Brabants Autumn Cake

Recipe from Evi Bakermans (winner of Baking Contest in Brabant, Baking with Sponge Fingers, the Netherlands). 

Ingredients base: 

100 gram (crushed) Sponge Fingers
60 gram butter

Ingredients Crème de Marron:

200 gram roasted or pre-cooked chestnuts
200 gram light coloured castersugar
240 ml water
1 vanilla-pod 

Ingredients cheese cake topping:

200 gram Monchou cheese cake (ambient)
250 gram whipped cream
100 gram sugar
1 bag of whipped cream stabilizer

Ingredients nut crumbs:

100 gram chestnuts
100 gram hazelnuts
250 gram sugar
50 ml water

Other supplies:
Round shaped baking pan 18cm 
Grand manier
1 pak Sponge Fingers
1 bar dark chocolate
2 bars white chocolate
1 pomegranate

Method:

1) Nut crumbs

• Heat the sugar with water to a brown karamel (do not stir during this process) in a pan.
• Add the hazelnuts and chestnuts to the karamel and stir.
• Put baking paper on a baking pan and put the karamel mixture on the baking paper. 
• Wait until the mixture is cooled down and chop into crumbs with a blender. 

2) Base

• Crush the Sponge Fingers in a blender.
• Melt the butter in a pan en add the crushed Sponge Fingers. Stir with a spoon.
• Put baking paper on the baking pan (18cm). 
• Put the butter and Sponge Finger mixture equally on the base of the baking pan. Put this in the refrigerator.
• Melt half of the bar of dark chocolate and put this on top of the butter / Sponge Finger mixture. Put it back in the refrigerator. 

3) Crème de Marron

• Add the water and sugar in a pan, add the vanilla seeds from the vanilla-pod. 
• When the sugar is starting to solve, add the roasted chestnuts and stir. 
• Stew the mixture and stir until the mixture thickens (after approximately 10-15 minutes).
• Pour the mixture in a bowl and mash with a mixer until it is an equal creme. Let the mixture cool down. 

4) Cheese cake topping

• Mix the cheese cake until it is smooth.
• Add the sugar and mix.
• Mix in a different bowl the whipped cream with the whipped cream stabilizer until it is half stif. 
• Gently add the whipped cream to the cheese cake mixture until it is an equal topping. 
• Put it until use, in the refrigerator.

5) Making the cake

• Take the baking pan with the cooled base and chocolate out of the refrigerator. 
• Spread half of the Crème de Marron on the base.
• Add the nut crumbs to cover the base (not too much).
• Spread half of the cheese cake topping and make sure that the surface is smooth and equal.
• Put the Sponge Fingers on top and sprinkle with Grand Manier.
• Spread the remaining Crème de Marron.
• Finish with the remaining cheese cake topping and put the cake in the freezer for 1 hour. 
• Start with preparing the decoration of the cake. 

6) Decoration cake

• Melt 2 bars of white chocolate (au-bain-marie) and add a piece of the dark chocolate (to get a light brown colour).
• Spread the chocolate on a baking pan with baking paper. 
• Cut the pomegranate open and remove the seeds (make sure that the skin is removed).
• Cut the chocolate into rectangular shapes (4x6 cm).
• Get the cake and stick the chocolate rectangles to the sides of the cake (cover the cake on the sides).
• Sprinkle pomegranate seeds and nut crumbs on top of the cake. Tie a nice ribbon around the cake.