If you’re ever in need of a showstopper cake, just add meringue. In this case it’s the literal (vegan) icing on the cake.
SERVES 8-10
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Three 20 cm diameter springform cake tins, stand mixer with whisk attachment, mini kitchen blowtorch (optional)
Meringue manages to take a simple cake that I might make for a morning tea with girlfriends into something that will happily sit all puffed up with pride at any special occasion. I absolutely love how toasted meringue makes its own art on a cake, but I can never resist adding an extra layer of decoration with fresh flowers too. Some of my favourites are almond blossom or heady, open heirloom roses, or even a single oversized dahlia looks stunning against the caramelised meringue. There are two further notes with this cake: the meringue is so easy to make, and – surprise – there’s no egg whites in it.
Ingredients
For the cake
For the meringue icing
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional). Line the base of three 20 cm springform cake tins with baking paper and grease the sides with extra virgin olive oil.
- FOR THE CAKE: Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a medium bowl. Add the cinnamon and rapadura sugar to the flour and stir through with a wooden spoon.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients with the back of the wooden spoon. Add the soy milk, olive oil, vanilla, and lemon juice and zest. Mix until completely blended into a smooth batter. Add the rhubarb and gently stir through one final time, taking care not to break up the rhubarb too much as you fold it into the batter. - Divide the cake batter equally between the prepared tins. Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- TO MAKE THE MERINGUE ICING: Pour the cold aquafaba into the very clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Add the raw sugar and cream of tartar. Whisk the mixture on low speed for exactly 2 minutes. This will give the sugar a chance to dissolve into the aquafaba.
- Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing for another 2 minutes. Finally, increase the speed all the way to high and whisk for 6 minutes. (You will likely have more meringue than you need for the cake, but it’s better to be on the generous side when it comes to icing, I think.
You cannot overbeat aquafaba in the same way you can egg whites, so if you leave it mixing for longer, that’s fine, just don’t under-mix it. The timing is, however, really important to the success of meringue. I make it just before I am going to ice the cakes and serve them; aquafaba is better if used closest to the time of eating.) - TO ASSEMBLE: Place one cooled cake on a cake plate, bottom side facing up to give a nice flat surface. Top with a generous amount of the meringue, then add the cake.
Repeat the process, then add a final layer of meringue to ice the top of the layered cake, creating peaks as high as you dare. You can also coat the whole cake in a layer of meringue, if you like. - If you have a mini kitchen blowtorch, you can use it to toast the layers of meringue icing until golden.
Remember, it’s not egg white, so it’s safe to eat raw.
Decorate with unsprayed flowers and serve immediately.
RECIPE: Cherie Hausler
This recipe was originally published in the article Fig & Fancy in Issue 50 – Marking a Milestone.
