Chocolate Hazelnut Meringue Cake
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(0 votes)
Difficulty:
moderate
Difficulty
Preparation:
30 min.
Preparation
ready in 2 h. 40 min.
Ready in
Ingredients
for
12
- For Chocolate Cake
- 10 Tbsps unsalted butter (plus extra for pan)
- ¾ cup firmly packed, light brown sugar
- 6 large eggs (separated)
- 12 ozs semi-sweet chocolate (chopped; melted and cooled)
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ Tbsps dark Rum (optional)
- ¼ tsp salt
- For Meringue Topping
- 4 ozs semi-sweet chocolate (roughly chopped)
- 1 cup Hazelnuts (toasted; skinned and roughly chopped)
- 1 Tbsp Corn starch
- 4 large egg whites
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
Product recommendation
To toast the hazelnuts, preheat oven to 350º F / 180º C and spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. To skin the nuts, place them in a mesh bag and rub the nuts between your hands over the sink. The skins will fall and only the "skinned" nuts will remain in your bag.
Preparation steps
1.
For Chocolate Cake:
2.
Preheat oven to 350ºF / 180ºC. Butter a 9-x-3-inch / 23 x 8 cm springform pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Butter parchment and set aside.
3.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter and brown sugar at medium speed until pale and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bottom and sides of your bowl as necessary. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla, rum, and salt. Beat until combined. Transfer mixture to a clean bowl and wash your mixing bowl thoroughly.
4.
In the clean mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the 6 egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Fold one-third of the egg whites into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining egg whites and pour batter into prepared pan, and bake 25 minutes.
5.
For Meringue Topping:
6.
Combine the chopped chocolate, nuts and cornstarch in a small bowl, and set aside. Place egg whites in a clean mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until frothy. With the mixer running, slowly add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Fold in chocolate and hazelnut mixture.
7.
To Assemble: Remove cake from oven. Using a large offset spatula, spread meringue mixture on top of cake using as few strokes as possible so the meringue does not deflate. Return cake to oven. Bake until meringue is lightly browned and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes.
8.
Transfer pan to a wire rack; let stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, and release sides of pan. Cool, about 45 minutes, before slicing and serving.
