Sour cherry and meringue cake

Name: Sour cherry and meringue cake
Ingredients: 8 egg yolks; 20 tablespoons sugar; 20 tablespoons oil; 20 tablespoons milk; 24 tablespoons flour; 2 packets baking powder; 1 tablespoon oil; 1 tablespoon flour; 800 g pitted sour cherries; 3 tablespoons sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 8 egg whites; 14 tablespoons sugar; 1/8 teaspoon salt

Dessert - Sour cherry and meringue cake by Valentina H. - Recipia

Sour cherry and meringue cake has fruit cooked until almost no juice is left, beneath a lightly browned layer of egg whites. The yolk cake base stays soft, and the tart middle balances the sweet meringue; when I cut it, each square keeps all three layers, and I choose firm-fleshed sour cherries so I can remove the pits without crushing them. Preparation: 30 minutes. Cooking: 45 minutes. Resting: 60 minutes. Total time: 135 minutes. Servings: 24. Approximately 270 kcal and 4 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

For the base

8 egg yolks
20 tablespoons sugar
20 tablespoons oil
20 tablespoons milk
24 tablespoons flour
2 packets baking powder
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon flour

For the sour cherries

800 g pitted sour cherries
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the meringue

8 egg whites
14 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Separate the eggs. Beat the 8 egg yolks with 20 tablespoons of sugar for 5 minutes, until doubled in volume and the sugar has dissolved. 2. Mix in 20 tablespoons of oil and 20 tablespoons of milk, then 24 tablespoons of flour mixed with 2 packets of baking powder. Grease a pan about 30 × 40 cm with 1 tablespoon of oil and dust it with 1 tablespoon of flour. Pour in the batter and bake for 20 minutes at 180 °C, until set on top. 3. Finely chop 800 g of pitted sour cherries. Put them in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Cook for 10 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and almost all the juice has reduced; set aside to cool. 4. Beat the 8 egg whites with 1/8 teaspoon of salt until stiff, then gradually add 14 tablespoons of sugar and keep beating until you have a firm meringue. 5. Spread the cooled sour cherries over the base, baked a little more than halfway, then smooth the meringue over the top. Bake for another 15 minutes at 180 °C, until lightly browned. 6. Let the cake cool completely, about 60 minutes, then cut it into squares.

Notes

In a pan about 30 × 40 cm, the layers stay fairly low; in a smaller pan, the base comes out taller and may need a few extra minutes for the first bake. If the sour cherries release a lot of juice, keep the saucepan on the heat until you can no longer see liquid collecting on the bottom, not just until the sugar dissolves. Frozen ones can be used after thawing and draining, otherwise their juice prolongs the cooking. I don't rush the cooling: the meringue and soft fruit layer settle, and the squares don't get crushed when cut. For a different flavor, replace the sour cherries with 800 g of pitted, chopped plums, and reduce the juice the same way. The cake contains gluten and eggs. Covered, it keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days; before serving, I leave it out on the counter for a little while so it's not ice-cold. A slice goes well with plain black tea.