Lightly whisk the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add sugar and whisk until the egg whites are white and very thick.

To the beaten egg whites, add the ground hazelnuts mixed with flour and gently fold in with a spatula.

Line the bottom of the baking pans with parchment paper, leave the sides empty.

Divide the batter into three roughly equal portions and transfer them to the pans, smooth the surface.

Bake the layers in an oven preheated to 170 degrees Celsius (fan-assisted) for approximately 15 minutes.

After baking, remove the pans and let the cakes cool.

If you don't have three pans, bake the layers individually - for each layer, beat 2 egg whites with 2 tablespoons of sugar, add half a tablespoon of flour and 40 g of nuts.

Place egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar, and flour in a saucepan, add some milk and whisk with a whisk or mixer until there are no lumps of flour.

Add the rest of the milk, mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.

Cover the finished pudding with cling film and set aside to cool at room temperature.

Whisk the softened butter with a mixer on high speed - whisk for 5-10 minutes - until the butter is very light and fluffy.

Then start adding the cooled pudding one spoonful at a time and mix until combined.

Set aside a few tablespoons of the finished cream (this will be used for the sides of the cake).

Pour sugar into a thick-bottomed saucepan and start heating it over medium heat.

The sugar will start to melt, some of it will clump together - I usually start stirring the sugar then (I'm one of those people who stir sugar for caramel :)) it's best to stir the sugar with a silicone spatula - be careful because the sugar is very hot!

The caramel is ready when all the sugar has dissolved and it has an amber color - if it turns dark brown, it means it has burned and is bitter - such caramel should be discarded, as it is not suitable!

Pour the finished caramel onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread it out.

Once the caramel hardens, break it into smaller pieces - you can crush it with a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

The nuts for the cream should be toasted - you can buy ready-to-use toasted nuts. If you have raw ones, spread them on a baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (top/bottom heat) for about 10 minutes.

After this time, remove the nuts and transfer them to a cloth or paper towels and rub vigorously to remove the skins.

Cool the nuts, then chop them with a knife.

Whisk the cold heavy cream with powdered sugar until it is stiff and thick.

To the whipped cream, add the chopped cooled nuts and the broken caramel pieces (I set aside a few larger caramel pieces for decoration) and gently mix.

Place one cake layer on a plate or platter and secure a cake ring around it.

Spread 1/3 of the custard cream evenly over it.

Spread 1/3 of the cream with nuts and caramel over the custard cream.

Place the second layer and creams.

Place the third layer and creams.

Chill the cake in the refrigerator for several hours - or preferably overnight.

After chilling, carefully remove the cake ring from the cake.

Apply the reserved custard cream to the sides of the cake and smooth with a spatula or palette knife.

Sprinkle the sides and top of the cake with finely chopped hazelnuts - almond flakes can also be used.

On top, we can arrange or insert the reserved pieces of broken caramel.