Recipe: Dacquoise (Meringue)

Dacquoise

I was reading about Grabyourfork's food tour of Newtown, Sydney and saw a reference to the Strawberry, rose and watermelon cake with a description of " almond dacquoise layered with thin slices of refreshing watermelon and garnished with ruby red strawberries." Yumm!

Dacquoise is a term I had recognised from a Gluten-Free cookbook and decided to refresh my memory with a Google search. I am so glad I did! What a perfect way to kick off my Spring Fling Lunch by the Sea event to celebrate the coming of Spring in a few weeks. I have been craving melons and berries and this Strawberry, rose and watermelon dacquoise sounds amazing!

Wikipedia defines dacquoise as: "a dessert cake made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue and whipped cream or buttercream. It takes its name from the feminine form of the French word dacquois, meaning 'of Dax', a town in southwestern France. It is usually served chilled and accompanied by fruit. A particular form of the dacquoise is the marjolaine , which is long and rectangular and combines almond and hazelnut meringue layers with chocolate buttercream. The term dacquoise can also refer to the nut meringue layer itself."

I love the idea of a layer of watermelon and garnish of strawberries and the fact that it includes ground almonds and no wheat-based flour means that it is yet another Gluten-free recipe to add to my Cookbook in the making! I am looking at the layers and wondering how pastry chef Christopher Thé of Black Star Pastry managed to keep the layers separate when you consider how fragile the ingredients are. Definitely something to experiment with. I might add one layer of tempered dark chocolate above or below the watermelon for structural purposes. I can't wait to try this!

Martha Stewart has her own recipe for Dacquoise which looks like a good base to start from. I have substituted Gluten-Free plain flour for all purpose flour but I will share the recipe for dacquoise from the gluten-free cookbook when I track it down.

This recipe is used to make the dacquoise layer for the Almond Dacquoise Cake. The layer of dacquoise and a layer of genoise are iced together with whipped ganache to form a neat loaf shape.

Ingredients:

* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
* 1/4 cup White Wings Gluten-free plain flour GF
* 1 cup finely ground blanched almonds
* 1/2 cup superfine sugar
* 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
* 4 large egg whites

Method:

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush with 1 tablespoon butter; coat with flour. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the almonds, 1/4 cup superfine sugar, and the confectioners' sugar; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. One tablespoon at a time, slowly add remaining 1/4 cup superfine sugar; continue to beat until mixture forms stiff peaks. Fold in the nut mixture. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet until it is 1/4 inch thick.
3. Bake the dacquoise 2 hours; then turn off the oven, and leave inside until completely cooled, about 30 minutes.
4. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut dacquoise into three 4-by-7-inch pieces. Wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap, and set aside. Save the leftover dacquoise for another use. The dacquoise can be made several days in advance and stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Read more at Marthastewartweddings.com: Dacquoise

Links:

Newtown food tour by Grab Your Fork

Recipe: Dacquoise (Meringue)

Wikipedia: Dacquoise