Dacquoise

Dacquoise is a delicious French dessert that has been enjoyed around the world. It is a light and airy cake made with layers of meringue, buttercream, and other ingredients. Its name comes from the French word “dacquoise”, which means “cake of almonds”. Due to its unique flavour and texture, this delectable treat has become an increasingly popular dessert choice in recent years.

Brief History and Origin

The origin of dacquoise can be traced back to 16th century France. Pastry chefs in Gascony, France, created the traditional recipe. The cake was initially made with almond flour, egg whites, and sugar. Over time, the recipe evolved to include buttercream and other ingredients such as hazelnuts or pistachios instead of almonds.

In the 19th century, a variation on dacquoise became popular in Parisian patisseries. This version included layers of meringue alternating with layers of buttercream or ganache. This variation eventually spread throughout Europe and beyond, becoming one of the most sought-after desserts worldwide.

Dacquoise – The Recipe

• Preparation Time: 40 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 45 mins
• Additional Time: 6 hrs 5 min
• Total time: 8 hrs 30 mins
• Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the meringue

• 150g blanched hazelnuts, ground
• 100g almonds, ground
• 300g superfine sugar
• 25g cornstarch
• 6 egg whites
• pinch of salt
• Pinch of cream of tartar

For the chocolate ganache

• 150g plain chocolate, chopped
• 110ml double cream

For the coffee custard filling

• 600ml whole milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 125g confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tbsp. coffee essence
• 50g cornstarch
• 300ml whipping cream

For the decoration

• 100g roasted hazelnuts, chopped

Instructions

For the meringue

1. Prepare oven and preheat to 120 degrees C. Also, prepare a baking sheet by lining it with 13″x10″ parchment paper.
2. Mix well in a bowl of almonds, hazelnuts, 150g sugar, salt and cornstarch.
3. In another bowl, add cream of tartar and egg whites, and whip until foamy. Then add the remaining sugar and mix until shiny and stiff.
4. Now add the nut mixture into two portions and fold gently. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking sheet and level the surface using a spatula; sprinkle a mist of water.
5. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 90 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave the baking sheet inside the oven for another 90 minutes. Then take out of oven and place on the wire cool until cool.

For the coffee custard filling

1. Add cornstarch, egg yolks, salt and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl, and whisk well. In a saucepan over medium heat, add, pour and bring to a simmer.
2. When the milk simmer, remove from heat and pour into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk until thick and stiff.
3. Transfer the batter to a bowl, cover with Clingfilm and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Take out of refrigerator 30 minutes before preparing. 
4. In the meantime, in a cup, add water and coffee, and mix until the coffee dissolves. In a bowl, add butter and whip until light, then add custard in 3 batches and keep mixing until everything combines. Finally, add the coffee mixture and whip until fluffy and light.

For the chocolate ganache

1. Melt chocolate in a bowl. Simmer cream in a saucepan, add it to the melted chocolate and whisk until soft. When done, remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Take the meringue out of the baking sheet, place it on the cutting board and cut it into 4 rectangles. Spread ¼ cup of ganache each on 3 rectangles and place in the refrigerator for an hour.
3. Spread ½ cup of coffee custard on the remaining meringue rectangle and transfer to the wire rack. Place one ganache-coated rectangle on top and press gently. Spread ½ cup of coffee custard and repeat the process with other meringue.
4. Frost the top with and sides with remaining coffee custard and transfer to the refrigerator for an hour.
5. When done, take it out of the refrigerator, pour over melted ganache and garnish with whole hazelnuts before serving. 

Popular variations

Here are a few ways you can change this basic recipe to adjust it to your liking:

• Mary Berry Hazelnut Dacquoise: This is an amazing twist with flavours of coffee and hazelnut. The layers of nutty meringue, a thick and creamy coffee crème patisserie, and swirls of ganache and hazelnut praline as decorations is to die for.
• Easy French Walnut Dacquoise Cake: This variation is a single-layer cake with caramelised walnuts, dulce de leche, vanilla bean Chantilly cream icing, and a base of walnut dacquoise cake. It is nutty, creamy and caramelly at the same time.
• Brown Sugar, Pecan, and Apple Dacquoise: Toasted pecan and brown sugar meringues layered with fluffy whipped cream and caramelized apple slices; it is more like apple pie cake but even better!
• Chocolate Raspberry Dacquoise Cake: This cake has Layers of almond, hazelnut, and pistachio meringue with filling of fresh raspberries, chocolate ganache and raspberry coulis. and the layers of raspberry cream in the layers is screaming freshness.
• Julia Child’s Apricot Dacquoise: The Apricot Dacquoise has hazelnut and almond meringues layers with dried apricot filling and fresh buttercream. It is close to authentic but still very different.