least 10 minutes depending on the mixer. ,
- Sift the flour ,
- Add it slowly to the whipped eggs, gently stirring with a silicon spatula. ,
- Divide the mixture into three equal parts. ,
- Pour them in pans (sponge cake molds) with a diameter of 15 cm buttered and floured or in a confectionary hoop. ,
- Bake in a preheated oven at 170 ° C for 20 minutes. ,
- Take them out from the oven and allow to come to room temperature before removing them.
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- Boil the sugar with water for 2 minutes. ,
- Let cool and add the drink.
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- Put all the ingredients in the mixer and mix them at low speed until we have a homogeneous mix. ,
- Put it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to bind well.
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- Cut the strawberries in the middle and remove the stalks. ,
- Take the sponge cakes and cut with a bread knife the top of them. Remove the top "peel" that has been cracked. The sponges must be at room temperature. It is good to have made them the day before. ,
- Then wet them with the syrup using a brush. ,
- Put the first sponge on the platter we serve. ,
- Cover the surface with 1/3 of the frosting. ,
- Decorate around with strawberries. ,
- Fix the second sponge and repeat the same procedure. ,
- Straighten the last sponge cake ,
- Cover with the last 1/3 of the frosting that has deen left. ,
- Optionally decorate with macarons or meringue and put all the left strawberries in the center.
