Masha and the bear cream cake with mascarpone

Bake the biscuit in advance (preferably a day in advance). So:

- eggs are divided into whites and yolks;
- whisk the proteins until stable peaks form, adding most of the sugar (about two thirds). We start at the minimum mixer mode, gradually increasing it;
- beat the yolks with the rest of the white sugar;
- add a third of the whipped whites to the yolks, mix gently;
- we sift the flour through a sieve and introduce it into the egg mass in parts, as if interfering with it with the movements of the shoulder blade from top to bottom (you need to stir slowly, not with vigorous movements, but very carefully so as not to "plant" the air mass);
- add the remaining proteins to the dough, mix gently as well;
- the form (I have 24 cm, but plus / minus 2 cm will not be critical) is lubricated with butter, lightly sprinkle flour on top (this is called a "French shirt") and spread the dough, level with a spatula;
- we send it to the oven, preheated to 170-180 degrees for 40-45 minutes (the baking time will depend on the type of oven, so everything is very approximate), check for readiness using a dry wooden skewer. It is important not to open the oven door during cooking so that the biscuit does not fall off;
- we do not immediately remove the finished biscuit from the mold, let it stand for a while (10-15 minutes). During this time, the biscuit itself will move away from the sides of the mold and easily come out. Wrap the sponge cake in plastic wrap (this will help keep the dough the right moisture and it will crumble less) and leave it until the cake is assembled.

The biscuit will need to be soaked. To do this, we put raspberries in a bowl, ground with sugar (I have it from winter preparations, but you can also make it directly from fresh raspberries), pour boiled water at room temperature, mix. The resulting mass is passed through a fine sieve, since the presence of raspberry seeds is unacceptable. That's it, thick raspberry syrup is ready for impregnation!

It's time to do the cream. Well-cooled cream (you can even put it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes) is whipped to a fluffy mass (first at low speeds of the mixer, then at higher speeds). Add powdered sugar and vanilla sugar, whisk for another 2-3 minutes. We introduce mascarpone cheese, whisk until stable peaks. The cream is cooled in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

Putting together a cake. We cut the biscuit into three even cakes (it is convenient to do this with a long knife-saw), trim the edges, and leave the biscuit trimmings for cake pops. We impregnate each of them with raspberry syrup, generously lubricate with cream (the cream that remains will go to decorate the cake). We send the cake to the refrigerator for an hour.

Meanwhile, let's do the rest of the cream, coloring it with a gel dye in a soft pink color. Then we separate 60 grams from the total mass into a bowl and color it more intensively (using a dye, you do not need to add a lot at once, we bring the color to the desired gradually so as not to overdo it).

We take the cake out of the refrigerator, fill the pastry syringe with cream of two shades, and place the cream strips around the circumference of the cake, then use a pastry spatula (scraper) to level the cream. We do the same with the surface of the cake.

We send the cake to the refrigerator for 4-5 hours for impregnation.

In the meantime, you can do toppers, which will be sponge cake pops in white chocolate glaze and with the image of their favorite cartoon characters. To do this, using a blender, we grind the biscuit scraps. Then mix mascarpone with cream, whisk them until smooth and combine with biscuit crumbs. Mix well and form flat mini-cakes (of such a size that the images of the characters fit on them). We put them in the freezer for half an hour.

While the cake pops are frozen, we will prepare a pastry gel (of course, it's easier to take a ready-made one). It will be needed in order to attach images of heroes to mini-cakes. You can also cover the pictures with gel on top. So, pour gelatin with half of hot water (100 ml), stir. We cook sugar syrup, combining sugar and the remaining water, for which we bring the liquid to a boil and then cook for another 10 minutes. Combine the syrup with gelatin and cool it. The gel is ready.

Melt a little white chocolate in a water bath, dip the edge of the stick into it, and then insert the stick into the cake. Do it carefully. We put the future toppers in the freezer again (now 20 minutes will be enough).

Melt all the chocolate and dip the cake pops into it. Stick them in a stand (foam, a jar of rice or buckwheat, etc.), wait until the chocolate thickens. At this time, we cut out the images of the heroes. I pre-ordered a print on edible sugar paper in an online store. We put gel on mini-cakes, put a picture on top, press it well and gently. We also apply the gel to the image from above (optional). Let it stand for a while to solidify, and store the remaining gel in the refrigerator.

Decorate the cake with raspberry berries and mint leaves on top, placing toppers with cartoon characters among them.

Serve on the table, please the kids!

Merry holiday to you!