Monday, November 07, 2011

Raspberry Almond Meringue Cake (Gluten Free)—Secret Recipe Club

#2

It’s not a secret anymore!  Today is the November reveal day for Group A in The Secret Recipe Club.  The club has gotten so big that there are now four groups that each post on certain Mondays of each month!  It is fun to be assigned (randomly) a different blog each month—some you already know and some are new to you/me.  It’s a great opportunity to find new recipes and try them out.  Enough chit-chat you’re thinking.  Fine, I’ll get to this month’s blog/recipe!

The blog I was secretly assigned this month is Dee’s blog, Deelicious Sweets.  This was a newly discovered blog for me and I was happy to spend time browsing around.  Dee and her husband and two kids live in St. Louis, Missouri and she used to have a baking business called Deelicious Sweets, but needed to put that aside to be more available as a wife/mother, so she started a blog to share all her sweets and recipes with the world.  But she doesn’t only post sweets because I just saw a new post for some great looking tomato soup as well as other great looking savory food. 

There were a number of recipes I wanted to pick to make, but settled on this Raspberry Hazelnut Meringue Cake (except I couldn’t find hazelnuts around here close by, so I used almonds).  The cake intrigued me with it being a meringue and I loved the look of it with so many fresh raspberries.  It’s gluten free as well, since there is no flour in the cake.  It’s simply egg whites, sugar, some flavoring and ground nuts.  My cake is not as thick as Dee’s since the recipe says to use 8 inch round cake pans and I only have 9 inch pans.

 Raspberry Meringue Cake 10-28-11 #1

I could have pressed the top cake down onto the bottom more, but I didn’t want to smash those beautiful red raspberries.  As I mentioned, since I couldn’t get some hazelnuts, I used almond meal that I already have.  The recipe with the hazelnuts, has you roast them to get the skins to peel off, then grind them up in the food processor.  My method of just using almond meal/flour worked great and was not as time consuming.  Though I do think hazelnuts would have been delicious!

The cake is chilled for an hour before serving, which just happened to be the amount it got in the refrigerator when I made it, but I think it could and should be chilled for even longer.  Maybe the meringue is supposed to be crispy, but I liked when it was chilled for a couple hours and made it just a little less crispy.  The most difficult part of the whole cake was slicing it nicely without the whipped cream and berries sliding out.  But that didn’t stop it from tasting great!

SRC Raspberry Meringue Cake 10-27-11

Here’s the recipe as I adapted it, but be sure to check out Dee’s cake made with hazelnuts and her blog for a lot more “deeliciousness”!  Dee got this recipe from a 2001 publication of Baking—Easy To Make Great Home Bakes.  She found it at an antique mall to add to her cookbook collection.  I love that kind of thing—even though 2001 would not be considered antique. ;) 

Raspberry Almond Meringue Cake, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, from Deelicious Sweets

1 cup almond meal/flour (100 grams or 3 1/2 ounces)

4 large egg whites (130 grams or 4  1/2 ounces)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams or 7 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

1  1/4 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 pints fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Butter the bottom of two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans and line  with parchment paper.  Butter the paper and sides of the pan.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt with the wire whisk attachment on high speed until they form stiff peaks.  While they are beating, add two tablespoons of the sugar.  Once they have formed stiff peaks, turn off mixer and fold in the remaining sugar a few tablespoons at a time with a rubber spatula.  Then fold in the vanilla and almond meal.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and spread level.

Bake for 50-60 minutes for the 9 inch pans or 1  1/4 hours for the 8 inch pans.  If the meringue seems to be browning too much, cover it lightly with foil.   Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes then carefully run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen.  Transfer to the rack to cool completely.

While cake is cooling, beat the cream on high speed, add the powdered sugar gradually as well as the vanilla and continue to beat until fluffy.  Spread half of the whipped cream in an even layer on one meringue round.  Top it with half the raspberries.

Place the other meringue cake on top of the cake layered with whipped cream and berries.  Spread the remaining cream on top and arrange the rest of the raspberries over the cream.  Refrigerate for a few hours, covered with plastic wrap.   Slice with a serrated knife. 





18 comments:

Ginny said...

So pretty! Looks delicious, too!

Unknown said...

Great job! I love that you used almond meal to replace the hazelnuts. That sure made things a lot easier! Hope you had a good weekend and it's nice to "meet" you too!

Baking Ribbons said...

This looks decadent!. I like almond flavor so I'm sure I would love this..I wish someone would make it for me....

Fallon said...

Love it. Nice and light. Too bad you couldn't find hazelnuts, that would of been delicious as well!

Vivian Thiele said...

looks yummy! I would have gone with almond, too.

Mari Nuñez said...

NICE! Looks wonderful. Have a great week :)

Lisa said...

This sounds like one giant macaron. Fantastic!

Nutmeg Nanny said...

This is such a beautiful looking cake!

Sara said...

Beautiful! This looks really delicious. Although I don't have celiacs, I'm always on the lookout for tasty gluten free recipes for when I'm cooking for friends with this restriction. This looks like something everyone at the table would love!

Barbara Bakes said...

What an elegant looking cake. I had Dee's delicious blog last month. So fun to have yours this month!

Leslie said...

Mmmm.when i saw that last photo, my mouth actually started to water!!!!!!

Lorraine said...

This looks beautiful and delicious:)

Emily said...

Gorgeous cake!

Beth said...

I love meringue cakes! Add in that I also love raspberries and almonds ... bookmarked!

Unknown said...

I've never made a meringue cake. This looks absolutely delicious, makes me want to change it asap!

P.S - Love the new look!! Are you and Amanda blogging together though?

Ruchi M said...

Looks gorgeous... too pretty to dig into!!!! Must have tasted amazing!

TeaLady said...

THAT looks amazing!! So elegant.

Unknown said...

OOO YUM!
Come bring this to A Themed Baker's Sunday over at Cupcake Apothecary where the theme this week is BERRIES!
See you there!
Cupcake Apothecary
http://cupcakeapothecary.blogspot.com/2011/11/themed-bakers-sunday-15.html