It's a very special and I would say also delicate cake. There is only a one option - you love it or you hate it. The actual cake was "born" in 1910 or even earlier. Can you believe it?
As long as I can remember we celebrated every single joyful moment in our lives with this cake. And also many of us tried to find out the recipe and somehow we managed to do that (every single recipe is the sweet factory "Laima" secret).
The crispy crust basically is made of egg whites and sugar. Some of you might associate it with a Pavlova cake, but it's not exactly the same as the crust is completely crispy and fulfill of hazelnut taste.
I have to mention that you have to be very careful when it comes to beating egg whites. No water, no dirt, no egg yolks, everything has to be clean to avoid flattening. Also patience. It will take time to bake all crusts and for richer taste it's better to leave it in a fridge overnight.
The most delightful thing about this cake is a cream. I remember myself scrambling it off from a plate every single time when I was kid. Yes, it's THAT good. I have to warn you that this cake is absolute sugar bomb - it's very sweet, especially the crust.
However, it's impossible to buy whole cake here in UK, so I decided to make one by myself, first as miniature desserts (you can see them on my Instagram) and after that the cake. So lets move to ingredients (and even a jar version)
For crust you will need:
4 egg whites (separate them from yolks very carefully)
250 grams granulated sugar
50 grams potato starch (can use corn as well)
150 grams roasted and chopped hazelnuts
For cream:
4 egg yolks
300 grams unsalted butter (soft, but not melted or cold)
1 can condensed milk
5 tbsp water
5 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp dark rum
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
After separating egg whites from yolks, beat whites with electrical mixer for 1 minute.
Gradually add sugar and beat until the mixture is soft, fluffy and sugar is melted.
Then add hazelnuts (if you roast them at home, let them cool down completely) and starch.
Fold in with a spatula very carefully. Try to avoid stirring as much as possible.
Heat your oven to 200 degrees.
Here comes most challenging part. Divide mixture in 3 equal parts (or two, up to you).
Draw a circle on baking paper and place it on a baking tray. I do that to make sure that all parts are exactly the same shape.
Put the mixture on paper and even it out.
Place the tray in oven and immediately turn down degrees to 110.
Bake for 1 hr and DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. You have to heat up the oven every time when you bake each part and once it's placed in oven turn down degrees again. I advise to bake every single part separately. Once all of them are baked leave them in oven for few hours. I know it takes time but it's worth it.
Remove crusts from the tray only before decorating. Every single part should come off from the baking paper easily.
Now it's time to make the cream.
First add water and sugar to a saucepan and heat until you get a syrup.
Then start to beat yolks with electrical mixer and very SLOWLY add the syrup.
Continue beating by adding butter (cut it in smaller pieces before), then cocoa powder, condensed milk, vanilla and rum.
You will get a creamy texture that tastes amazing!!
I suggest to be very patient and add every single ingredient very slowly to avoid the mixture become bubbly.
Then on a plate put first crust as a base, add cream, even it out and repeat until you're done.
You can cover the whole cake with cream if you want to, then just add less cream between crusts.
Decorate with chocolate pieces, hazelnuts or even melted dark chocolate. Place it in the fridge for few hours (overnight if possible).
Meringue cake is one of those cakes that requires such a long time to bake it, but it's worth it. As you can see I made same cake as desserts before. Actually my plan was to make them very small, but they turned out medium size, so imagine how many small dessert cakes you can make of it.
Also, if you ever visit Latvia, don't forget to buy some sweets from Laima (they have independent stores and museum in capital and you can get them in every store), they are AMAZING, especially chocolate!
Enjoy!
For more follow my Instagram @kitcheninlondon.
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