Energising Snack Bites

This milk slices send me back in time when I was a schoolgirl and my mum stuffed a so called “Merendina” in my backpack. In Italy it is very common to go to the store and pick up a pack of Merendine, which is the word to name sweet snacks. Now that it’s my turn to stuff my girl’s backpacks, I have to regretfully admit that I can’t do as my mom did, as the Merendine are not very common abroad. So to fill this lack I decided to find out a recipe as close as possible to the milk slice I’ve always adored to find once I opened my backpack. And here it is!💕

Francesca

INGREDIENTS for 8-10 slices:

For the sponge cake

90 g (3/4 cup) all purpose flour
20 g (2 tbsp + 4 tsp) cocoa
120 g (1/2 cup + 2tbsp) sugar
4 eggs
a pinch of salt

For the filling

15 g (3/4 tbsp) honey
120 g (1/3 cup + 3 tsp) condensed milk
5 g gelatine sheets
230 ml (1 cup) whipping cream

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Place the eggs yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until the cream is of a light yellow color (around 10 minutes).

Add the pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat until stiff and incorporate the egg yolk cream, mixing gently from the bottom upward.

Sift the flour with cocoa, and incorporate it very gently to the batter.

Preheat oven to 220 °C.

Pour out the batter on a baking tray (20×25 cm) lined with baking parchment paper until the batter is about ½ cm thick. Bake for about 9 minutes. Once it is done cooking, allow it to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 10 minutes.

Mix the condensed milk with the honey.

Squeeze the gelatine to remove the water and melt it in 50 ml of the 230 ml warm whipping cream. Then add it to the condensed milk mixture.

Whip the remaining cream (around 180 ml). Incorporate it gently, mixing from bottom upward, into the mixture, previously prepared. Put it into the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Once the cake has cooled, flip it and remove the baking paper carefully. Then cut the cake in half and spread the filling over one half of the cake. Cover with the second layer of the cake and place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Then cut it into pieces, whatever size you prefer.

Alternatively, cut the cake into different shapes and proceed as mentioned above.

Francesca & Marinella