The Prague cake has become one of the culinary symbols of the USSR, but its name has nothing to do with the capital of Czechoslovakia. A beautiful and tasty dessert is the author's invention of the Prague restaurant confectioner Vladimir Guralnik.

In pre-perestroika times, this confectionery masterpiece was expensive, but the cake never lingered on the shelves, especially before the holidays, when they wanted to put something especially tasty and unusual on the table. The hostesses tried to unravel the secrets of the recipe and experimented in the kitchen, trying to bake the Prague cake at home. This is how a wide variety of dessert recipes appeared, although the classic Prague cake is still considered the most popular and favorite.

Cake "Prague": why we love it so much

This cake is distinguished by an abundance of chocolate, because it consists of sponge cakes with cocoa, chocolate cream and fondant. The biscuit is baked according to the traditional recipe from eggs, sugar, butter and flour sifted with cocoa powder. The finished biscuit is cut into three cakes, soaked in sugar syrup or alcohol, and then sandwiched with the classic "Prague" cream made from soft butter, condensed milk, cocoa and egg yolks. Only two cakes are usually soaked in cream, and the third is covered with fruit and berry jam. Apricot confiture is most often used for "Prague", since the acidity of these fruits effectively sets off the rich sweetness of chocolate. Often, jam or jam is replaced with the traditional impregnation of the cakes, although in the original recipe the cakes are not impregnated with anything - they are already light, soft and melt in the mouth.

The culmination is the filling of the cake with chocolate icing and the decoration with chocolate chips, nuts and cream. A cake decorated with chocolate figurines that you can sculpt with your own hands looks very nice.

How to make a Prague cake: the secrets and subtleties of the dough

The main secret of a successful cake is to use quality products. Do not substitute margarine for butter, buy only whole condensed milk and the freshest premium eggs.

To prepare the dough, beat the whites and yolks separately, only then mixing them with other products. If you want to get a light and airy sponge cake, cool the whites well before whipping, make sure that the dishes are not greasy, and do not allow even a drop of yolks to get into the whites, otherwise they will not churn.

The butter can be melted a little for easier beating, and the dough must be stirred very gently, thoroughly and carefully so that the proteins do not settle. Another secret of the delicious Prague cake is that the sponge cake after baking should stand for 6 to 15 hours and even more, if possible.

There are different options for making biscuit dough, for example, with sour cream, condensed milk and almonds - in this case, the proteins are not separated from the yolks. To make the biscuit light, airy and porous without whipped proteins, you need to knead soda slaked with vinegar or lemon juice into the dough. Boiling water or preliminary sifting of flour also gives airiness and lightness to the dough. Oxygen-enriched flour is a complete substitute for a mixer! In some recipes, you will find recommendations to add a pinch of pepper to the dough - for piquancy and subtle aroma.

Secrets of making cream

The cream is prepared in a water bath - for this, the yolks are mixed with condensed milk, and the mixture is boiled until it thickens. Soft butter is introduced into the cooled cream and whipped well. You can simplify the cream making process by mixing butter with condensed milk and cocoa without adding egg yolks. With classic butter cream, the cake is no less tasty. Another version of the cream - eggs, sugar, milk, condensed milk and flour are mixed with a mixer, and then boiled over very low heat. As soon as the cream boils, it is removed from the stove, and after cooling, it is mixed with soft butter and cocoa.

If you want to make a very delicate and fluffy cream, whisk the butter in a mixer until a snow-white color, then add cocoa and condensed milk at a slow speed, without stopping whipping.

Instead of cocoa, melted chocolate can be added to the cream; if the dessert is intended for adults, the cream is sometimes flavored with cognac or rum.

By the way, in some versions, the cake is completely coated with cream on top and sprinkled with nuts - without jam and glaze. And even if this is not a recipe for the "Prague" cake in accordance with GOST, it will still turn out to be unusually tasty and beautiful!

We bake "Prague"

A sponge cake for "Prague" is usually baked in a round shape with a diameter of about 20-21 cm. The pan must be greased or covered with oiled baking paper, since the dough for "Prague" tends to stick to the baking dish. The form should be filled in no more than two-thirds, because the biscuit will rise. The baking time at a temperature of about 180-210 ° C is 25-45 minutes, although there may be deviations in one direction or another, because it all depends on the characteristics of the oven and the dough recipe. When the biscuit rises well, the temperature is reduced to 170 ° C. You can bake a Prague cake in a multicooker in baking mode for 45 minutes. Most importantly, do not open the oven while baking, otherwise the biscuit will settle and lose its airiness. Check the biscuit with a wooden stick - it should remain dry, and the finished biscuit should spring slightly when pressed.

