Chocolate cake "Prague": recipe with photo

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

The most popular chocolate cake in the USSR can be made at home. The main thing is to strictly follow the recipe and not try to replace one ingredient with another. In our article, we will present a photo and a recipe for the Prague chocolate cake step by step: according to GOST and a simplified version of the same dessert with cream without condensed milk.

The story of the famous dessert

The cake with the symbolic name "Prague" was invented in the capital of the Czech Republic. But what is curious is that in Prague itself it is practically not popular. Perhaps the reason that the cake was underestimated lies in the complexity of the preparation process and the use of a large number of ingredients. In the very first original recipe, there were only four types of cream.

Be that as it may, but the very recipe for chocolate cake "Prague", so loved by our people, was first prepared in the USSR by Moscow confectioner Vladimir Guralnik, who was specially trained for this by the masters of Czechoslovakia. Since then, even at different confectionery factories, they began to cook it according to the same recipe.recipe, and the taste was always impeccable. Today, the same delicious chocolate cake can not always be bought. But it can be easily prepared at home.

The process of making the Prague cake step by step

In the original, this masterpiece of confectionery art consists of three chocolate biscuit cakes, delicious butter cream with cocoa and chocolate fudge, which at home is often replaced with regular icing. You can additionally soak the biscuit with sugar syrup to make it even softer and more tender. If only high-quality products are used in the cooking process, then the cake will turn out no worse than according to GOST, and maybe even better.

The step-by-step recipe for chocolate cake "Prague" (pictured) consists of the following steps:

1. Preparing a chocolate biscuit and cutting it into three identical cakes.
2. Impregnation of biscuit. In the original recipe, each cake and top of the cake is smeared with apricot jam before fudge is applied. But in the presented version, the biscuit is additionally soaked in sugar syrup.
3. Preparation of cream. It is traditionally made from condensed milk and butter with additional ingredients.
4. Assembly of the cake. At this stage, the cakes are alternately layered with cream.
5. Dessert decoration. At the final stage of preparation, the cake is covered with chocolate fudge. You can also make regular icing - it will also turn out delicious, but not as provided by GOST.

List of ingredients

BFirst of all, you need to bake a chocolate biscuit for the cake. For this cooking step, you will need the following set of products:

• flour - 115 g;
• sugar - 150 g;
• eggs - 6 pcs;
• butter - 40 g;
• cocoa powder - 25g;

To make the cakes moist, they can be soaked in syrup and be sure to grease with apricot jam. For this you will need:

• sugar - 200 g;
• water - 100 ml;
• apricot jam - 50g

Cream for the cake is prepared from the following ingredients:

• butter - 200 g;
• condensed milk - 120 ml;
• egg - 1 pc.;
• cocoa - 10 g;
• vanilla sugar - 10 g;
• water - 20 ml.

At the final stage of preparation, the product is covered with sugar chocolate fudge. To cook it you will need:

• cocoa - 6 tbsp. l.;
• granulated sugar - 10 tbsp. l.;
• butter - 100 g;
• milk - 150 ml.

Now it's time to disassemble the process of making chocolate cake "Prague" step by step and with a photo.

Biscuit cake

Chocolate cake "Prague" is special not only because of the cream. The taste and texture of the cakes also play an important role. It is thanks to them that the cake turns out to be truly chocolate, soft and tender.

The process of making a biscuit consists of the following steps:

1. Sift flour and cocoa into a deep bowl. Mix dry ingredients together.
2. Melt butter and cool.
3. Separate egg whites from yolks. Divide the amount of sugar indicated in the recipe equally.
4. Beat the yolks with 75 g of sugar for 3 minutes until they increase in size and turn white.
5. Whip the whites separately in a clean, dry and fat-free bowl. You should start working with a mixer at medium speed, gradually adding sugar (75 g) literally by a tablespoon. After 5-7 minutes, the mass should become dense and strong.
6. Into the yolks alternately (by spoon) add the beaten egg whites and the dry mixture, mixing the dough with a silicone spatula from the bottom up.
7. At the very end, add melted butter. Mix the dough again and pour it into the prepared form.

Bake the biscuit and cut the cakes

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Even before starting to knead the dough, prepare a baking dish with a diameter of 20 cm. Line its bottom with parchment paper, and do not grease the walls with anything so that nothing prevents the dough from rising. If there is no parchment, you can use foil.

Pour the mixed dough into the mold. It should turn out to be moderately thick, flow down the walls of the container with a wide tape. Send the form with the dough to the oven for 30 minutes.

Leave the finished biscuit in the oven for 5 minutes. Then take out the form, let it cool a little on the table. Remove the biscuit, cool it upside down on a wire rack. Then wrap it in cling film and put in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours. This will makesponge cake even more soft and moist.

