Ingredients
Merengue:
- 6 egg whites (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped cashew
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Buttercream:
- 6 egg yolks (room temperature)
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups of unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Garnish:
- 3/4 cup ground cashew mixed with butter cake crumbs
Instructions
Merengue:
- Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and prepare a piping bag with a plain tip.
- Preheat your home or bakery oven to 325F.
- In a grease free bowl, beat egg whites with the cream of tartar. When it starts to form soft peaks, gradually add in the granulated sugar. Add vanilla and continue to beat on medium to high until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the chopped cashew into the merengue carefully, making sure not to deflate the airy mixture. Put the meringue in the prepared piping bag and pipe 1.5 to 2 inch diameter circles with ample spacing between circles. (If you don’t have a piping bag, just use a Ziplock bag instead and cut one corner to create the tip.)
- To create even circles, draw circles in the underside of your parchment paper and pipe within the lines.
- Bake merengue circles for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from heat and cool before assembly.
Buttercream
- In a saucepan, combine granulated sugar and water and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Lower heat and let simmer until syrup reaches 240F (use a candy thermometer for this).
- In the bowl of your mixer, place the 6 room temperature egg yolks and beat at medium speed. Continue to beat until light yellow in color and is thick.
- When your sugar syrup has reached 240F, remove from the heat.
- Slowly add in the warm syrup to the beaten egg yolks in a slow and steady stream, making sure to continue beating on medium to avoid scrambling the yolks.
- When all the syrup has been added, continue whipping on medium to high until mixture has cooled enough. To check, feel the bottom of the bowl. If it is still warm, continue beating. Once the mixture has sufficiently cooled down, you can start to add the room temperature butter.
- Still at medium to high, continue running your mixer as you start adding the butter. Add the soft butter a teaspoon or 1 – 2 cubes at a time, making sure it is properly incorporated before adding more. Continue this until all the butter has been added.
- Remove the whisk/beater attachment from your stand mixer and replace with the paddle attachment. Add vanilla and continue to beat until you get a smooth and velvety buttercream.
Assembly
- Make sure that the flatter side of the merengue is on the outside to get a smooth top and bottom. Spread buttercream on the inside side of the merengue and sandwich this with another merengue circle.
- Cover the top and sides of the sandwich with more buttercream and refrigerate for 20 minutes to set.
- Apply more buttercream on the bottom to cover the entire sandwich.
- Once all covered, roll into ground cashew and cake crumbs mixture evenly.
- Refrigerate to set and serve chilled. Place on cupcake papers for easier handling.
