Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Happy Birthday Hubby; Chocolate Meringue Cake

It has already been 10 days since my last post here...don't get me started on the backlogs. :P. In fact this will be my first time using this new blogger interface...hope everything goes smoothly. :P Have been baking mooncakes non stop for the past week....kinda crazy but overall a fun project. Glad it's over now, and I finally get to do some blogging. ;) Besides the mooncakes, I still managed to bake my dear husband a birthday cake as well. (it almost sound like it's less important, haha!) ;P No no no, I actually had it planned months ahead what I wanted to bake for his birthday cake. I can only go with chocolate flavor since that is his favorite....nothing wrong since I love chocolate too. ;)) I remembered I ate this really yummy chocolate cake at a blogger gathering last year. It's call Chocolate Meringue Cake shared with us from Doris of Tested & Tasted. Thanks Doris!! It left a wonderful impression and I knew I had to replicate it in my own kitchen. 
I have one word for this cake....DELICIOUS. I almost forgotten how yummy it tasted until I made this again myself. ;) I was very glad I made a big one, hahaha! I remembered everyone at the blogger gathering was raving about it too. You can't go wrong with that right? ;)

I modified Doris's recipe to make 1.5X of the recipe, plus I wanted a taller cake too. ;) Plus I used my own chocolate swiss roll recipe as I really love that cake texture. So I will repost my recipe here for reference. My cake came to be 10" by 7" and approximately 4" tall. If you prefer a smaller version, please refer to Doris's blog.

Ingredients for Chocolate Meringue Cake: (Makes 10"x14" rectangle)
Chocolate Sponge layer 
Egg yolk mixture
33g unsalted butter
102g egg yolk 
33g caster sugar
26g cocoa powder (I used valrohna)
26ml cold water
Egg white mixture
156g egg white (a little more or less is ok)
78gcaster sugar
59g cake flour
  • (refer to here for detail step by step instructions )
  •  Once baked, let cool and cut half.  Each rectangle should be 10"x7".

Chocolate Ganache
300ml fresh heavy cream
60g unsalted butter
360g quality dark chocolate (I used 66% cocoa Valrohna)
 *Note that I reserved about 1/2 cup of chocolate ganache to mix with 1cup of vanilla Swiss Meringue buttercream.  (used when assembling the cake later) But if you prefer not to cover the side of the cake, you can use up all the ganache when layering.
  • Chopped and place the chocolate in a large mixing bowl.
  • Heat up the heavy cream and butter until butter melted and the mixture almost boil. 
  • Gently pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and let seat for 5 minutes untouched.
  • After 5 mins, gently stir mixture together until it comes to a nice shiny smooth ganache.
Nut Meringue:
7 egg whites
130g caster sugar
75g walnut, toasted and chopped'
75g almond meal
30g bread flour
  • Beat the egg whites until foamy, then continue to beat and gradually add in the sugar and beat till stiff peaks.
  • Then stir in the chopped walnuts, almond meal and sifted bread flour, stir gently till everything is combined without deflating the meringue.
  • Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 14" x 10" baking tray. Gently spread the nut meringue onto the prepared tray. 
  • Bake in the oven for 15-18mins till light golden brown in colour.
 
  •  Once cooled, slice the nutty meringue into 2 rectangles, each measures 10" by 7".
 Assemble:
  • Place one layer of the chocolate sponge cake as the first base. Then spread a layer of chilled chocolate ganache over the sponge. Next top it with one half do the nut meringue. Again spread a layer of chocolate ganache over the top. Repeat this step until you used up all the layers.
 
  • Then trim of the sides of the cake to make it neater. Spread the chocolate buttercream around the four sides of the cake to cover up the layer. Note that you can opt not to do this step, but I wanted a neater look.
  • At this point, you can choose to dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder or decorate the cake as desired. Like I said before, I'm not a fan of eating powdery bitter cocoa powder, I left it out.
I really like how the soft sponge cake and the nutty meringue come together and gave a really nice texture. You might be wondering if the meringue tasted like a meringue cookie...oh no, it almost tasted like a soft sponge cake bursting with nutty flavor. 
A shot showing all the layers in the cake. If you prefer other nuts, by all means, choose the ones you like. I think I will try hazelnut next time, it will be even yummier. I think this cake will appearing in my kitchen again year end, it'll make a fabulous X'mas cake too. ;)

Okay folks, gonna end my post here. Will try to rush out another 2 more posts before the month ends. *fingers crossed* Have a great one all!

