Bcake

The sponge

In the bowl of the stand mixer, or by hand with an electric whisk, whisk the eggs with the sugar really well for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile mix the flour, the starch and the cocoa, sifting them, and fold them gently by hand into the whisked eggs, from the bottom up. Pour into a 22 cm aluminium tin, buttered and floured, and bake in an already hot static oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes.

The namelaka cream

Bring the milk to the boil with the grated tonka bean, turn off the heat and add the glucose syrup. When the milk reaches about 60°C, add the gelatine, soaked beforehand in cold water, and let it dissolve well. Then add the melted chocolate and, taking care not to incorporate air, the cold fresh cream straight from the fridge. Blend well with an immersion blender without incorporating air. Put in the fridge to crystallise, that is, to solidify (it will take several hours; remember to stir the cream with a spoon every now and then).

The soaking syrup

Heat the water with the sugar on the stove until completely dissolved. Leave to cool and add the rum.

Assembling the cake

Cut the sponge into three discs of equal thickness. Place the first disc on the serving plate, soak it lightly with the syrup and, with a piping bag, fill with the cream in concentric circles of spikes. Continue in the same way with the second and third layers. Decorate the whole surface of the cake with spikes of cream.

If you like, you can lightly dust the surface with unsweetened cocoa.