How to assemble and decorate a cake

The cooled biscuit is cut into three cakes, after which the lower and middle cakes are soaked in sugar syrup from water, sugar and fruit essence. Sometimes confectioners add liqueur to the syrup for a pleasant taste and aroma, but if the dessert is prepared for children, it is better not to add liqueur or replace it with thick cocoa. Sugar syrup is boiled before being tested on a soft ball, after which some housewives cool and beat it until it becomes thick and white.

After soaking, the cakes are coated with cream, the top of the cake is covered with apricot or peach jam, and then filled with chocolate icing, which is made from milk or sour cream, sugar, butter and cocoa. Some housewives do it even easier - they melt the chocolate and pour it over the cake. As the saying goes, you can't spoil Prague with chocolate!

The top crust of "Prague" is sprinkled with chocolate or coconut flakes, decorated with chocolate cream, nuts, fruits, dried fruits, dusting and whatever you want.

Experienced confectioners recommend keeping Prague in the cold for about 15 hours. This is necessary to obtain the desired biscuit texture and perfect impregnation. Unsettled cake can fall off when cutting, so do not skip this important step in the dessert preparation.

Classic Prague cake: a step-by-step recipe

Try to make the legendary dessert at home, and you will see that there is nothing complicated about it. But how much pleasure your loved ones will get during tea drinking!

Ingredients: for biscuit: eggs - 6 pcs., Sugar - 150 g, butter - 30 g, cocoa powder - 30 g, flour - 120 g; for cream: water - 1 tbsp. l., egg yolk - 1 pc., condensed milk - 120 g, butter - 200 g, cocoa powder - 20 g, vanillin - 1 pinch; for icing: chocolate - 70 g, butter - 50 g, apricot jam - 50 g.

Cooking method:

1. Separate the whites from the yolks, beat the whites with a mixer until firm peaks, adding 75 g of sugar at the end of the whisk.

2. Beat the yolks with 75 g sugar until light and smooth.

3. To the yolks, place the whites in small portions, gently stirring them with gentle movements.

4. Combine flour with cocoa powder and sift.

5. Gently add the flour into the egg mixture, stirring not in a circle, but from top to bottom, so that the biscuit is fluffy and light.

6. Pour in the cooled melted butter in a thin stream and stir again from top to bottom.

7. Grease a detachable mold with a diameter of about 22 cm with oil and put oiled baking paper on the bottom of the mold.

8. Bake the biscuit for 30 minutes at 200 ° C, cool, remove from the mold and let it stand for at least 12-15 hours.

9. Cut the biscuit into three cakes. If it has stood long enough, the cakes will not crumble.

10. For the cream, mix water and yolk, add condensed milk and vanillin.

11. Boil the cream in a water bath until it thickens.

12. Whisk soft butter with a mixer until fluffy.

13. Pour the yolk with condensed milk into the butter and add the cocoa powder, whisking.

14. Spread the cream on the first and second cake layers. If you did everything correctly, soaking with syrup or liquor is not needed - the biscuit will turn out to be tender and airy.

15. Place the third crust on top, cover it with apricot jam and spread the jam on the sides of the Prague.

16. Put the cake in the refrigerator for half an hour to freeze the jam.

17. Prepare the icing by melting the pieces of chocolate and butter in a water bath.

18. Pour the icing on the cake, garnish with the rest of the chocolate cream and refrigerate overnight.

A master class on making a Prague cake will help you master this recipe and, possibly, supplement it with your own creative discoveries.

Cake "Chiffon Prague": recipe with photo

The main difference between this cake is that it is prepared on the basis of the so-called chiffon biscuit, in which vegetable oil is used instead of butter. The biscuit turns out to be very porous, light and airy, like chiffon, and at the same time quite viscous and crumbly, like a cake.

Mix 170 ml water, 60 g cocoa and 0.5 tbsp. l. instant coffee. Mash 5 egg yolks and 180 g of sugar, gradually pour in 130 ml of vegetable oil and at the very end add coffee with cocoa. Beat the mixture well again and add 200 g of flour mixed with a bag of baking powder and a pinch of baking soda.

