So what is Ledene Kocke?
She boasts a light, chocolate spongecake base that’s drunk up a happy amount of orange blossom infused syrup. For those of you with Valentine’s Day on the mind, rose water is another traditional addition. Either way, this is a garden of goodness for your mouth. She’s then topped with a thick vanilla custard. Finally, she’s got a deep, dark chocolate topping (in a pinch, a dusting of cocoa powder works great here, too).
While there are lots of recipes for this cake, I found watching this video to be helpful to understand the procedure (despite the fact that it’s not in English)
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 1 13 x 9 cake | 1 hour |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 45 minutes | 8 hours |
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So what is Ledene Kocke?
She boasts a light, chocolate spongecake base that’s drunk up a happy amount of orange blossom infused syrup. For those of you with Valentine’s Day on the mind, rose water is another traditional addition. Either way, this is a garden of goodness for your mouth. She’s then topped with a thick vanilla custard. Finally, she’s got a deep, dark chocolate topping (in a pinch, a dusting of cocoa powder works great here, too).
While there are lots of recipes for this cake, I found watching this video to be helpful to understand the procedure (despite the fact that it’s not in English)
|
Ingredients
For the custard topping:
- 3 cups milk
- 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 16 Tbsp unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
For the cake:
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 6 eggs , separated
- 1/3 cup sugar
- butter , for greasing pan
For the syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp rose water – OR –
- orange blossom water
For the chocolate topping:
- 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
Servings: 13 x 9 cake
Units:
Instructions
For the custard topping:
- Heat up the milk, sugar and vanilla extract until steaming. Meanwhile, ladle enough milk into the flour to create a thick slurry. Pour it back into the milk mixture and heat until it resembles thick vanilla pudding. Be sure to whisk well as you go, so that lumps do not form. Let cool completely, then whisk in the butter.
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 13×9 cake pan generously with butter. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, and baking powder. Next, Beat the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the sugar until glossy, stiff peaks form.
- Fold in the egg yolks.
- Fold the cocoa mixture into the egg white mixture. Spread the thick, fluffy cocoa brown batter into the cake pan.
- Bake about 25 minutes.
For the syrup:
- Simmer the sugar, water, and orange blossom water (or rose water) until the sugar dissolves, about five minutes.
- Then, use a fork to poke a few holes on the cake. Pour the syrup over the hot cake until…you have your very own swimming pool. Let sit until completely absorbed.
- For the chocolate topping: Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and stir in the oil. Set aside to cool until lukewarm.
To assemble:
- Top the cake with the cooled custard cream, spreading it out evenly with a spatula. Then pour on the chocolate topper and smooth it out. You can also just dust on cocoa powder if you don’t want to mess with the chocolate (it will look like the top of a piece of Tiramisu).
- Refrigerate overnight to set the chocolate, then slice into neat squares.