HOLIDAYING in far north Queensland last year Mark and I stumbled across a great coffee museum in Mareeba on the Atherton tablelands. The museum had the most wonderful eclectic range of coffee machines from the last century through to today, truly fascinating and beautifully restored.
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Most of them were from Europe and the decorative work in gold, copper and platinum was an art form in itself. The museum also had a gorgeous chocolate shop and recipe book library. After quite some time perusing the shelves I found a compact little book called the ‘gluten free dessert bible’. Of course I had to have it, its dessert – the best part of the menu!
After a year baking the recipes from it I have now made and of course adapted a lot of them. Not because the recipes didn’t work, but purely because it’s great to adapt them to suit other dietary needs.
One of my favorites’ is the hazelnut meringue layer cake. I have found that it presents an absolute show stopper for a dinner party. As a large cake however, trying to cut it into portions to serve your guests, it resembles a train wreck and whilst the taste sensation makes up for it I prefer my take of individual ones on the plate and topped with soft angel hair fairy floss. It will have the guests gleaming! I hope you like it too!
Hazelnut meringue layer cake:
Ingredients for the filling
200ml thickened cream
2 tbsp caster sugar
200g good quality dark chocolate
¼ cup chopped walnuts.
Ingredients for the meringue
4 egg whites at room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp white vinegar
2/3 cup hazelnut meal
Preheat the oven to 150°c. Line three baking trays with baking paper and use a pencil to draw a 20cm (8”) circle on each or if making individual cakes, draw 5cm circles spaced at least 2cm apart. You should get eight per large tray. Turn each sheet of paper upside down.
For the meringue, whip the egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking continuously until all of the sugar is incorporated. Add the vanilla and the vinegar and continue whisking on low speed until the meringue becomes glossy and stiff peaks form. Gently fold half of the hazelnut meal into the meringue, then carefully fold in the remainder.
Divide the meringue mixture between the three trays spreading evenly with a spatula to make three even rounds. If making individual serves using a piping bag and 1cm wide round nozzle pipe on to each circle and spread evenly. Bake for 45 minutes for the large and 25 minutes for the smaller ones or until the meringue is firm and dry. Turn off the heat and allow to cool completely in the oven with the door ajar.
Meanwhile whip the cream with the sugar until soft peaks form.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a heat proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water making sure the base does not touch the water. Set aside and cool for five minutes.
Spread the meringue rounds with the melted chocolate, scatter the hazelnuts over one of the chocolate coated disks or six if making small ones, set aside as these will be the top ones. Place a meringue round on the plate chocolate side up and spread with a little cream, then place the next meringue disk on top and repeat. Place the final layer with the hazelnuts on top. For an extra show stopper dessert, gently place angel hair (Persian) fairy floss on the top. This is available from Bendigo whole foods in three different flavours – vanilla, chocolate and pistachio. Whilst we make ours at the café, it is one of the more difficult tasks to master in the dessert world. Maybe one day I will run a class for it!
For those who are lactose intolerant I have made this recipe with lactose free cream instead of fresh cream. You need to mix it a little longer.
The meringue layers can be made in advance and stored in an air tight container for up to one week before assembling.
Hope you enjoy this week’s recipe, till next time
Happy cooking
Cheers
Mynette!