Cooking a biscuit. Beat the yolks with half the sugar until a fluffy light mass is obtained.

Whisk the whites with the remaining sugar until soft peaks.

Gently combine the whites with the yolks with a spatula.

Gradually add the flour sifted with cocoa and knead the dough.

Pour melted and cooled to warm butter along the side of the bowl. Mix gently.

We transfer the dough into a greased form, level it and send it to an oven preheated to 180 degrees. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.

Take the finished biscuit out of the mold and cool completely. Cut into 3 cakes.

Preparing the cream. Combine the yolk with water and stir until smooth. Add condensed milk and vanilla essence.

Mix with a whisk and put on a small fire. Cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens - if you lower a wooden spoon into the mass, remove it and run your finger along the convex side of the spoon, the path from the finger should remain clear for some time. At the same time, make sure that the cream does not overheat, otherwise the yolk will curl up and go in flakes.

Let it cool completely.

Whisk butter at room temperature until creamy with cocoa.

Without stopping whipping, gradually introduce the condensed milk custard. Beat until smooth.

We collect the cake. Coat the cakes with cream.

Grease the top crust and sides of the cake with apricot jam and let the cake stand for 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, we are preparing the ganache. To do this, finely chop the chocolate. Bring the cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Stir with a whisk until smooth.

2 tbsp Put the ganache in a pastry bag or parchment cornet. With the rest of the ganache, cover the top and sides of the cake. With ganache from cornet we draw stripes on the surface of the cake.

let the cake stand in the refrigerator overnight. Cut and serve.

Enjoy your tea!

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For TWO biscuits!

• Eggs - 12 pcs.
• Sugar - 300 g
• Flour - 230 g
• Cocoa powder - 50 g
• Butter - 80 g

For cream

• Yolk - 2 pcs.
• Water - 40 g
• Condensed milk - 240 g
• Butter - 400 g
• Vanilla sugar - 20 g
• Cocoa powder - 20 g

For impregnation

• Water - 150 g
• Sugar - 100 g
• Cognac - 1 tbsp. l.

Optional but required

• Apricot jam / confiture - 300 g

For alignment

• Dark chocolate - 300 g
• Cream 33% - 300 g
• Black food coloring (optional)

For decor

• White chocolate - 200 g
• Dark chocolate - 30 g
• Food colorings
• Vodka
• Merengi
• Confectionery sprinkles

Close Ingredient stamp

- the legendary Soviet cake! A detailed step-by-step recipe with a photo! A modern version of the decor, secrets and useful tips for culinary specialists! Everything will work out!

Today I will tell and show you how to cook cake Prague- the legendary Soviet cake, still very much loved by many. I have a special relationship with him. For a long time I doubted how exactly to perform it. Wagon and small cart options - to invent your own or not to reinvent the wheel and cook according to the old GOST recipe? Having lost my mind and a lot of experimenting, I decided to add only a couple of my own, very small, strokes to the original. After all, I am a great conservative and do not support the opinion that any chocolate cakes with chocolate cream can be called Prague cake.

The Prague cake in my performance is almost classic, the difference is in the assembly: on each cake I apply a thin layer of homemade apricot jam and only then - the cream. There are also a lot of cakes: I like tall cakes, but this, of course, is not for everybody. And most importantly, I saturate the cakes with sugar syrup with cognac, whereas in the original recipe there is no impregnation, which makes this cake seem dry to many. Honestly, I like it even without impregnation: it has its own charm, it is no coincidence that one of the best Soviet confectioners made Prague just like that. However, our people, according to my observations, are still more fond of wet cakes, so deliberate dryness can simply be attributed to the ineptitude of the pastry chef or hostess. But who wants such a reaction to their work? In general, I impregnate Prague. And this seemingly insignificant detail greatly affects the perception of the cake. As if he is already different. But very, very tasty! All my tasters are delighted with this slightly wet, rainy Prague with thin, aromatic apricot layers.

In addition, I will share how to make amazing strokes on a cream cake. I, frankly, did not expect that they would arouse such interest among my insta-friends, so I did not shoot the process, but, believe me, everything is so simple that there is nothing to illustrate, you will see for yourself. And be surprised :)

Let's prepare the form!

