Daring Bakers' challenge: Filipino dessert Sans Rival

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Now, I wasn't quite daring enough to try the second recipe, Bibingka, which included things like salted eggs and glutinous rice flour. Not quite up my alley. But sans rival? Which apparently means "without rival?" Oh yeah. That's definitely true.

It's no secret that I love me some meringue. This is like a giant meringue cake that Aunt Betty and I made. We piped giant meringue discs, then layered them with French buttercream and layers of cashews. Seriously, it's as good as it sounds. The meringue melts into the buttercream and it's one of the tastiest desserts I've ever had. I am 100% making this again. Possibly very, very soon.

I don't often repost these recipes, but I'm definitely sharing this one, with the modifications we made (which are quite a few).

Sans Rival (12 servings)

Ingredients:

Meringues
10 large egg whites, room temperature
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 cups chopped, toasted cashews

French buttercream
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1½ teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1. For meringues: Preheat oven to moderate 325°F.
2. Trace bottom of cake pan on parchment paper to get four circles. Lay parchment on flat baking sheets (will likely take at least two sheets).
3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy. Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high speed until stiff shiny peaks form.
4. Move meringue to piping bag with large open tip. Pipe meringue into the circles until completely used.
5. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, checking after 30 minutes. (At this point, we actually shut off the oven and left the door closed, letting the meringues dry out. Your meringues should be as dry as possible without breaking.) Peel off parchment paper before completely cooling.
6. For French buttercream: Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.
7. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235° F.
8. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Continue beating on high until the mixture is room temperature, about 15 mins.
9. Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add flavoring after you beat in the butter. Refrigerate the buttercream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.
10. Assembly: Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream, then spread a layer of the crushed cashews. Then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of buttercream, cashews, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, cashews, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and cover with a layer of cashews.