Nut meringue layer cake with banana & passionfruit

What you need

20 g plain flour

120 g ground nuts (I used 70 g blanchedalmonds and 50 g walnuts)

150 ml free-range egg whites, at room temperature (from 5 large eggs)

180 g caster sugar

2 ladyfinger bananas

6 passionfruit

1 tablespoon honey

300 ml thickened cream

Pure icing sugar, to serve



1 Preheat the oven to 150°C (the meringues are best cooked without using the fan-forced function). Mix the flour and ground nuts in a small bowl and have it nearby. Line two baking trays with baking paper – use a tiny dob of the egg white to fix the corners of the paper to the trays. Trace three 20 cm circles on the baking paper, two on one tray, one on the other.



2 Whip the egg whites in an electric stand mixer on high speed to stiff peaks. Gradually add the caster sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating all the while, until you have a very glossy meringue. Stop the machine and scatter in the nut and flour mixture. Fold in gently using a balloon whisk. Swap to a nylon spatula or a large spoon and ensure that the nuts are folded right to the bottom of the meringue.



3 Now spoon one-third of the meringue into the middle of each circle and use the back of the spoon to spread it evenly –the rounds will be about 1 cm high. Smooth the tops lightly. Some cooks like to pipe the mixture but I think there is a danger of overhandling the delicate meringue so that it loses its precious air.



4 Bake for 35–40 minutes until the discs are pale-gold and feel crisp when tapped lightly with your finger. Cool on a wire rack. When quite cold, store the discs, still with their paper backing, in an airtight tin for up to 3 days, or else peel off the paper and fill. Once assembled, the meringue cake will need to soften for at least 1 hour before cutting. It is best of all if filled several hours before you intend to serve.



5 Slice the bananas finely and tip them into a bowl, then mash with a fork. Carefully halve the passionfruit. (The safeway to cut a passionfruit is touse a serrated knife – a hint for young cooks as this recipe is well suited to young palates. Place the passionfruit on your board, holding it with your thumb on one side, fingers on the other, and position the serrated knife underneath the arch of your hand. In this way should the knife skid on the hard skin your fingers are right out of the way.) Scoop the juice and pulp into the bowl with the banana and mix together. Leave to macerate while you prepare the cream.



6 Add the honey to the cream and whip the cream to very firm peaks. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble. Fold two-thirds of the banana/passionfruit mix slowly into the cream. You want the filling to still hold its shape. Decide whether you need to add the rest of the banana/passionfruit mix.



7 Peel the baking paper fromeach meringue disc. Place a disc on a flat serving plate and scoop on half of the filling – I put my first disc flat-side up to receive the cream, but it doesn’t really matter. Settle a second disc on top. Scoop and spread the remainder of the cream over the meringue. Top with the third disc, best-side up. Return the filled cake to the refrigerator or a cool spot and allow to soften for about an hour.



8 Dust with icing sugar to serve.

About the book

Home by Stephanie Alexander, published by Macmillan Australia, RRP $59.99.