As I have said many times, I use a transforming ring. Whatever it may seem from the outside, it is very convenient! The cakes are high and even, better than other types of baking dishes. Miracles, and more! In addition, the diameter can be adjusted, which saves money and space. I will be making a tall cake weighing at least 2.5kg, so I will need two biscuits. But I have one form, and the oven is weak, which means I will bake in turn and knead the dough too. If you need a small cake, you can easily get by with one biscuit. We adjust the diameter (18 cm), line the bottom of an even baking sheet with foil, put a sheet of baking paper on it, and put a ring on it. Raise the edges of the paper and foil, as if "hugging" the ring, press firmly at the base. Ready. Don't be afraid - the dough won't run out! The main thing is that the surface of the baking sheet is flat.

Making biscuit dough!

For each biscuit, we need 6 fresh eggs of the 1st category. Separate the yolks from the whites. We make sure that the yolk or water does not get into the whites. Place 6 yolks in a beating bowl.

Add 75 g of sugar to them.

Beat with a mixer at high speed ...

... until the mass is fluffy, light and creamy.

Now we take 6 proteins. We place them in another bowl - clean and dry. And beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Don't overdo it: about a minute, maybe a little more, is usually enough.

Add 75 g of sugar to the proteins. And whisk again ...

... exactly until the proteins become glossy and dense. They should sit firmly in the bowl and, when turned over, should not fall out of it. But here it is important not to interrupt, otherwise the biscuit will not rise, it will be dense and simply spoiled. That is, whisking, periodically check readiness: tilt the bowl, and as soon as you see that the proteins have stopped flowing and are firmly seated in the bowl, turn it off!

Gently, with folding movements, from bottom to top, preferably with a silicone spatula, mix the whites to the yolks.

Melt 40 g of good butter in a separate container. In the microwave or on the stove, whichever is more convenient for you.

Gently, in parts, add the flour with cocoa to the egg-sugar mixture.

We do this in the same folding movements as when the whites were mixed with the yolks. From the bottom up, rather quickly, carefully, but at the same time carefully: it is important not to crush the proteins, then the dough rises better, and the biscuit will be fluffy, airy and very tasty!

With such a tape, an almost finished dough falls from a shoulder blade.

Now carefully, along the edge, pour in the butter. And again, with movements from bottom to top, mix. Without fanaticism!

Pour the finished dough into our mold. As far as possible, level the surface. We put in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 40 minutes. Times may vary, it depends on your particular oven! The first 10 minutes, or better longer, do not open the oven, otherwise the biscuit may fall off. If your biscuits burn from the bottom, I recommend placing a heat-resistant container of water on a level lower. If they are burning on top, but inside are damp, place the tin foil with the shiny side up. If the built-in temperature regulator is lying, buy a thermometer for the oven, they are inexpensive, but very helpful!

We check the readiness of the biscuit with a dry torch or just lightly press in the middle: if it springs and returns to its place, it's done. It is better not to take it out of the oven right away. Turn it off, open the door, let it stand. So it will fall less. But if time is running out, get it right away.

We open the form ...

... and we get the biscuit!

Turn it over on the lattice, if any. If not, just put on baking paper. Let it cool. Then we remove the paper on which it was baked….

... and wrap it in plastic wrap. In this form, we remove the biscuit in the refrigerator or leave it on the kitchen table for 8 hours: it needs to lie down, so it will crumble less, it will be easier to cut into cakes and in general, together with cream and impregnation, it will not turn into porridge! I strongly recommend to stand the biscuit! Well, let me remind you that for my cake, by the example of which I describe this recipe, I baked two such biscuits. Now let's cook ...

... cream for the Prague cake!

To do this, put 2 yolks and 40 g of water in a saucepan. We mix everything.

Add 240 g of delicious condensed milk. The present should consist only of milk and sugar!

There - 20 g of vanilla sugar (not vanillin!). Usually it is 2 sachets.

Put the saucepan over low heat and cook with constant stirring until thickened.

If you suddenly overheat the mixture, which causes the yolks to curl, or it goes in lumps, a sieve will save you! Rub the cream through it into a dry, clean bowl. Cover with cling film and cool to room temperature.

Then we need butter - also at room temperature. Again, I recommend using the most natural oil you can find. Now this is difficult, unfortunately. Especially in big cities. All the packs have “butter” written on them, the composition contains pure cream, but ordinary customers cannot find out what actually is. Choose the hardest butter, at least 82.5%, and the tastiest.

Beat 400 g butter on high speed until fluffy.

Add the custard in parts, continuing to beat.

And at the end, add 20 g of sifted cocoa powder.

