Black Forest cake with strawberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare an 18 cm baking ring and grease it. Cut a long strip of parchment paper that is 10 cm high, which will adhere to the mold with the help of the butter. Grease and flour the parchment paper inside the baking ring (cake side). Then, place the mold on a flat baking tray with a silicone mat. Melt the butter in the microwave. In the bowl of a mixer or a large mixing bowl, put the eggs, sugar, and salt. Place the bowl over a saucepan with a small amount of water over medium heat. Whisk the mixture for 5 minutes either with an electric whisk on low speed or by hand. Off the heat, whisk for another 5 minutes using a mixer on medium speed; the mixture will then increase in volume. Using a sieve, sift the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Add 1/4 of the sifted powders to the previous mixture and gently fold in using a spatula (add the powders in three batches to avoid deflating the mixture). Add the melted butter. Pour the sponge mixture into the baking ring and bake for about 35-40 minutes. Check the baking with a knife: it should come out clean from the batter. Once out of the oven, immediately remove the sponge from the ring and let it cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Wrap the sponge in plastic wrap until it cools completely. Once completely cool, using a large serrated knife, cut the sponge into 3 layers after removing the top (approximately 3 layers of 1.5 cm high).

Syrup: Put 200g of strawberry juice in a medium/high heat saucepan, add 30g of sugar to make a syrup. Once the sugar is dissolved, the syrup is ready. Let it cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, drain the strawberries on paper towels. Make chocolate shavings using a vegetable peeler, and keep the shavings cool until ready to use. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk (or by hand), combine the mascarpone, sugar, and vanilla. Mix for 1 minute at medium speed. Add the well-chilled cream and continue mixing at medium speed. Ridges will form, and the cream will start to hold. Be careful not to over-whip it (risk of turning into sweet butter). Place the whipped cream in a piping bag with a plain tip of 16 or 18 mm. Place the first sponge cake on the serving platter (using the side that baked against the silicone mat), and lightly soak the cut side. Pipe cream balls around the edge of the sponge, and inside, alternate with cream and the drained strawberries. Place the second sponge on top, pressing very lightly to adjust and make the cream adhere. Repeat the same process until the third sponge and pipe the cream on top. Sprinkle chocolate shavings around the cream on the cake. Refrigerate. Place the drained strawberries directly on top of the cake or glaze it.

To finish, topping option: Return the syrup to the saucepan, adding 1/4 of its weight in granulated sugar (for example, for 50g of syrup, you will need 13g). Concentrate the syrup; it should be thick enough to coat. Once cooled, it will be used to glaze the strawberries for decoration, to protect them and give them a shiny appearance.