A: I’ll talk/
A: [Towards M] Can I talk about the topic?
A: I’ll tell you about my favourite cake and how to make it/
A: lieb{lings}kuchen
A: LIEBE1C
A: KUCHEN9*
B: The gingerbread heart.
B: $ORAL^
B: lebkuchen
B: HERZ2A*
A: No. My favourite cake, the one I like most, of which I’m a fan.
B: L/
B: Ah, yours.
A: FAN2
A: [MG]
A: You know what cake I’m such a fan of? It’s a chocolate cake.
A: WISSEN2B*
A: weiß
A: WAS-BEDEUTET1*
A: was
A: FAN2*
A: [MG]
A: ICH1
A: KUCHEN9*
A: kuchen
A: schokoladentorte
A: SCHOKOLADE2
A: TORTE6
A: So, how do you start making it?
A: Of course I first need a cake bottom that has chocolate in it. That means/
A: You know, sponge cake batter, do you know that?
A: TEIG1A
A: rührteig
A: Mixed, R-Ü-H-R [from rühren, lit. to stir or to mix] batter. Okay, what is that exactly?
A: Typically, you beat sugar and egg yolk together.
A: I put the flour into a sieve, I have already prepared that for sieving.
A: The flour may not have any lumps. That’s why you sieve it and then mix it in.
A: When the mixture is good and ready, you add two or three tablespoons of cocoa powder.
A: Then you mix it well.
A: Then I take ice cream, no, no ice cream.
A: I take the egg white that I have already beaten stiff.
A: You add it to the batter and mix it all together, mix it by hand.
A: Don’t use the mixer but fold it in gently by hand.
A: Otherwise the stiffened egg white would collapse. To prevent that from happening, you have to fold it in like this.
A: That’s how you handle beaten egg whites.
A: When the batter is ready, you put it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 200 degrees [Celsius].
A: And then you start. Um.
A: You could take M-A-S-C-A-R-P-O-N-E or curd.
A: But it actually doesn’t matter. Take crème fraîche, curd or mascarpone.
A: I usually take curd. I put it in the bowl/
B: What is that? Do you mean ‘quark’ [curd]? You sign CURD? Weird.
A: Curd. Q-U-A-R-K [curd]. I sign CURD. Sorry, CURD is a family sign.
A: I stir the curd. Then I melt the chocolate.
A: I take dark and milk chocolate.
A: Using only milk chocolate would be too sweet, I don’t like that.
A: ICH1*
A: für mich
A: VOLL2C*
A: voll
A: SÜSS1
A: süß
A: MÖGEN4
A: mag
A: NICHT3A
A: nicht
A: That’s why I take half of each kind and mix them.
A: BISSCHEN1B
A: bisschen
A: SALZ1A
A: sa{lz}
A: MISCHEN2
A: misch
A: halb
A: HALB1B
A: WERFEN1*
A: RÜHREN1*
A: [MG]
A: I add a little butter and let it all melt.
A: BISSCHEN1B
A: bisschen
A: butter
A: BUTTER2
A: WERFEN1*
A: MISCHEN3*
A: [MG]
A: When it’s done, nice and creamy, I pour it in the bowl and stir vigorously.
A: FERTIG1B
A: fer{tig}
A: SCHMELZEN1B*
A: [MG]
A: GUT1
A: [MG]
B: To the curd?
A: Yes, I add it to the curd. You stir them together.
A: Then I add heavy cream and mix it all well.
A: When it’s done, I put the mixture in the fridge.
A: Then I prepare the chocolate. I grate it into fine crumbs.
A: That takes a while, but eventually it’s done. Great.
A: Then the cake bottom is done and I/
A: I take it out of the oven and let it cool off. Then/
B: Is it light-coloured? The dough is light, isn’t it. No, dark. Right, you added cocoa powder.
A: No, dark. Because of the cocoa powder. Yes, exactly. That’s why the bottom is already dark.
A: The cake bottom is quite thick, that’s why I cut it in half horizontally and by that I get two cake layers.
A: I take one layer, good. On it, I spread all of the mixed dough. When that is done/
A: Yes, actually I do that in a high-sided cake pan to prevent the mixture from flowing out. The pan keeps it together.
B: Yes, the cake pan.
A: So, the cake bottom is in there, I put the mixture on top, and on top of that I carefully place the second layer of the cake.
A: Lastly, I like to use G-E-L-A-T-I-N-E [gelatin]. That makes it hard.
A: But there is some danger of contracting BSE because of the gelatin.
B: What? BS?
A: G-E/
A: Danger of B-S-E. Because of the G-E-L-A-T-I-N-E. That means/
A: Well, gelatin is clear. It comes from cows. I don’t know exactly how it is made and what it consists of.
A: If you add it, it thickens and stabilises the cake so nothing flows out.
A: I use that last. I add one layer of that on top and after that the cake is done.
A: You can spread what is left over on top and all around the cake, so that it looks nice.
B: Yes, you can put it all over the cake.
A: Then it’s ready. Now I put the cake in the fridge for a while.
A: After two or three hours it’s ready and you take off the cake pan.
A: You take off the cake pan and sprinkle the grated chocolate on top. Nice and generous, so that it covers the cake. And that’s it.
A: You could put candles on it or add other decorations.
A: And that is it. It’s quite simple, right?