Creams, fillings and icing

Apricot marmalade from Erken's Big Cookbook (1914): dried apricots soaked with sugar, cooked tender and sieved. Used as filling on dessert cakes.

Cooked egg custard for cake filling from Erken 1914: milk, egg yolks, sugar, gelatin and cold butter, boiled and cooled before filling chocolate cakes.

Liqueur cream for layer cakes from Erken (1914): egg yolks, sugar, flour and cream boiled and cooled, folded with beaten egg whites and liqueur to taste.

A simple cooked nut cream for layer cakes with ground nuts, powdered sugar, egg yolks, flour and milk, cooked to a smooth cream.

Sugar is melted to caramel, blanched almonds stirred in until light brown, cooled on an oiled platter and crushed into nougat powder that is stored dry.

Blanched almonds cut into slivers or chopped and toasted dry in a pan or oven for decorating cakes.

Chocolate icing from Erken 1914: grated chocolate dissolved in water and mixed with powdered sugar, spread on cakes with a warm knife. Light icing variant.

Vanilla pastry cream for layer cakes from Erken 1914: egg yolks, powdered sugar, flour, vanilla bean and cream cooked, stirring, until smooth.