How to bake a meringue crust with a simple recipe. Meringue cake with cream and strawberries. Invitation to discuss the cake and possible improvements

Everyone has probably tried this delicious, beautiful and airy dessert at least once. There are probably as many variations of the Count's Ruins cake as there are housewives who make it. Why this name? Most likely because of the shape of the cake, which is supposed to resemble the ruins of a castle. Be that as it may, lovers of sweet and delicate desserts will definitely appreciate its taste.

It may seem that making the Count's Ruins cake is difficult, but it is not. You only need a little skill when preparing airy meringue cookies (there are many here, where I wrote a lot and in detail). Otherwise, even a child can make buttercream, but I highly recommend decorating the finished cake with your children. This is so great!

I really hope that this step-by-step recipe with a photo of the Count's Ruins cake will help you not only prepare an amazing dessert at home, but also surprise your loved ones with it. Delicate snow-white meringues combined with smooth and delicious buttercream in this cake are wonderfully complemented by aromatic chocolate glaze and walnuts. It’s not a shame to serve this on the holiday table!

Ingredients:

Meringue:

Oil cream:

Decoration:

Cooking the dish step by step with photos:

First, let's prepare classic white meringue cookies. In addition to the products, we will need suitable dishes and a mixer. Take a bowl, wash it and dry it thoroughly. It is also advised to degrease it with lemon juice, and then wipe it thoroughly dry again. Pour in the cold egg whites and add a pinch of salt.

Begin beating the egg whites at low speed, gradually increasing the speed to medium. When the whites begin to foam and become airy, add lemon juice.

We continue to beat at almost maximum speed for another minute or two. While whipping, add sugar or powder one tablespoon at a time. Increase the mixer speed to maximum and beat the meringue, not forgetting about the sugar. If you use a planetary mixer, it will be much easier because your hands are free. Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites as if drawing a figure eight or an infinity sign. This is necessary so that the mass is whipped evenly.

In general, it will take you about 10-15 minutes to beat the egg whites. When the sugar is completely dissolved, the mass will be as it should be.

Now decide for yourself how you will pipe the cookies - I like to use a piping bag with a rose or star attachment. You can just use a spoon.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the meringue. She keeps her shape perfectly. I ended up with a whole baking sheet of small-sized (4-4.5 centimeters in diameter) meringue cookies.

Now they need to be dried. To do this, turn on the oven (you can do it in advance) and cook the cookies on medium level at 90-100 degrees for about an hour, maybe more or less. I open the door 3-4 times to check the meringue. Make sure that the cookies do not start to darken: meringue is a snow-white delicacy. Although, this is a matter of taste - some people like to brown it. The meringue cookies are ready when they release perfectly from the paper and are light and dry to the touch. You see, the bottom is also white (well, maybe with a barely noticeable cream tint). For now, let’s leave the finished meringue and start preparing the buttercream.

Remove the butter from the refrigerator in advance so that it becomes soft. Place it in a bowl suitable for whipping. Beat the soft butter with a mixer at high speed until it becomes fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.

Then, without stopping whisking, pour condensed milk in a thin stream. Here I stopped the mixer specifically to take a photo, but don’t interrupt its work.

Beat the cream until fluffy, glossy and completely homogeneous. This will not take you much time - only 4 minutes.

The finished butter cream with condensed milk holds its shape perfectly, it is completely homogeneous and shiny. You can work with this cream right away. It fits perfectly using a pastry bag and does not lose its shape.

Finally, we collect the Count's Ruins cake. Take a suitable flat dish (preferably wider, since the cake is not particularly small) and place the first layer of meringue on it. This is the base of the cake - it should be approximately round in shape.

Once you have prepared the meringue cake, you can use it to make a variety of cakes. For example, one of the most popular is the “Kiev” cake. There is also an option where the cake is made from whites, and the cream is made from yolks.

