This cake is great and never fails to impress. The sponge cake is an excellent cake to use as a base for any number of fancy tortes and can be made up ahead of time and frozen.

Cake:

Cut wax paper to fit an 8" (20cm) round spring form pan.

Have eggs at room temperature. Beat eggs until light, about 5 minutes. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and corn starch and gently fold into eggs. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 375 F (190 C) for 20 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Finish cooling on cake rack.

Filling:

Whip cream with sugar and vanilla. Split cake in two layers. Spread half of the apricot puree on the bottom layer, and spread half of the whipped cream on top, repeat for second layer. Roll out marzipan, cover the top of the cake. Use an icing bag fitted with star tip and decorate top and sides with remaining whipped cream. Garnish with apricot halves.

Marzipan:

1 package, 100 g, ground almonds, sifted. Measure ground almonds after it has been sifted and add an equal amount of sifted icing sugar. Moisten with 1 tbsp. wine or water to make a stiff dough. Add a few more drops of liquid if it is too hard. Dust working surface with sifted icing sugar and roll out very thing. Transfer the marzipan onto the cake, trim edges and remove any dry icing sugar with a brush dipped in cold water.
Decorate with red frosted grapes.
Dip grapes in fork-beaten egg whites, roll in sugar and dry on wax paper.
This cake is best the next day.

From Care Enough to Cook by Elsa Ring