And beat thoroughly again.

This is how we get the cream for the Prague cake! Delicious in itself!

Cakes!

From each biscuit, carefully cut off the top with a long knife-saw for bread. You don't have to do this, at the right temperature in the oven, the biscuits turn out to be quite even, but I still prefer to align even more. The turntable will help us a lot here, it's good if you have one. If not, however, you can also get used to it.

Cut the biscuits into cakes. I got three cakes out of each.

And only six. Handsome men! I love working with biscuit dough, it is magical!

Putting the cake together!

Here we again need a baking ring, as well as acetate film (or any thick film, thin plastic cutting boards, and even stationery folders). I showed in detail about assembling a cake in a ring in the recipe. Here - briefly. An even baking sheet or tray, on it - a sheet of baking paper, on it - a ring, and insert our acetate film into it, increasing the height of the ring. I know that now masters make rings 25 cm high, but this is still a rarity.

We cover the cake with cling film so that it does not absorb extraneous odors, and put it in the refrigerator. It is possible for the night. Cakes and cream need to make friends. This is a good time to make a topcoat cream. I have this whipped ganache on dark chocolate in a 1: 1 ratio, that is, 300 g of chocolate and 300 g of 33% cream. I wrote about ganache in detail. I added a little black dye to the cream, so do not be surprised that I have it so dark, but this is completely optional. We take out the cake, remove the ring and the film. We place our cake on a plate or plate on which we are going to serve it, but first we put a little cream on the plate so that the cake does not go anywhere, especially during transportation.

I did not shoot how I did them, there was no opportunity, I will try to fill it up on occasion, but now I will describe it. It's very simple, really! Highly! The main thing is to properly temper the chocolate! And then we apply chocolate not very thinly, about 3 mm thick, with a palette knife (you can use a small spatula and even, it seems to me, try with a spoon) on a guitar film (a film for wrapping flowers, for greenhouses, a stationery file, in the end, just paper for baking!) in the form of almost chaotic strokes. That is, in the form that we want to see later. And then let it harden. And carefully remove from the film. Everything! To insert them into the cake, you need to make slits in it with a knife. Barbaric! It's a little scary, but you need to keep everything tight. But before inserting the feathers, I colored the cake. Here, too, everything is brilliant, comrades, that is, simple. We dilute the dye (ANY!) In a few drops of vodka, dip a wide brush with synthetic bristles (easier to wash, which means it is more hygienic, and does not leave hairs!) Into this solution and grease! As your heart desires! White color - titanium dioxide in vodka. Others - Squires Kitchen (but there may be other firms) - also in C2H5OH. The casket just opened :) Recipe and MK for colored chocolate smudges you too. Here's our cake!

Well, now you know how to cook cake Prague, more precisely, how I prepare it. I would be very glad if my notes are useful to you.

Have fun in the kitchen and delicious results!

PS Thanks for the science Irina Chadeeva and her book "Baking in accordance with GOST". I advise you from the bottom of my heart!

This amazing dessert will make guests experience true bliss, thanks to its exquisite, mesmerizing taste. Those who decide to cook a wonderful dessert will be pleasantly surprised: the process is quite simple and does not require any special knowledge. A novice cook or a simple housewife can make an equally beautiful masterpiece. The classic version will also be interesting in that it does not require any special products: everything is at hand!

The five most commonly used ingredients in recipes are:

Looking through the Prague cake recipes, you can immediately notice an amazing many different ways to implement one idea. How many forms and variations of this dish exist in the world! In addition to the necessary cocoa powder or grated chocolate, you can use a wide variety of ingredients: soak with sour cream, your favorite jam or condensed milk, add carrots, chopped nuts, berries and even alcohol! Oven baked and decorated with beautiful glaze, it will delight you with its delicate taste. Chocolate lovers will definitely not be able to resist the rich aroma and unique design!

I propose a recipe for a legendary, deliciously tender, beautiful and very tasty chocolate dessert called "Prague" or "Prague" cake. During the period of acute shortage of products, there were huge queues just for this chocolate cake. And even today, this wonderful chocolate dessert does not lose its fame and worldwide love due to its excellent taste, incomparable aroma and impeccable texture.

Cake "Prague" consists of three biscuit cakes soaked in sugar syrup, with delicate chocolate butter cream and sweet and sour apricot jam, covered with chocolate fondant. This recipe for the Prague cake is almost in accordance with GOST, the only changes - I added impregnation for the cakes, doubled the portion of cream and instead of the classic fondant I used ganache made of dark chocolate, cream and butter.