The essence of such cakes is as follows. Regular meringues are baked, but not in the form of cakes, but laid out on a baking sheet in an even layer. Next, these cake layers are folded into a cake and coated with cream. In addition to the meringues and cream themselves, the cake can also consist of sponge or other cake layers. So, by making different creams, adding various additives such as nuts, chocolate, cookies, etc., you can constantly prepare new cakes from meringues. Here you can easily give free rein to experiments and use your confectionery imagination. You can even come up with recipes yourself.

Today I will tell you how to make a classic meringue cake. But then you can add crushed nuts, sesame or sunflower seeds, etc. to the protein mass. Such cakes can be used as one of the components for a complex cake or for making dessert. The resulting cake is tall, crispy, tender and melts in your mouth.

• Calorie content per 100 g - 270 kcal.
• Number of servings - 1 cake 2 cm high, 22 cm in diameter.
• Cooking time - 5 minutes for whipping egg whites, 1 hour for drying the crust

Ingredients:

• Eggs - 2 pcs.
• Powdered sugar - 4 tbsp.

Step-by-step preparation of meringue cake layers:

Meringue recipes look simple: you need to beat egg whites with powdered sugar and sometimes lemon juice. But to make a truly airy dessert, you need to do everything right.

1. The eggs for the meringue should not be the freshest, but about a week old. The whites of such eggs whip better.
2. Separate the whites from the yolks. If even a little yolk gets into the protein mass, it simply won’t beat.
3. You need to separate the whites from the yolks immediately after you remove the eggs from the refrigerator. But before whipping, the whites should stand at room temperature for half an hour. This will make the meringue base more airy.
4. Beat the egg whites in a clean, dry container. The mixer attachments should be the same. Even a drop of water or fat will prevent you from whipping the egg whites into a foam. To be on the safe side, you can first wipe the dishes with lemon juice and then with a paper towel.
5. Use powdered sugar instead of sugar. If you don’t have it, regular sugar can be ground in a coffee grinder. The protein mass whips better with powder. In addition, grains of sugar may remain in the meringue, which means the dessert will not be as tender.
6. Powdered sugar should be added after you beat the whites into a foam, and not before. It needs to be added in portions, about a teaspoon at a time, while continuing to beat the egg mass.
7. Lemon juice is added at the end so that the mass does not lose volume. Based on the calculation of ½ teaspoon of juice per 1 egg white. But if you have a fairly powerful mixer that has already whipped the whites into a stable foam, you don’t need to add juice. In any case, it will not harm the finished dessert in any way.

How to cook meringue in the oven

This is a classic method that makes the meringue airy and beautiful.

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites;
• 180 g powdered sugar.

What else can you add to meringue?

The taste and appearance of classic meringue will help you diversify:

• vanillin;
• cinnamon;
• food extracts or flavors (vanilla, almond, mint, fruit, etc.);
• food coloring (gel coloring will make the meringue more shiny, and powder coloring will make it matte);
• crushed;
• cocoa;
• coconut flakes.

They are added to the protein mass at the end of cooking.

But be careful. Oils (such as in nuts) and liquids can interfere with foam formation. Therefore, it is better to add just a little bit than to overdo it and ruin the meringue.

If you want to add food flavorings, never use ones that contain alcohol. It will also prevent the squirrels from rising.

Preparation

Separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the egg whites with a mixer at low speed for about 30 seconds. When the whites just begin to foam, increase the speed to medium and beat until thick white foam forms.

Then gradually add powdered sugar. Turn off the mixer and stir the meringue base with a spoon, collecting any protein from the sides that has splashed during the beating process.

After this, beat for a few more minutes at high speed. You should get a thick foam of uniform consistency. You can, oddly enough, check the readiness of the meringue base by lifting the container with it upside down: the protein mass should remain in place.

Place the finished base in a cooking bag. You can get by with a regular spoon, but it won’t be as pretty.

Preheat oven to 100°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and form the meringue onto it.

