A meringue cake is meringue, cream and berries. The usual failures are meringue that is sticky and chewy, cracked, or soggy. The first comes from undissolved sugar, the second from sudden cooling, the third from long contact with the cream.
What it is made of
Top to bottom:
- Condensed-milk buttercream ×3 · 1.0 cm
The top, with berries and meringue kisses
- Meringue layer ×3 · 2.5 cm
The top disc, crust up
- Fresh strawberries ×2 · 1.0 cm
Two meringue discs with a crunchy layer of trimmings between them, condensed-milk buttercream and berries. Butter-based cream differs from whipped cream: the fat insulates the meringue from moisture, so it stays crisp longer, but the cake is sweeter and richer.
Order of work
Meringue (the day before or earlier): a glass or metal bowl, not plastic, wiped with vinegar. Whites at room temperature, about 21 °C. Start on low speed with a pinch of salt and a little citric acid. Bring the foam up, then add fine sugar in portions, not icing sugar. After the last portion keep whipping 3 to 4 minutes until the sugar has fully dissolved: rub a drop between your fingers. Fold in sifted cornflour with a spatula at the end.
Pipe or spread two discs inside a 20 cm ring and bake at about 150 °C with fan for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are dry and the discs lift off the paper. Lower heat, about 100 to 120 °C, keeps the colour whiter but takes longer. Pipe small kisses from the remainder and dry them at 120 °C for another 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely, ideally in the oven with the door ajar. Trim the discs to the ring and keep the trimmings: they become the middle layer.
Buttercream: beat soft butter pale, then add the condensed milk in three parts. Everything at the same temperature. Stop the mixer as soon as the colour evens out: longer beating splits it. If it splits, warm the bowl, cool and beat again.
Assembly:
- Bottom disc, crust down; a third of the cream, berries.
- Trimmings, more cream, berries.
- Top disc, crust up.
- Cream, fresh berries and meringue kisses.
- Let it stand 15 to 20 minutes so the cream firms slightly, then serve.
For a softer cake, leave it in the cold overnight: the meringue absorbs moisture and becomes more tender, not crisper.
What can go wrong
- Sticky meringue. The sugar did not dissolve.
- Cracked discs. Oven too hot, or cooled too fast.
- Split buttercream. Butter and condensed milk at different temperatures.
- Soggy cake. Wet berries, or assembled too early.
The verdict
Dissolved sugar in the meringue and the choice of timing decide it: crisp now, soft after a night. The buttercream gives a margin of safety.
