Chocolate cake bars with vanilla cream

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Beat the egg whites with the sugar until stiff peaks form. In a bowl, mix the remaining cake ingredients, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Grease a small 32 × 20 cm baking pan with butter and dust with flour. Pour in the batter and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F) for 15 minutes.
2. Prepare the filling: cook the pudding according to the package instructions, but without sugar. Stir the egg yolks into the hot pudding, then add the sugar. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Immediately remove from the heat and cover the saucepan with plastic wrap.
3. Stir the room-temperature butter into the cooled filling. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gradually beat in the powdered sugar a little at a time.
4. Cook the lemon juice with the granulated sugar until the syrup reaches the thread stage. Beat the hot syrup into the sweetened egg whites and continue beating briefly.
5. Assemble the bars: spread the pudding cream over the cocoa cake and smooth the surface. Add the meringue topping and smooth it as well.
6. Decorate the meringue topping with grated chocolate shavings.

Tip: The syrup has reached the thread stage when it runs off a spoon in a thin strand that does not break immediately. Do not cook it longer, or it will harden into lumps of sugar in the meringue.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Krémové rezy s chuťou vanilkovej zmrzliny