Place the baking sheet in the oven on the middle rack for 1-1.5 hours. Cooking time depends on the size of the meringue: the smaller they are, the faster they will be ready. For meringues that are too large, it will take about 2 hours.

Do not open the oven during cooking. Due to temperature changes, the meringue may crack. The finished meringue should easily separate from the parchment.

After cooking, turn off the oven, open the door slightly and leave the meringue inside until completely cooled for several hours.

How to cook meringue in a slow cooker

Meringue from a slow cooker is no different from meringue from the oven. This cooking method is suitable, for example, if it is not possible to use an oven.

The proportions of ingredients and the method of preparing the meringue base also do not differ from the classic recipe. But keep in mind that you will have to prepare the meringue in batches or reduce the amount of ingredients by 2-3 times.

Preparation

How to cook meringue in the microwave

This meringue will not be as airy as a dessert from the oven or slow cooker. In the microwave, the meringue warms up from the inside, so it settles quickly after cooking.

The advantage of this method is that you will need very little time. The meringue will also be crispier.

The number of ingredients and the method of preparing the meringue base differ from the classic recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 egg white;
• 150 g powdered sugar.

Preparation

Separate the white from the yolk. Mix egg whites and powdered sugar. You can do this with a mixer, or you can use a whisk or a regular spoon. You will get a thick dough that can be kneaded by hand.

Divide it into several small parts and roll them into balls. Place the balls on a plate lined with parchment or paper towel, spaced fairly far apart.

Cook the meringue on high power for 30 seconds. During cooking, the dough will spread, so the meringue will turn out flat.

How and how long to store meringues

Meringue does not tolerate moisture well, so it will become soggy in the refrigerator. It should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

For connoisseurs of meringue, as an independent sweet, and cakes with meringue, I present the recipe for Royal Meringue Cake.

If anyone has already tried the cake recipe that I presented a little earlier, then they will appreciate this sweetie 120%. Although I will not hide that the cooking process is a little dreary and takes time. But having tried it once (having taken the time to prepare and eat), you will think that time is nothing, and meringue cake is everything!

Ready-made meringue cake “Royal”

The classic Royal Cake recipe contains ingredients for up to 25 servings. Yes, the end result is pretty good (about three kilograms). Using the culinary calculator located on the page of all recipes on our portal, start experimenting with half a serving.

According to one version, the dessert in question, called “Royal,” was a favorite delicacy of Elizabeth II. It was the royal chef under the name Darren McGrady who revealed to the world the secret of preparing this wonderful confectionery product.

By the way, Elizabeth loved to eat, and not only sweets, so there were many favorite culinary creations for the table of the rulers of this world. And today we will try to cook one of them today.

Ingredients for 20 (or more) servings

For the cakes we will need:

350 grams of good margarine

7 egg yolks

750 grams high grade flour

3 tbsp. spoons of sour cream

1 teaspoon soda

a pinch of salt

For a delicious cream, take:

2 cans (760 grams) condensed milk (boiled)

3 packs (180 grams each - 540 grams in total) butter

2 tbsp. spoons of cocoa powder

For the most delicious - meringue:

7 pieces of egg whites (zero waste production)

2 cups granulated sugar

150-200 grams of nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts or any other)

Inventory

hob

saucepan

deep bowls

baking tray

parchment

Smooth surface

tablespoon

cake assembly dish

How to make Royal meringue cake

Shortbread dough is quite simple to prepare: melt margarine in a water bath and mix with yolks, sour cream, soda, a pinch of salt and flour.

It is worth noting: You don’t have to extinguish the soda, since the sour cream (or rather its acid), which is part of the mixture, will do everything for us. Although you can quench it (this will not adversely affect the quality of the dough) with lemon juice or vinegar.

The dough will be greasy and not sticky at all. Let's leave it alone and put it in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

At this time we start cooking. Beat the egg whites with granulated sugar.

