Raspberry, white chocolate and almond meringue torte

Ingredients:

• Almond Meringue
• 40g almond meal
• 320g caster sugar
• 240g egg whites (approx 6-8 eggs depending on the size)
• 1/4 tspn cream of tartar

Raspberry Coulis

• 350g frozen raspberries (or fresh)
• 150g castor sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1TBSPN lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• 4g (approx) Xantham gum (to thicken coulis) or make a slurry with corn flour & water.

White Chocolate Ganache

• 360g Callebaut white chocolate callets or 2 x 180g blocks of white baking chocolate.
• 600ml thickened cream

To Serve

• ¼ – ½ cup toasted, flaked almonds
• Icing sugar for dusting
• Edible flowers to decorate.

Method

Preparation

Pre heat oven to 120°C

Prepare lined oven trays by drawing 3 x 23cm circles on separate sheets of baking paper with a marker, place the baking paper, marker side down on baking trays.

For the meringue

• Combine the almond meal and 20g castor sugar in a bowl, set aside.
• Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
• Whisk on medium high until soft peaks form. Gradually add the castor sugar one tablespoon at a time, continue to whisk until glossy and shiny and all the sugar is dissolved.
• Add the cream of tartar, whisk to combine.
• Gently fold through the almond meal and sugar mixture until just combined.
• Spread the mixture evenly amongst the 3 circles, smooth out the surface. Place in a pre heated oven for 1 hour or until crisp and dry (it’s OK to continue to cook for a further 10-15 minutes if they’re not dry; it can be dependent on your oven). Turn off oven, open the door slightly, leave the meringue discs to completely cool.

For the white chocolate ganache

• Place the chocolate in a microwave proof bowl, add ½ cup cream.
• Place in the microwave for 1 minute on medium, check and continue to microwave on medium until the chocolate is starting to melt, stirring each time. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Beat the remaining cream until soft peaks form, fold into the cooled chocolate mixture. Cover with plastic wrap, place in the fridge until ready to assemble.

For the almonds

• Toast almonds in a preheated oven on 150°C for 15 minutes or until golden and toasted to your liking.

For the raspberry coulis

• Place raspberries, sugar, water, lemon juice and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat to a simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
• Blend to a puree then strain through a sieve.
• To thicken the coulis, weigh the strained coulis (will yield about 400-430g of coulis). Measure out 1% ratio of xantham gum to coulis. If the coulis is 420g then weigh out 4.2g of xantham gum. I suggested that you use a little less (approx 3.5g of xantham gum so it’s not too thick).
• Place the coulis back in the saucepan over medium heat, add the xantham gum, whisk for 2 minutes until thickened.
• Place back in the blender to fully combine.
• Transfer to a bowl, set aside until cool, place in the fridge until ready to assemble.
• The other option is to mix one teaspoon of cornflour with a tablespoon of water, stir to make a slurry and add it into the strained warm coulis to thicken.

To assemble

• Place one meringue disc on your chosen serving platter.
• Top with one third of the white chocolate ganache.
• Spread half of the coulis over the ganache with a spatula.
• Place the second meringue disc on top, add another layer of ganache and coulis.
• Lay the last disc on top, spread with the remaining ganache.

To serve

• Add a sprinkle of toasted almonds, a dusting of icing sugar and finally, some pretty fresh edible flowers. Enjoy x Cath.

Notes

You can make the meringue discs the day or morning of the event.

Store the meringue discs in a container with baking paper between them.

It is suggested that you add the almonds, icing sugar and flowers just before serving.