Sugared Sam: The Daring Bakers’ Challenge, 2011 November: Filipino Desserts

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert –the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka, which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Not to be too cocky, but I am now three for three in boiling sugar without injury. Yeah me! I’m very excited to share with you my first Daring Bakers’ Challenge. (Check out the Daring Kitchen to learn more about this great project.)

When my friend from the Philippines told me she comes from the cashew capital of the world, I decided to make the Sans Rival cake using the traditional cashews. I did, however, break with tradition by adding chocolate. Rich, French buttercream and crunchy layers of dacquoise (meringue with nuts) sounded fabulous; adding chocolate to the mix sounded even better.

Sans Rival

10 large egg whites, room temperature

1 c sugar

1 t cream of tartar

¼ c cocoa

2 cups chopped, toasted cashews

Reserve enough chopped cashews for decorating the side of the cake and grind the remainder of the nuts to a grainy texture.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line four 8-inch cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and brush with oil. Butter and flour the sides well. (If you only have two 8-inch cake pans, be sure to let the pans cool between batches.)

In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with cream of tartar.

Gradually add sugar and cocoa, a couple of tablespoons at a time, beating on high speed until stiff shiny peaks form, about 7-10 minutes.

Fold in ground nuts.

Divide meringue into four equal parts and spread evenly in pans. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot. Allow it to cool slightly, then peel off the parchment paper while the meringue is still warm.

French Buttercream

Afraid I didn’t get any pictures of this process. Sigh. I was too busy focusing on not burning myself with the hot sugar.

5 egg yolks, room temperature

1 c sugar

¼ c water

1¼ c butter, room temperature

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks at high speed until they have doubled in volume and are lemon yellow.

Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235°F.

With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl (be careful not to splash and burn yourself), until all has been added.

Continue beating on high until the mixture is room temperature, about 15 minutes. Still on high, beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time then add chocolate.

Refrigerate for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.

I sprinkled cashews between layers.

To assemble the Sans Rival, set a meringue on a cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream and continue stacking meringue and buttercream. Decorate with reserved nuts.

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Babinka is a dessert traditionally served at Christmas. The trickiest part of this recipe for me was peeling the salted duck eggs. I just couldn’t get a pretty slice of egg, so I only added it to two of the cakes.

Next time I’ll know better. The subtle sweetness of the cakes and the saltiness of the eggs blended beautifully. I followed the recipe from Jun-blog.