It is worth paying attention: It is better to immediately use half the portion to prepare the meringue, then during the baking of the cakes - the second. This is explained by the fact that the protein mass may fall off while it waits for use.

We do not stop whipping the whites until we get a stable mixture.

We will divide the rested dough into several parts, which will be our shortcakes in the future.

Roll out the cakes and place them on a prepared baking sheet (greased with butter and sprinkled with flour or lined with parchment paper for baking). Place our protein mass on top of the dough in an even (if possible) layer (we use about 2 tablespoons of protein per cake).

If you love a nutty taste, you can sprinkle the whites with chopped nuts.

Before adding the whites, you can trim the edges using a plate, for example, by trimming the edges directly on the baking sheet. If there is a desire or need to create a cake of an unusual shape, then we will make it on parchment, on which we will cut it out.

The baking process is carried out at 180° for about 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, lower the temperature to 120° and let it bake for about 16-18 minutes.

After baking, we will get such a beautiful cake with baked proteins, as shown in the photo below.

How to prepare cream for a cake with meringue “Royal”

Let the butter sit until it reaches room temperature and beat it using a mixer until white.

Carefully and gradually add the cooked mixture into the resulting mass and mix in cocoa (if desired). Whip the cream with special care.

The volume of the resulting cream is enough to grease 10 layers of the Royal cake (consumption per 1 cake is 2 tablespoons). There will also be left over for coating the barrels of the meringue cake. Although you can leave them open for interest.

Frosted Royal Cake with meringue

Assembling the meringue cake

The process of assembling the cake is very simple, the main thing is to follow this algorithm:

The first cake is placed with the whites facing up and coated with cream.

Place the second one white side down and spread cream on top

We will place subsequent shortcakes with the baked whites facing down, that is, only the sandy surface of the shortcakes needs to be coated with the creamy mass.

Recipes for making cakes at home with photos

meringue cake

8-10

3.5 hours

300 kcal

5 /5 (1 )

Meringue-based sweets are always airy and tender, they turn out fluffy, large in size, but at the same time light in weight. Children really like to chew meringue pieces that are crunchy and melt on the tongue. Adults are captivated by the apparent lightness of such desserts - they mistakenly believe that cakes with meringue are low in calories.

The popularity of these sweets also lies in their ease of preparation, availability of products and versatility - after all, they can be combined with butter, custard, butter creams, berries and fruits, ice cream and chocolate, whipped cream and sweet sauces. Meringue can be a dessert in its own right; it is also used in sweets and for decorating cakes. There are many recipes for making an airy cake. I’ll present one of these today. It is prepared on the basis of sponge cake, meringue and condensed milk cream. And it’s simply called “Air”.

• Kitchen appliances and utensils: container for preparing dough; container for preparing cream; mixer; parchment; baking tray; form for baking; pastry syringe or bag; multicooker; oven.

Required Products

Meringue was invented by the French. From French this word is translated as “kiss”.

How to make meringue cake at home

In order to explain more clearly how to bake an “Air” cake with meringue, I wrote out the recipe with photos step by step. Conventionally, the cooking technology can be divided into five successive periods:

• Baking a biscuit;
• Preparation of meringue;
• Preparing the cream;
• Assembling the cake;
• Cake decoration.

And I divided the entire process of making homemade meringue cake and its recipe into 18 stages, each of which is accompanied by a photo.

1. At the first stage, place a can of condensed milk in a pan of water, bring to a boil and leave to cook for 1-1.5 hours.

2. Step 2 Ingredients:

• eggs – 5 pieces;
• sugar – 175 g.

We start making a sponge cake with meringue by baking the sponge cake. Since we will need an oven to bake the meringue, to speed up the process, I prepared the sponge cake in a slow cooker.

The biscuit is prepared in the traditional way. Separate the whites from the yolks. Using a mixer, beat the yolks with sugar. The mixer should be turned off when white foam appears on the surface of the mixture.

3. Step 3 Ingredients:

• salt – 0.5 teaspoon.

