It’s only a few days now until Easter, and it’s time to think up what to bake for the holiday. If you are in a hurry, and the thought of desserts requiring considerable effort and time makes you quite sick, but you don’t want to leave your guests without a dessert, rum-walnut-cocoa slices are for you.

They are a good example what a delicious dessert can be made out from simple, but high-quality ingredients. Though the filling contains a large amount of sugar, the result won’t be too sweet, it enhances the taste of walnut and cocoa powder. The filling is light and airy thanks to the beaten egg whites, the cake layers are crumbly as they are made from a shortcrust pastry, and these factors are sumed up in a miracle melting in your mouth. Once the cake is cooled, it can be cut into cubes, oblongs or rhombs, according to your own preferences.

Ingredients:
For the dough:

• 330 g (~2 2/3 cups) flour
• 270 g (~1 1/8 cups) butter
• 6 tbsp milk

For the filling:

• 7 eggs
• 240 g (~1 3/4 cups) powdered sugar
• 200 g (~7 oz) ground walnuts
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp rum

Size of the baking pan: 30×35 cm (11×13 inch)

Sift the flour in a bowl, add the cold butter cubes and milk, and quickly combine until smooth. (It’s not mistyped – no sugar is added to the dough.) Wrap the dough and put it in the fridge.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar to ribbon stage. Stir in cocoa, ground walnuts and rum. Whip the egg whites until very stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the walnut mixture.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 356°F. Grease a baking pan.

Cut the dough into half, and on a floured surface roll them out into rectangles of the same size. Place a cake layer into the pan, and spread the filling on the top evenly. Cover with the other cake layer. Poke the pastry with a skewer. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely before slicing. Feel free to dust the top of the cake with icing sugar.