Author Notes
This cake is a favorite of my friend Nelly’s family.
She usually makes the meringues just with egg whites, vanilla and sugar.
The Walnuts, orange zest in the meringues and the coffee in the butterscotch cream and Coconut Flakes are my additions.
I have to admit that Nelly’s cake looks a lot more like a tower as mine looks more like tower ruins, but it is still an original and delicious cake.
—Kukla
Ingredients
- For the Walnut meringues batter:
-
• 3 cups toasted, cooled and finely grounded walnut halves
-
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-
• 2/3 cup sugar
-
• 2 large egg whites
-
• 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
-
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-
• Pinch of kosher salt
- For the Coffee- Butterscotch Cream:
-
• 1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk (cooked in a pot of simmering water for 1,5 hours and cooled to room temperature).
-
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter room temperature
-
• 2 teaspoons Instant Espresso coffee
-
• 1 tablespoon Amaretto liqueur
Directions
-
Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
-
Put the walnuts, cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar in a food processor; pulse until finely ground but not powdery, add orange zest.
-
Whip the egg whites with salt and vanilla until soft picks form.
Gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar; continue whipping until stiff and glossy. Fold in the walnuts.
-
Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment lined sheet pans and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool and remove from the pan.
Depending on the size, it should be about 48-52 walnut meringues.
-
Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes; transfer to a cooling rack.
-
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the cooled condensed milk, coffee and Amaretto liqueur, whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time.
-
To assemble the cake:
For the first layer, place 10 meringues on a round platter and cover the tops with a about a teaspoon of the Coffee-Butterscotch cream.
-
Repeat the same technique until you used up all meringues and most of the cream.
To give the cake a tower shape, every next layer should be one meringue less then the privies.
-
Use what ever you have leftover cream to fix the imperfections.
Sprinkle the top and the sides with toasted Coconut Flakes.
-
This cake tastes best, when prepared in advents at list 8 to 12 hours.
See what other Food52ers are saying.