Beat the whites in a separate container with a mixer and salt. As a result, you should have an air mass come out.

4. Step 4 Ingredients:

• corn starch – 75 g;
• flour – 175 g.

Mix flour with starch. Then add it in small portions to the yolk mixture. Mix well.

5. Carefully introduce the protein mass.

6. Grease the multicooker bowl generously with butter. Pour the dough into it. In the menu we find the “Baking” option. It will take 1 hour to bake a sponge cake for a meringue cake at home - this is exactly the time we set on the timer. (The time will depend on the brand of multicooker. Mine is Redmond). At the end of the program, there is no need to open the lid, and the biscuit should be left in the “Warming” mode for 15 minutes.

After this time, open the multicooker lid and cool the biscuit without removing it from the bowl. When you notice that its sides have separated from the walls of the bowl, first turn the sponge cake onto a steamer, and then move it onto a wooden board.

While the sponge cake is preparing, we bake the meringue.

If you don’t have a multicooker, then after you put the sponge cake in the oven preheated to 180 degrees, proceed to preparing the butter cream. Prepare the meringue last.

7. Step 7 Ingredients:

• eggs – 5 pieces;
• salt – 0.5 teaspoon.

We start baking the meringue crust for the cake by turning on the oven at 110 degrees. We separate the whites from the yolks. Add salt to the whites and beat with a mixer. You should end up with a stable mass that does not change its position during any manipulation of the container where it is located.

8. Step 8 Ingredients:

• sugar – 250 g.

Slowly add sugar to the whites without removing the mixer. Beat this mass for 7-10 minutes.

9. Next comes the stage of baking the airy cake layer. Place parchment paper on the bottom of the baking pan. We separate a small amount from the protein mass, which we place in a pastry syringe or bag. Place the rest of the mixture in a baking dish.

10. Cover a baking sheet with parchment and squeeze out small meringues onto it. We will need them to decorate the cake. Place the mold and baking sheet in the oven, which should be preheated to 90-110 degrees. And leave the mixture to bake for 2 hours. It will be necessary to periodically check the readiness of the meringue. The small meringues will be ready in about 60 minutes.

At this time, we are making butter cream for the meringue cake, the recipe for which I also provide with a photo.

Recipe for cream cake with meringue

11. Step 11 Ingredients:

• butter – 300 g.

Beat the butter with a mixer until it turns into a fluffy mass.

12. Step 12 Ingredients:

• condensed milk - 1 can.

Add the cooked condensed milk little by little to the butter, stirring until smooth.

Butter and condensed milk must be at the same temperature. This way they will mix better.

13. Let's start assembling the meringue cake with nuts. Cut the cooled biscuit into two halves. It is very convenient to do this with a thick thread. First, I use a knife to slightly trim the separation area, then I insert the thread there, holding its ends with both hands. I run it along the entire base, crossing its ends.

14. Apply syrup to the first layer, which is prepared from two tablespoons of any jam diluted in eight tablespoons of water. Then apply butter cream.

15. Place the meringue crust. We also grease it with cream and sprinkle with chopped toasted peanuts.

16. First spread the bottom of the second sponge cake with jam syrup. And cover it with a layer of meringue. Place the not-yet-ready cake in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

17. Add 1 teaspoon of cocoa to the remaining cream (optional).

18. After 15 minutes have elapsed, take out the cake and coat its top and sides with cream. Sprinkle the sides with nuts. Let's start decorating.


I first left a little white cream, which I used to draw curls. I placed small meringues along the edges of the top cake. The center was strewn with nuts.

You can use your imagination and use other decoration methods. I will tell you more about how else you can decorate a meringue cake in the next section.

How to beautifully decorate and serve a meringue cake

In my opinion, the combination of white meringues located along the edges of the cake, filled with hot chocolate or icing, looks very beautiful. The top of the meringue can also be decorated with thin streams of chocolate.

