Hazelnut Meringue Gateau Noisette -

Make this cake 1 day before serving. It’s irregular appearance is a nice accent to its wonderful taste. It can be served alone or, for example, with a white chocolate sauce, or with good vanilla ice cream that has been beatened to soften and then rechilled as necessary to provide a smooth texture.

MERINGUE LAYERS

• 6 egg whites

• 1-1/2 cups castor sugar ( beat sugar in a blendor)

FILLING

• 2 egg whites

• 1 cup confectioner's sugar

• 1 cup unsalted butter

• 4 oz. semi-sweet cooking chocolate 1 teaspoon lemon juice

• 1 cup chopped hazelnuts

 

Preheat oven to 300. line two large baking sheets with non-stick silicone paper ( suggest trying waxed paper sprayed with non-stick stuff on top of double-bottom cookie sheets. If you don’t have either silicon paper or silcon mats, and therefore use the wax paper, there is a great chance that the meringues will stick in places and will be a real pain to separate from the paper when done. Don’t worry too much, however, once the layers are sandwiched together with the filling, the mistakes will not be noticed.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a wire whick until they are light and frothy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the sugar and continue beating until the whites form stiff peaks. Carefully fold in the remaining sugar. Spread the mixture into four circles, each about 1/4 inch thick, two on each of the prepared cookie sheets.

Place the sheets in the oven and bake for about 1 hour. Turn the circles over and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove the meringue circles from the oven and leave them to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. In a mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water, beat the egg whites with the icing sugar until the mixture is thick. Remove the bowl from the heat. In a second mixing bowl, cream the butter with a wooden spoon until it is fluffy. Beat in the egg white mixture.

In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate over low heat. As soon as it has melted, remove the pan from the heat.

Beat the melted chocolate into the egg white and butter mixture. Then beat in the lemon juice and half of the hazelnuts, beating until the mixture is well blended. Carefully remove the meringue circles from the baking sheets. Sandwich the circles together with the filing, covering the top as well.

cover the top of the cake with the remaining hazelnuts. Leave the cake in a cool place for about a day before serving.