After a few hours, a large and fluffy biscuit should be cut into 3-4 cakes, using a special string or a regular thread for this.

Impregnation for chocolate cakes

In the original recipe according to GOST, the inside of the cake is not impregnated with anything, but only smeared with cream. But the top of the product before applying the fudge is smeared with apricot jam. But if you still deviate from the rules and additionally soak the biscuit cakes with sugar syrup, they will turn out to be much more moist, tender and tasty.

You can prepare the impregnation as follows:

1. Pour 200 ml of cold water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Add 100 g of sugar to it.
3. Put the saucepan over medium heat.
4. Simmer the syrup for 2-3 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved and the sauce thickens.
5. Cool the sugar syrup to room temperature.

Impregnate cakes should be in the process of assembling the cake. A silicone brush is ideal for this.

Prague Chocolate Cake Cream

This cooking step consists of the following steps:

1. Shift the butter from the refrigerator to the table in advance so that it warms up to room temperature.
2. Crack the egg into a small bowl. Add water and shake with a fork.
3. Pour condensed milk into a saucepan, add egg and vanilla sugar.
4. Build a water bath on the stove. Place a saucepan with ingredients for the cream on top. Make sure that the boiling water from below does not touch the bottom of the upper pan. Thus, the cream will be steamed.
5. Stirring constantly, bring the cream to a medium thick consistency. It should drip off the spoon slowly, like condensed milk.
6. Beat the soft butter at high speed with a mixer until fluffy. Pour the cooled cream prepared in a water bath into it in a thin stream. Beat again, then add cocoa.
7. Stir the cream for chocolate cake "Prague" with a spatula or at low speed of the mixer. Send it to the refrigerator for half an hour to make it easier to work with further.

Chocolate fondant for Prague cake

Fudge is often confused with icing. But it's not the same. The classic white fudge is made from water and sugar, almost like syrup for soaking cakes. It is recommended to make chocolate with milk with the addition of butter so that it shines no worse than natural chocolate icing. The fondant has a more plastic consistency. It is easily applied to the surface of the product and does not crumble when cut, like glaze.

For the Prague cake, chocolate fudge is prepared as follows:

1. In a double bottomed saucepan combine sugar and cocoa powder. Mix the ingredients well with a spoon and mix them together so that there are no lumps left.
2. Pour milk and melted butter into a saucepan with dry ingredients.
3. Put dishes onfire and bring its contents to a boil. Don't forget to keep stirring the fondant so it doesn't burn.
4. Cool the thickened fondant and apply on the cake.

Assembling and decorating the cake

Step-by-step instructions for this cooking step are as follows:

1. Put the first biscuit cake on a flat dish.
2. Use a silicone brush to saturate it with sugar syrup (½ of the total volume).
3. Apply half of the buttercream with condensed milk to the cake. To make the cake the same height, sandwich the biscuit with cream using a pastry bag.
4. Place the second cake on top. Soak it in the same way and smear with cream.
5. Top of the third cake layer with apricot jam. Leave the cake like this for a few minutes (at this time it is best to prepare the chocolate icing).
6. According to the recipe, the Prague cake is not decorated with anything other than fudge. In extreme cases, you can make an inscription using a small envelope.

Features and secrets of cooking

Experienced confectioners use the following rules when making Prague chocolate cake:

1. You can add a teaspoon of cognac or rum to the sugar syrup for soaking the cakes. During the brewing process, the alcohol will evaporate, but an interesting taste and aroma will remain.
2. Chocolate fondant should be cooled to a temperature of 38-40 °C before applying to the cake. To do this, you can use a silicone spatula or a special spatula.
3. To make chocolate fondant shine like icing,and did not have a white coating, only high quality butter with a fat content of at least 82.5% should be used for its preparation.

Simple Prague cake with cream without condensed milk

Some housewives find the original cake recipe too time-consuming. In their opinion, at home, the Prague cake with chocolate icing can be prepared in a slightly different way:

1. Mix condensed milk (1 can) and 2 eggs with a hand whisk. Add sifted flour (1 tbsp), cocoa (2 tbsp) and soda (1 tsp), after extinguishing it with vinegar (1 tbsp).
2. Knead the dough. Pour it into a mold, which immediately send a preheated oven (180 degrees) for 40 minutes.
3. Prepare the cream. To do this, combine together flour and cocoa (2 tablespoons each). Add egg and stir.
4. Add 1 glass of milk by a tablespoon. You should have a liquid chocolate mixture.
5. Melt 150 g of butter in a saucepan. Add 1 cup sugar and chocolate mixture.
6. Stirring constantly, cook the cream until thick.
7. Cut the biscuit into 2-3 cakes. Lubricate each with cream. Impregnation can be used as desired.
8. Sprinkle the top of the cake with cocoa powder, decorate with fondant or chocolate chips.