Bento po česku

Ingredients are written out for two sizes: either one small cake for which I bake the sponge in two pans ø21 cm and put the cream in between, or one big cake for which I bake the sponge in one pan ø26 cm and then cut horizontally into two. 

First, prepare cake pan(s) - grease them (I use baking spray) and put baking paper on the bottom.

Put whole eggs into the bowl of the kitchen robot, add a pinch of salt and start whipping at low to medium speed (I use speed 3 out of 5). Gradually add the sugar and let it whip until it turns into thick foam. You should have about 2-3x more volume than what you started with. Turn off the robot and gently fold in the flour, just so it disappears into the batter.
Pour the batter into prepared cake pan(s). Bake at 170 °C, 21cm pans take about 7 minutes, bigger pan will take longer. Test for doneness with a toothpick, it should come out clean. 

Take the pan(s) out of the oven and leave to cool down for about 5-10 minutes, then take the cake out of the pan(s) and let cool completely. You may need to run a knife or a spatula around the edge of the pan if the cake is stuck a bit before taking it out. 

While the cake is baking, prepare sugar syrup. 

Boil sugar and water (with vanilla pod) until it thickens slightly, then let cool down. Pour into bottle(s) with a nozzle, like the bottles used for ketchup/mustard, for easy pouring. You can keep the vanilla pod in the syrup to let it infuse with flavour.

Cut the baked and cooled cake sponge(s) horizontally, if you want. I usually cut the big one, but the small ones I leave as they are. 

Then, gently pour the sugar over the sponge. From a bottle with a nozzle is easiest and on the cut side works best. You want to use quite a lot of syrup and you might need to wait for the syrup to get absorbed before adding more. You should use all of the syrup (or most of it).

Then, if you have time, wrap up the sponges individually and let rest at room temperature, until next day is fine. 

Once you are ready to assemble the cake, prepare the cream. All of these ingredient as well as the bowl should be cold. 

Add mascarpone or cream cheese into a bowl of the kitchen robot with the sugar and start whipping until it loosens up a little. Then, with the robot running on low speed, slowly add the whipping cream. Once it is incorporated, you can turn the speed up. Don't forget to stop the mixer at least once and scrape down the bowl. Whip until the mixture more or less holds shape; it won't become stiff, though.

Unwrap the bottom sponge and transfer it to a plate. You can spread some jam on it, or even nutella, but be careful because the soaked sponge is fragile. Then, spoon about half of the cream on the sponge. (It seems easiest to use a piping bag to pipe a border around the area and the spoon and spread the cream in the middle.)

Unwrap the top sponge. You can also spread some jam on it, then invert it on the cream filling. Press slightly to make sure it lies flat. 

Use the rest of the cream on the outside of the cake - spread or pipe it however you want. The provided ingredients should be enough to spread in a thin layer all over the cake and have some extra for fancy decoration on top.

Finish you cake with fruits or candy, if you wish, and let it sit in the fridge for a bit before serving.