26 comments:

鲸鱼蓝蓝蓝 said...

蛋糕可以卖了
喜欢里面的一层层:)

ann low said...

Very tall and pretty birthday chocolate cake! I've never tried chocolate meringue before. Will definitely try it for sure. Thanks for sharing, Bee :)

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Wow Wow, this look so nice and tempting, never try a meringue cake before, immediately bookmark, maybe i can try this for my hubby coming Birthday too, ^_^

Mich Piece of Cake said...

All I can say is Wow! You are really talented at making layer cakes. I can imagine the layers of meringue and chocolate cake going well together.

Angie's Recipes said...

wow this is bakery perfect! Happy Birthday to your husband!

My Little Space said...

Gosh, your cake looks absolutely alluring. Wish I can have a slice but I prefer to take the whole cake. haha... However, wishing your hubby a belated birthday. May many more happy returns.
Have a great day, Bee.
Kristy

Swee San @ The Sweet Spot said...

such a lovely cake :)

DG said...

Awesome! Absolutely super delicious cake. I love the combination layers in cake on the contrast colours and the taste of sweet cake nutty meringue. :)

kitchen flavours said...

That's a beautiful and delicious looking cake!
Happy Belated Birthday to your hubby, lucky guy! :)

lena said...

good evening bee, that piece of meringue must be delicious! quite some time i didnt see a square birthday cake, the frosting and the ganache are perfectly done, i think your handwriting must be very nice, see, your piped cursive letterings so nice! in case you hvnt got any posting for the next 3 days, i want to wish you an early Happy Mooncake Festival, enjoy yourself!!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

哈哈,谢谢鲸鱼老师的赞赏。(=^x^=)

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Ann! Yes hope you will try this new recipe from Kevin Chai, it's very good. :))

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Heehee, hope your hubby will like this cake. It's very yummy! Y(^_^)Y

Honey Bee Sweets said...

haha, thanks Mich! It is really a nice cake, do try it out when u get a chance. :)

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Angie! :D

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Kristy. :)) I would love to share this cake with u too. :) thanks for your wonderful birthday wishes!

Dumpling Love said...

This looks great! *add to list of things to bake* Happy Birthday to your husband!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks for dropping by Swee San. ;) You make superb cake too my friend!

Thanks Doris! This is all thanks to you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. ;)

Thanks for dropping by Joyce! Thanks for your wishes too. ;D

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Lena, man can take square square cake, haha! Mmm.. ok la my piping..still can be better though...that's why I take the picture far far, haha! No worries, I'll post something for mooncake fest...so wish me again ya? lol!

Thanks for your compliments dumpling Love! Hope you will get to this on yout to bake list, heehee...

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Just wondering for the meringue, if i dun have the bread flour, can i use plain flour to substitute.

Cheers,
Adeline

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Adeline, you can try but I cannot guarantee the same results. Cheers

Jaques said...

Hi Bee Bee, book marking this for oct bd! ;)) thanks for sharing ;)))

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi Jaques, this is a great cake, so I'm sure your love ones will love it! Happy baking and let me know how it turn out ya?

Jaques said...

Hi Bee Bee,
Yes i will let u know the turnout. come back to u by mid Oct. But I m sure it'll definitely be good. =)))

Jaques said...

Hi Bee Bee,
May I check w u? Can I bake this in an 8 inch
round tin instead? If yes, how long do u reckon
I need to bake it? Thanks a lot ;))

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Mmmm...have not try before. I'm not sure how thick u are baking it...it'll probably take longer just like any round cakes. Sorry it's hard to give you an accurate timing if I've not attempt it myself. Good luck ya...