Nadiya Hussain’s Meringue Cake
A light and easy to make meringue cake featuring fresh cream and fruit sandwiched between sweet meringue and moist sponge.
From the book
Nadiya’s Everyday Baking
95 simple and delicious new recipes as featured in the BBC2 TV show
Moving beyond cookies and cakes, with great baking recipes for every type of day, meal, and occasion
Fun flavour twists offer new takes on classic recipes
Introduction
If you are looking for a simple, light cake, this is the one for you. Two layers of meringue are baked on the thinnest layers of sponge cake, then sandwiched with fresh cream and fruit. Pillowy light but still so satisfying.
Ingredients
| For the cake batter: | |
|---|---|
| 125g | unsalted butter |
| 100g | caster sugar |
| 4 | egg yolks |
| 125g | plain flour |
| 1 tsp | baking powder |
| 1 tsp | vanilla extract |
| 2 tbsp | whole milk |
| For the meringue: | |
| 4 | egg whites |
| 1 tsp | cream of tartar |
| 200g | caster sugar |
| For the filling: | |
| 300ml | double cream |
| 2 tbsp | icing sugar |
| 150g | berries, chopped |
| 1 | lemon, zest only |
| cocoa powder, for dusting (optional) |
Essential kit
You will need: 2 x 20cm cake tins.
Method
Grease and line two 20cm cake tins. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6.
Start by making the cake batter. Put the butter, sugar, egg yolks, flour, baking powder, vanilla and milk in a bowl and mix till you have a smooth paste.
Divide the mixture between the two tins and use an offset spatula to spread into a thin, even layer on the base of each tin. It doesn’t look like much, but this very thin layer of cake will make a whole lot of difference to the light meringue.
Now, set aside while you make the meringue. Put the egg whites in a clean bowl with the cream of tartar. Whisk till they start to become frothy. Add the sugar, one spoonful at a time, making sure to incorporate each addition and allowing the sugar to dissolve in. Keep adding till there is no sugar left.
Divide the mixture between the two tins, smoothing it down so it sits flush on top of the sponge mix. Flatten the top of one and make peaks on the other.
Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes till golden on top. If the meringue looks like it’s browning too fast, reduce the oven temperature a little towards the end of the cooking time. Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tins completely. Once cool, take the flatter meringue out of its tin and place on a serving dish, cake-side down.
Whip the cream with the icing sugar till just thickened and holding soft peaks. Add two-thirds of the chopped berries and lemon zest and fold through. Top the meringue and spread the fruity cream all over in an even layer. Dot the rest of the berries onto it.
Now, top with the other meringue, cake-side down and peaks at the top. Dust with a little cocoa, if you like, and you are ready to eat this pillowy-light, delicious meringue-layer cake.
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