Pear Sponge Roll

For the sponge cake, preheat the oven to 180°C (fan oven: 160°C). Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites and salt with the whisk on a hand mixer until stiff. Beat in the sugar and vanilla sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Beat in the egg yolks. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Mix in the nuts and fold everything into the egg mixture in 2-3 portions. Spread the mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in a hot oven for 15-18 minutes. Remove with baking paper onto a cake rack. Cover with the inverted tray and leave to cool.

For the pears, slice the vanilla pod lengthways and remove the seeds. Reduce the vanilla pod, seeds, cloves, cinnamon, white wine, lemon juice, honey and sugar in a pan. In the meantime, peel, core and dice the pears. Simmer the pears in the wine until just soft. Drain in a sieve. Reduce the stock to a syrupy consistency. Add the diced pears and leave to cool.

Soak the gelatine in cold water. Drain the pears. Whisk some pear stock, egg yolks and sugar over a hot bain-marie until light and creamy. Squeeze out the gelatine and melt in the warm egg cream, stirring constantly. Stir the cream in a cold water bath until lukewarm. Stir the quark until smooth and fold into the egg yolk cream. Whip the cream until stiff and fold in. Chill the cream until it starts to gel.

Carefully remove the baking paper from the sponge. Spread the quark cream over the sponge cake, leaving a border around the edge. Spread the diced pears on top. Roll up the sponge cake, place on a plate and leave to cool thoroughly for at least 3 hours.

Chop the chocolate coating and melt in a bowl over a hot water bath. Spread a thin layer of liquid couverture onto a marble slab or an upturned baking tray and allow to set briefly. Push into shavings with a spatula. Whip the remaining cream until stiff and spread on the sponge roll. Cover with chocolate shavings and dust with cinnamon. Garnish with candied walnuts if desired.