For butter biscuit

• Eggs of category C0 - 6 pcs (room temperature ° C)
• Butter 82.5% - 40 g (melted and cooled to 28-30 ° C)
• Flour - 115 g
• Baking powder for dough - 1 tsp (5 g)
• Salt - 1 pinch
• Sugar - 150 g
• Cocoa powder (dark) - 25 g
• Vanilla sugar - 10 g
• Lemon juice or vinegar - for greasing the bowl

For syrup (optional)

• Drinking water - 100 ml
• Sugar - 100 g
• Cognac (or rum, liqueur), optional - 2 tsp

For butter cream

• Egg yolks (eggs of category C0) - 40 g (2 pcs.)
• Water - 40 ml (room temperature ° С)
• Condensed milk - 225 g
• Vanilla sugar - 10 g
• Butter 82.5% - 350 g (room temperature ° C)
• Cocoa powder (dark) - 25 g

For filling

• Apricot jam (jam) - 125 g

For ganache (glaze)

• Dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) - 150 g
• Cream 33-35% - 150 ml (hot)
• Butter 82.5% - 50 g (soft)

1. The day before assembling the cake, prepare an butter (chiffon) biscuit. All foods should be at room temperature. Melt the butter and cool. We turn on the oven (preheat to 200 degrees).
2. Combine flour, baking powder and dark cocoa in a bowl. Sift dry ingredients through a sieve, then mix well with a whisk and set aside.
3. Beat egg yolks (room temperature) in a large bowl for literally half a minute.
4. Add sugar, vanilla sugar to the yolks and beat until fluffy, light, about 3-4 minutes. In a well-beaten yolk mass, there will be a trace of the mixer beaters, which immediately disappears.
5. Degrease another clean bowl with lemon juice or vinegar. In it, beat the egg whites (room temperature) with a pinch of salt and the rest of the sugar at a medium mixer speed.
6. We introduce sugar into proteins gradually. The first time is when the whites are beaten to a light foam. Add a second time when the foam becomes more stable. The third time is when the mass turns white.
7. In order for the whites to whisk well, it is very important not to let a drop of yolk get into them. Otherwise, you won't be able to beat the whites to the desired consistency, and as a result, your biscuit will settle!
8. Beat the whites until soft peaks, when the "tail" hangs from the whisk of the mixer, but does not fall off.
9. Add 2/3 of the whipped egg whites to the yolk mass in several steps and mix very gently with a spatula in folding movements from bottom to top, until the products are combined. Do not stir for a long time, otherwise the egg mass will settle and will not be so airy!
10. Sift the mixture of dry ingredients into the egg mass in parts.
11. Mix well with a spatula, also in folding movements from bottom to top, until the products are combined.
12. Add the remaining whipped proteins to the dough and quickly, but very carefully, mix until smooth.
13. At the very end, very carefully pour melted butter into the dough along the edge of the bowl (the butter should be slightly warm - about 28-30 degrees.)
14. And gently mix with a spatula using folding movements from bottom to top until the products are combined.
15. Tighten the bottom of a detachable round shape (with a diameter of 20 cm or 22 cm) with foil.
16. We spread the biscuit dough in a mold and distribute it evenly over the entire surface.
17. Butter sponge cake is a little capricious and often loves to fall off. Therefore, we bake it in an oven preheated to 200 ° C, first for 10 minutes, then gradually lower the temperature to 180 ° C - thereby preparing the biscuit for a sharp temperature drop.
18. The total baking time of the biscuit is 30-40 minutes. During baking, never open the oven door, otherwise the biscuit will quickly settle!
19. After baking, leave the biscuit in the oven with the door ajar for 10-15 minutes, thereby continuing to lower the temperature. We check the readiness of the biscuit with a wooden skewer inserted in the center - it should come out completely dry.
20. Remove the biscuit from the oven and leave in the mold for 10 minutes.
21. Then we gently run a thin knife along the walls of the mold and remove the biscuit.
22. Leave the still warm biscuit cake on the wire rack until it cools completely. (If for some reason you do not get a butter biscuit, then an alternative option can be a simple chocolate biscuit. There is such a biscuit recipe in my blog. It is prepared without separating the eggs and a link to the recipe is always obtained:).
23. Fresh biscuit is very loose, poorly cut and crumbles strongly. Therefore, when the biscuit has completely cooled down, we wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for at least 6-8 hours. During this time, the biscuit will mature and reach the texture we need.
24. Cooking syrup for biscuit impregnation. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan.
