Egyptian walnut and caramel cake

Name: Egyptian walnut and caramel cake
Ingredients: 6 egg whites; 6 tablespoons sugar; 1 1/2 tablespoons flour; 150 g ground walnuts; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 10 g butter; 6 egg yolks; 150 g sugar; 450 ml milk; 4 tablespoons cornstarch; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 300 g butter; 100 g sour cream; 20% fat; 300 ml heavy cream; 1 packet vanilla sugar (8 g); 250 g sugar; 5 ml oil; 30 g chopped walnuts

Dessert - Egyptian walnut and caramel cake by Zenobia C. - Recipia

Egyptian walnut and caramel cake is served cold, after a night in the fridge. The three thin walnut meringue layers sit between vanilla cream and whipped cream with pieces of caramel; once chilled, the layers soften but keep a little bite. I cut it cold, into narrow slices, so you can see the layers. Preparation: 40 minutes. Cooking: 77 minutes. Resting: 8 hours. Total time: 9 hours and 57 minutes. Servings: 12. Approximately 610 kcal and 8 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

For the layers

6 egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
150 g ground walnuts
1/8 teaspoon salt
10 g butter

For the vanilla cream

6 egg yolks
150 g sugar
450 ml milk
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
300 g butter

For the whipped cream and caramel

100 g sour cream
20% fat
300 ml heavy cream
1 packet vanilla sugar (8 g)
250 g sugar
5 ml oil

For decoration

30 g chopped walnuts

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease the pan with 10 g of butter and line it with baking paper. 2. Beat the egg whites with 1/8 teaspoon of salt, then gradually add the 6 tablespoons of sugar and beat for 5 minutes, until you have a stiff, glossy meringue. 3. Fold in the flour and ground walnuts with a spatula. Divide the mixture into three equal portions and bake the layers one at a time for 20 minutes each, until lightly browned. Leave them to cool. 4. Heat the milk in a small saucepan for about 4 minutes, until steam starts to rise. Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch, pour the hot milk over them, then put the cream over low heat and stir for 8 minutes, until thickened. Remove the pan from the heat, add 1/8 teaspoon of salt and the vanilla extract, and leave the cream to cool completely. 5. Beat the softened butter for 2 minutes, until creamy. Gradually add the cold egg yolk cream and beat for another 3 minutes, until fluffy. 6. Beat the sour cream, heavy cream and vanilla sugar for 4 minutes, until stiff. 7. Melt the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until it turns amber. Pour it onto baking paper greased with 5 ml of oil and leave it to harden. Break the caramel, crush it with a rolling pin and set aside 2 tablespoons for decoration. Fold the rest into the whipped cream. 8. Place one layer on a plate, spread over the vanilla cream and whipped cream, then repeat with the other two layers. Set aside 2 tablespoons of vanilla cream and 3 tablespoons of whipped cream to cover the sides. Cover the cake and chill overnight. 9. Cover the sides with the reserved creams and decorate with chopped walnuts and the reserved crushed caramel.

Notes

Free-range eggs give the yolks a deeper color; I didn’t have a vanilla bean, though I prefer it for this cream. Choose fresh walnuts with no bitter taste, and grind them finely, but stop before they release their oil. The caramel softens when it touches the cream, so save it for decoration and put it on the cake just before serving. I don’t rush cooling the egg yolk cream; the butter and cream need to be at similar temperatures when I beat them together. I serve it with black coffee, which goes well with the sweetness of the caramel. Covered in the fridge, the cake keeps for up to 3 days, and the layers soften gradually. For the layers, you can replace the 150 g of ground walnuts with 150 g of hazelnuts; the cake contains eggs, gluten, dairy and nuts.