SANS RIVAL RECIPE
SANS
RIVAL (makes a four-layered 8"x6" cake or 2 layed 8”x12”)
For the meringue
wafers:
Ingredients:
1 cup eggwhites, (from 7 large eggs) room
temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup coarsely chopped unsalted roasted
cashews
Cut two pieces of baking paper about the same
size as the underside of a large baking tray.
In the center of each, draw an
8"x12" rectangle.
Lightly grease the underside of two baking
trays. Stick each baking paper to a greased tray, drawn
side down. Just to make sure it would be
easier to take off the baking paper later on, you can also
grease the tops which is optional.
increasing to medium, beat until frothy.
Slowly add in sugar, then increase mixer speed to high and
beat until eggwhites are stiff but not dry.
Divide the meringue equally between the two
lined trays. With an offset spatula, spread the
meringue out using the drawn rectangle as a
guide but go slightly past the lines. Make it as level as
you possibly can.
Bake meringue in preheated oven for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the meringue is dry,
crisp and a
light brown colour. (baking time may varies in
different ovens) always be sensitive about the smell of what you are baking in
order to avoid burning of the wafer.
The important thing is that the wafers are
crunchy - soft and soggy wafers are not good!
While still hot, use a long, sharp knife to
carefully trim the sides of the meringue to make the edges
straight (and aligned with the drawn rectangle
on the baking paper). Cut each meringue in the center
to make four 8"x6" pieces (or two 8x12
pieces).
Do this slowly. If you accidentally crack the
meringue
don't worry about it as you will be able to
"repair" this with buttercream later.
For the French
buttercream:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup water
2 eggyolks
1 whole egg
1 cup soft butter
In a small saucepan, mix together the sugar
and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Clip a
candy thermometer onto the side of the
saucepan. Once the temperature reaches about 90C (200F),
start beating your eggs.
When syrup reaches 115C (240F), take it off
the heat. With mixer at low speed, slowly pour the hot
syrup into the eggs. Aim for the area in
between the mixer and the beaters. If your syrup hits your
beaters, it will splatter to the sides of the
mixing bowl instead of combining with the eggs.
Beat the egg/syrup mixture until thick and
light in colour. Set this aside in the fridge to cool.
When cool, return bowl to the mixer, beat at
medium speed while gradually adding in the soft
butter. Scrape down the sides to make sure all
the butter is incorporated.
Once all the butter is in, increase mixer
speed to high and beat until buttercream is light and fluffy.
To assemble Sans
rival:
You will also need: 1 cup or more of coarsely
chopped unsalted roasted cashew nuts (or whatever nut
you used in the meringue).
On a cake board or the same baking pan if for personal consumption, alternate layers of meringue
wafer and buttercream. As the buttercream is very rich spread thinly only. If you have any cracked
Wafers use a little buttercream to
"glue" them together. Cover the entire cake with the rest of theButtercream.
As with the cake pictured at the very top of
this page, you can finish your sans rival off by piping
borders (if you still have leftover
buttercream) and by covering the top generously with chopped
cashew nuts.
Or if you absolutely love nuts, you can cover
even the sides with more cashews!
Keep the sans rival in the freezer in a box or
in an airtight container until time to serve to keep the
meringue crunchy. Use a very sharp knife to
slice.
Remember to cut into small pieces only!