25. We put the saucepan on medium heat, bring to a boil and completely dissolve the sugar crystals.
26. Remove the syrup from the stove, pour it into a clean dish and cool completely.
27. If desired, the chilled impregnation can be flavored with cognac (rum or liqueur).
28. Cooking butter cream for a Prague cake. In advance (2-3 hours) we take out the butter from the refrigerator - it should be very soft.
29. In a saucepan, combine egg yolks, ordinary drinking water and stir thoroughly. (There should be as much water as the yolks weigh, so weigh the egg yolks before making the cream.)
30. Add condensed milk, vanilla sugar and mix well again.
31. We put the stewpan over low heat. Stir continuously with a whisk and cook until the mixture thickens.
32. Remove the stewpan from the stove. Pour the custard mass into a clean dish and cool completely to room temperature.
33. Put butter at room temperature in a large bowl and beat until smooth, smooth and fluffy. This will take about 5-7 minutes, depending on the power of your mixer.
34. Without stopping whipping the butter, we begin to gradually introduce the cooled custard mass - about one tablespoon at a time of 10-15 seconds.
35. We continue to actively beat until the custard and butter are completely combined, until the cream is homogeneous.
36. At the very end, sift the dark cocoa powder into the butter custard and beat the chocolate cream until smooth. If the cream is too light, if desired, you can add 1-2 teaspoons of cocoa and also beat the cream until smooth.
37. Cream for the Prague cake turns out to be unusually tender, light, airy, moderately sweet, in general - very tasty!
38. Putting together the Prague cake. We take out the ripe biscuit from the refrigerator, remove the cling film.
39. Cut the biscuit into three identical cakes using a culinary string.
40. As a result, we get three even and beautiful cakes.
41. On a cake dish or a substrate, lay out the first chocolate crust, cut up and saturate it with sugar-cognac syrup - over the entire surface and along the edges of the crust.
42. Divide the cream into two equal parts and leave a little more to decorate the cake. We cover the sponge cake with impregnation with a layer of cream, well spreading the cream with a spatula over the entire surface.
43. Spread out the second chocolate crust, cut up and press down a little.
44. Saturate the second cake with sugar syrup over the entire surface and around the edges.
45. We cover the second cake with chocolate cream, evenly spreading it with a spatula over the entire surface, trying to make the layer even.
46. Soak the cut of the upper, third biscuit cake well with syrup.
47. Place the third crust on the cake with the soaked side down and press down a little.
48. Warm up the apricot jam, put it on the top crust. Spread the jam evenly over the entire surface and sides of the cake, leveling and closing all pores and irregularities.
49. We put the chocolate cake in the refrigerator for about 1-2 hours so that the butter cream and apricot jam harden well before applying the chocolate ganache.
50. Cooking chocolate ganache to cover the cake. Break the dark chocolate into pieces and fill it with hot cream. Leave, without stirring, for 1-2 minutes.
51. Then mix thoroughly until smooth.
52. Add soft butter and mix thoroughly until smooth.
53. Let it cool a little. The working temperature of the chocolate ganache is approximately 27-30 degrees.
54. When the apricot layer on the cake has hardened, we can cover the cake with chocolate icing. We take out the cake from the refrigerator, put it on the wire rack. Pour the ganache into the middle of the cake (we leave part of the ganache to decorate the cake).
55. Then evenly distribute the ganache with a spatula on the top and sides of the cake.
56. We put the cake back on a dish or substrate and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
57. After the time has elapsed, we take the cake out of the refrigerator. Fill a pastry bag with the remaining chocolate ganache and write the name of the chocolate cake on top - "Prague".
58. Put the set aside chocolate cream in a pastry bag with a curly nozzle. Decorate the Prague cake with cream on top along the entire circumference.
59. We also make a cream decoration around the base of the cake or as your creativity and imagination tells you.
60. We put the cake in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours to soak.
61. We cut the ready-made Prague cake into portions and enjoy a very bright chocolate taste with a light cocoa bitterness and a deliciously pleasant apricot sourness of the dessert! Cake "Prague" or "Prague" cake is ready. Bon appetit and successful baking!

You can see a detailed recipe for cooking below in my video or at the link.