Chocolate, Date & Meringue Cake - Savour School : Savour School

S4 Episode 2

Chocolate, Date & Meringue Cake

Serves: 8-10
Preparation: 40 mins
Cooking: 28 mins
Skill level: Beginner

Ingredients

Method

CHOCOLATE DATE CAKE

112 g dried dates, pitted and chopped
175 ml boiling water
½ tsp bicarbonate soda (A)
58 g unsalted butter
100 g caster sugar
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
130 g plain flour
30 g dutch processed cocoa powder
pinch of salt
½ tsp bicarbonate soda (B)
120 g good-quality dark chocolate
50 g good-quality milk chocolate
65 g roasted almonds, roughly chopped

SWISS MERINGUE

3 egg whites
135 g caster sugar
2 g cream of tartar
75 g icing sugar, sieved

CHOCOLATE GARNISH

100 g good-quality dark chocolate
100 ml thickened cream

CHOCOLATE DATE CAKE

Heat the oven to 170°C, fan forced.
Grease and line a loaf tin, 230mm x 127mm x 65mm in size.
Place the dates into a bowl. Pour the boiling water over the dates, then sprinkle the bicarbonate soda (A) on top. Set aside to soak while you prepare the cake batter.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
Slowly add in the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and bicarbonate soda (B), then mix until just combined.
Add the dates, including the water they were soaking in and mix to incorporate.
Fold the dark and milk chocolate, as well as the roasted almonds, through the batter.
Transfer into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the batter to create an even surface.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes. Prepare the meringue while the cake bakes.

Notes:

You do not want to completely bake the cake at this point as it will continue baking when the meringue is placed on top.
Ensure you begin making the meringue with enough time to have it ready when the cake is being removed from the oven.

SWISS MERINGUE

Place the egg whites, caster sugar and cream of tartar into a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the water does not touch the bowl. Continuously whisk by hand until the mixture reaches 60°C.
Remove from the heat and whip to create a shiny meringue.
Add the sieved icing sugar and gently fold through.
Once the cake has been removed from the oven, spoon the meringue on top. Use the back of a spoon to spread the meringue over the cake surface and ensure there are no air pockets between the meringue and the cake. Shape the meringue so that it is lower around the edges and rises in the centre, pulling the spoon up to create scattered peaks.
Return to the oven and bake for a total of 28 minutes, this includes the time taken to bake just the cake.
Allow to cool completely at room temperature before removing from the tin.

Note: Only make the chocolate ganache once the cake has completely cooled.

CHOCOLATE GARNISH

Place the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate has completely melted and incorporated.
Drizzle the ganache over the meringue layer of the cake.

Note: Store at room temperature for up to 4 days.