Contains alcohol: contains Cointreau – not suitable for children.
Small Austrian punch cubes with apricot, orange, Cointreau and a hint of tonka bean – coated in glossy dark chocolate.
The classic Austrian Punschkrapfen gets a slightly more modern look at Sabines Bakeaway: instead of the traditional pink fondant icing, there's a thin, crunchy chocolate shell. That way the typical punch flavour is kept, while making them is much less complicated.
Ingredients
For the sponge – 2 trays of 30 × 30 cm (quantities per tray)
- 5 eggs
- 150 g sugar
- ½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
- 125 g flour
- 40 g cornstarch
- 1 pinch of salt
For the punch filling
- approx. 300 g sponge trimmings, finely crumbled
- 150 g apricot jam
- 60 g dark chocolate
- 50 ml Cointreau
- 40 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
- finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 40 g sugar
- ½ tonka bean, finely grated
- possibly a little extra orange juice
For assembling and coating
- Apricot jam for spreading on the sponge sheets
- 350–400 g dark couverture chocolate, approx. 70 % cocoa
- optional: edible gold or a little white couverture for decorating
Method
The sponge
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C top and bottom heat.
- Beat the eggs, sugar, scraped vanilla seeds and salt for several minutes until very light and airy.
- Sift the flour and cornstarch together and gently fold them into the egg mixture.
- Spread the mixture evenly on a 30 × 30 cm tray lined with baking paper.
- Bake for about 10–12 minutes. The sponge should stay pale and only turn lightly golden. Let cool completely.
- Repeat the process with the same quantities for the second tray.
The punch filling
- Neatly trim the edges of both sponge sheets. One sheet is used as the base, the second as the lid.
- Finely crumble the trimmed edges and any other sponge pieces. Weigh out about 300 g for the punch filling. You can dry the rest of the sponge and keep it for the next batch.
- Carefully melt the dark chocolate.
- Mix together the apricot jam, Cointreau, orange juice, orange zest, sugar and tonka bean. Stir in the melted chocolate.
- Then gradually work in the sponge crumbs. The mixture should be moist and compact, but not soft or sticky. If it's too dry, add a little more orange juice.
Assembling
- Spread the first sponge sheet thinly with apricot jam.
- Spread the punch mixture evenly on top and press down well.
- Also spread the second sponge sheet thinly with apricot jam and place it on top, jam side down. Press everything down well.
- Cover the finished sheet with baking paper and weigh it down lightly with a board or a second tray. Leave to set overnight in the fridge.
- The next day, neatly trim the edges and cut the sheet into cubes of about 3 × 3 cm.
The chocolate coating
- Slowly melt the couverture to about 45–50 °C.
- Then cool it to about 27–28 °C while stirring.
- Then carefully warm it again to 31–32 °C.
- Thinly coat the punch cubes with the tempered chocolate. No coconut fat, no oil and nothing else added – pure couverture gives a firm, crunchy shell with a lovely shine.
Tips and Variations
Season boldly
The punch mixture can taste a little stronger when you taste it. After setting, the flavours blend and become more harmonious.
The right temperature
While coating, the chocolate should stay as close as possible to its working temperature. If it gets too cold, it becomes thick and the coating too heavy. If it gets too warm, it can lose its lovely shine.
Three ways to decorate
Simple and elegant with just dark chocolate – as Sabine's gold version with fine lines or small accents of edible gold – or with fine stripes of white or light couverture once the dark chocolate has set.
Even better the next day
As they set, the apricot, orange, Cointreau, chocolate and tonka bean flavours blend together. Don't throw away leftover sponge: let it dry completely and store it airtight – that way you already have a supply for the next batch.
← Back to Sabines Bakeaway – all recipes, prices and ordering