Instructions

1. 1

   Beat the butter or margarine with the sugar and the vanilla sugar until pale and fluffy, then stir in the eggs one at a time.

2. 2

   Mix the flour, the baking powder and the salt and stir them in until you have a smooth, supple batter.

3. 3

   Preheat the oven to 200 °C conventional. Draw a circle of 26 cm on each of several sheets of baking paper and turn the paper over.

4. 4

   Spread three heaped tablespoons of batter thinly and evenly into each circle and bake on the middle shelf until the edge is light brown.

5. 5

   Lift the layer off the baking paper straight away and leave it to cool on a wire rack. Bake seven thin layers one after another in this way.

6. 6

   Stir the custard powder smooth with the sugar for the custard and a little of the milk. Bring the rest of the milk to the boil, stir in the blended powder and bring everything back to the boil once, stirring.

7. 7

   Chop the dark chocolate coarsely and melt it in the hot custard. Cover the custard with cling film laid directly on the surface and leave it to cool to room temperature.

8. 8

   Beat the soft butter or margarine for the cream with the icing sugar until creamy and stir in the room-temperature custard a spoonful at a time; both mixtures have to be at the same temperature.

9. 9

   Spread six layers thinly with the cream and stack them, put the seventh layer on top and spread the remaining cream all round the side.

10. 10

    Chill the gâteau until the cream has set.

11. 11

    Warm the apricot jam, pass it through a sieve and brush it thinly over the top layer.

12. 12

    Chop the couverture, melt it over a warm water bath, pour it over the gâteau and spread it smooth quickly. Chill the gâteau until the glaze has set.