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White Chocolate Meringue Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 90 g white chocolate
  • 75 g unsalted butter
  • 70 g brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tbsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 60 g flour
  • 0.5 tbsp baking powder
  • 50 g pecans, roasted and chopped

Meringue:

  • 3 large egg whites
  • 150 g fine white sugar (caster)
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch salt
  • 40 g white chocolate
  • 0.5 tbsp cinnamon powder

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 170C. Then roast pecans for 5 minutes once the oven is hot. Once they are done,  take them out and chop them. Line the bottom of a 9 inch (23 cm) pan, I like to use a detachable one. Place baking paper on the base and rub a tiny knob of butter on the sides.
  • Make the cake: In a bowl, add the butter and the white chocolate. Melt them together in the microwave and then mix them together once they’re melted. Using a mixer, beat together the melted white chocolate / butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt for 3 minutes. Then run the flour and the baking powder through a sieve and fold them in. Then fold the pecans. Pour the mixture in the baking pan. The cake alone will bake for 20 minutes, and when we add the meringue on top it will bake for another 20 to 25, bringing the total time to about 45 minutes.
  • Place the cake in the oven and at the 10 minute mark, begin making the meringue. Meringue prep should take about 10 minutes so you will add the meringue to the cake at the 20 minute mark and continue baking them together till the end (45 minute mark). Make the meringue: Separate the egg whites from the yolks, make sure not to get any yolk in the whites or else the whites will not whip up. Using a stand mixer, start whipping the whites and when they begin to froth, start adding the sugar, tablespoon by tablespoon pausing a bit between the additions, until you use up all the sugar. Then add the vanilla, salt, cornstarch, and vinegar. Beat until the meringue has stiff peaks. In a water bath (bain-marie) melt the white chocolate and cinnamon together. 
  • Take the cake out of the oven, it is baked only halfway. Add the meringue on top, and then the cinnamon / chocolate mix. Then swirl them together and continue baking the cake (with the meringue on top) for another 20-25 minutes  at 170C. Take it out of the oven when the top of the meringue is crispy. 

Notes

This cake combines all my favorite wintery flavors, and many textures such as a crispy meringue on the outside, a pillowy marshmallow like center, and the softest most delicious cake. It tastes the best on the first day. Store it covered on the counter and consume it within 2-3 days. If you live somewhere humid (like I do), the crispy top will start to get soft faster than it would in drier climates. Enjoy it and let me know how it turns out, I am absolutely in love with this cake.