To get inspired by new ideas, also try to see how airy cakes are decorated in photos on the Internet. Sometimes you can “profit” from very unusual ideas there.

In addition to detailed instructions for baking an “Airy” meringue cake and its step-by-step recipe, I have selected for you several tips and recommendations that will be useful when preparing it.

• When separating the yolks from the whites, care must be taken to ensure that even a small amount of yolk does not get into the whites. This may result in the whites not beating well.
• Proteins should be folded in with smooth movements in one direction from top to bottom.
• Instead of starch, when making biscuit dough, you can use baking powder - 0.5 teaspoon.
• In order to check the degree of readiness of the sponge cake, use a match, a toothpick, etc. They are immersed until halfway through baking. If the stick comes out dry, it means the cake is ready.

When preparing a sponge cake in the oven, do not open it for the first 20-25 minutes to prevent the cake from settling. After the biscuit has cooled, it needs to be left in the oven for a while, since a jump in temperature also causes it to settle.

• To simplify the process of preparing a delicate, airy cake as much as possible, you can buy ready-made sponge cake in the store.
• Instead of peanuts, you can add any other nuts. It is better to fry them first.
• You can find out whether you have achieved the required consistency of the protein mass for the meringue by turning over the container in which you prepared it. The mass should not leak out.
• For the meringue cake, you need to take only sufficiently cooled egg whites. This will make them more stable.
• It is advisable to refrigerate the finished cake for 3-12 hours.
• A saw knife is suitable for cutting.

I am sure that using the above tips, the process of making an airy cake will become simple and problem-free for you.
100 gr. meringue
100 gr. walnuts
100 gr. prunes

Meringue:
3 eggs (whites only)
150 gr. Sahara
salt
lemon juice

Impregnation for biscuit:
100 gr. Sahara
100 ml. water
1 tbsp. l. cognac
Cognac can be replaced with other strong alcohol, or you can omit it altogether.

Cream:
500 gr. butter at ROOM TEMPERATURE!!!
1.5 b. (500 g) condensed milk

Subscribe to my channel:

************************************

Facebook

************************************
Thanks for watching my video!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W0nTWB03Zrk/sddefault.jpg

2016-04-25T09:58:57.000Z

How to prepare a traditional sponge cake, see here:

Classic sponge cake A simple recipe for the perfect Classic sponge cake

“Abandoned” BISCUIT or Polish-style sponge cake. The biscuit prepared according to this recipe turns out fluffy, smooth, porous, soft and very tasty! A special nuance in preparing this sponge cake is that after baking, before cooling, it must be thrown upside down from a height of about half a meter.
There is a theory that if you “expel” the air bubbles that are supposedly in the sponge cake after baking, quickly and before it cools, the sponge cake will retain its shape. Myth or truth, the technology really works. The result is a smooth sponge cake that does not fall even 1 mm.

************************************
Classic sponge cake
(shape with a diameter of 22-24cm):

4 eggs
140 gr. Sahara
70 gr. flour
30 gr. starch

************************************
Classic sponge cake
(shape with a diameter of 26-28cm):

5 eggs
180 gr. Sahara
90 gr. flour
35 gr. starch

************************************
Subscribe to my channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQs4874BKxh8isLix6jgp-w

************************************
I'm on VKontakte https://vk.com/id22649696

My VKontakte group https://vk.com/club111064255

My group in Odnoklassniki http://ok.ru/group/53824662929646

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1661480874100396/

************************************
There are many more videos on my channel!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JnuuNlB2dks/sddefault.jpg

2016-04-16T07:44:48.000Z

Please note that the set of ingredients is slightly different from my recipe.

Invitation to discuss the cake and possible improvements

On the Internet you can find a lot of recipes for airy meringue-based cakes - both simple and more complex, with a varied set of ingredients. I wonder what you think about my recipe? How do you prepare airy cakes and what recipes do you use? I will be glad to read any of your comments.