Bird's Milk Cake

Pour the agar-agar into a small saucepan, pour in 150 ml of cool water and leave to swell for 1 hour. Remove the butter from the refrigerator to soften it.

Prepare sponge cakes. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Mark two circles with a diameter of 24 cm on baking paper. Turn the paper over with the markings facing down and line the baking sheet.

Place soft butter in a bowl, add regular and vanilla sugar and beat with a mixer until fluffy. The sugar crystals should dissolve. Continuing to beat, add the eggs one at a time and beat for another 5 minutes. Add flour and starch and quickly mix the dough. At this stage, you don’t need to stir the dough for a long time, 15–20 seconds is enough.

Place dough no thicker than 7 mm onto the marked circles. Level with a spatula and place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven. Bake the cakes for 7–10 minutes. Please note: the cakes bake very quickly. If the cakes do not fit in the oven at once, bake them one at a time. Carefully remove the sponge cakes, place them on a flat work surface and cool on paper. Carefully remove the paper from the cooled cakes.

Prepare the soufflé. Place the pan with the swollen agar-agar over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar, reduce heat to low and heat syrup for 8-9 minutes. Remove syrup from heat and cool slightly, 5 minutes.

Beat softened butter until light cream, add condensed milk and beat for another 1 minute.

Pour the egg whites into a large bowl and begin beating on medium speed until foamy, 3 minutes. Pour in the lemon juice, increase the speed to maximum and beat the egg whites into a stiff foam. Sufficiently whipped whites hold confidently on the mixer blades.

Pour the agar-agar syrup into the whites in a thin stream, continuing to whisk the mixture. Continue whisking until mixture begins to thicken and increase in volume, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add condensed milk whipped with soft butter and stir.

Place the edge of a 24 cm springform pan on a plate. Place the cooled cake in the center. Place half of the soufflé, cover with the second cake layer and press lightly. Spread the remaining soufflé over it. At this point it may begin to thicken, so you need to do everything quickly. Cover the pan with cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour to completely stabilize the soufflé.

Prepare the glaze. Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Add the butter and place the bowl in a water bath. Heat the chocolate, stirring constantly, until it melts. You can melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator, remove the film and remove the side from the pan. Cover the top layer of the soufflé with chocolate glaze. If desired, half of the chocolate glaze can be transferred to a small piping bag, cut off a small corner and applied to the cake in various patterns. Return the cake to the refrigerator for another 1.5–2 hours, after which you can cut it into portions and serve.