Ledene Kocke

When it comes to traditional Balkan dessert, I figured we start off with the basics .. and there is no better dish than the Ledene Kocke, which translates into Ice Cubes. It's a delicious dessert made out of juicy chocolate sponge cake, covered with vanilla custard and topped off with dark chocolate.

Ingredients:

For the custard topping

3 cups milk
2/3 cups sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2/3 cups flour
16 Tbsp unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

For the cake

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar

vegetable oil, for greasing pan

For the Syrup
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Water

Chocolate Topping
8oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
6 tbsp vegetable  

*CAKE                                                                                                                                                            Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 13×9 cake pan generously with vegetable oil. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, and baking powder.Next, beat the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the sugar until stiff peaks form. Add egg yolk to the mixture. Once the egg yolks are slowly mixed into the egg whites, fold in the cocoa mixture into the egg whites mix. Spread the cake batter into the pan evenly.

*CUSTARD                                                                                                                                                        Heat up the milk, sugar and vanilla extract until steaming. Meanwhile, add enough milk into the flour to create a thick slurry. Pour it back into the milk mixture and heat until it resembles thick vanilla pudding. Be sure to whisk well as you go, so that lumps do not form. Let cool completely, then beat in the butter.

*SYRUP                                                                                                                                                      Simmer the sugar & water until the sugar dissolves, about five minutes. Once you get the cake batter out of the oven, use a fork to add holes to it. Pour the syrup over the hot cake and let it sit until it all absorbs.

*CHOCOLATE TOPPING                                                                                                                              Melt the chocolate over a double boiler (or in a regular pan) and stir in the vegetable oil. Once the custard has cooled, spread it over the cake batter evenly with a spatula. Pour over the chocolate topping and smooth it out. Put it in the fridge for a few hours and serve once the chocolate has hardened. 

We added whip cream and chocolate sprinkles for garnish, but it't optional.