Sweet Meringue Plum Cake

I always wait so impatiently for plum season. I do love preparing plum cakes, they're always so delicious (even though I'm not really a plum-fan ;) )! I know I've waited too long to share this cake with You, but I hope that - at least for some of You - it is not too late :) Besides, it is possible to use frozen plums ;)

This is another wonderful and elegant cake from KwestiaSmaku, which I share with You today and also I do recommend to try this one, right after the very best plum cake, which You can find here.

Ingredients:

• 250g of flour
• 50g of sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 200g of margarine
• 4 egg yolks
• 1kg of plums (without kernels, cut into halves) fresh or frozen (need to be defrost)

Budyń/Custard (it is possible to double the amount of custard in this cake):

• 1 packaging of vanilla custard (40g)
• 500ml of milk
• 2 tablespoons of sugar

Meringue:

• 4 egg whites 
• 200g of sugar
• 3 teaspoons of potato starch 

Optionally - one of these:

• A handful of hazelnuts, to sprinkle the top (I skipped it)
• almond flakes (to sprinkle the fruit) 
• shredded coconut (to sprinkle the fruit or to mix with meringue)

Preparation:

Dough:

1. Start preheating the oven to 170C.
2. Prepare a rectangular baking pan (around 26x36 cm), grease it and put baking paper all over it.
3. Take a big bowl, put flour, sugar, salt and baking powder inside. Mix. Add cold butter and knead till you get crumbles.
4. Add egg yolks and knead again.
5. Distribute evenly all over the bottom of previously prepared baking pan and bake in preheated oven for around 20 minutes, till it becomes gold.
6. Take it out from the oven.

Custard + plums:

1. Prepare the custard as the instructions on a packaging says (using 500ml of milk + 2 tablespoons of sugar). 
2. When the custard is ready, pour it all over the previously baked bottom.
3. Add plums, cover the entire cake bottom with them (there is no need to wait till the custard cools down). Make 2 layers of plums, one on another.
4. Optionally - sprinkle with almond flakes or shredded coconut if desired. Set aside.

Meringue + finishing the cake:

1. Take a mixer and its bowl, put egg whites inside, beat, adding sugar gradually, till it stiffens (around 10-15 minutes). At the end, sieve potato starch inside and mix till smooth.
2. Here - if You haven't and You do fancy to do it - you can mix in some shredded coconut.
3. Distribute the meringue all over the top of the plums.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, setting the temperature as previously, on 170C.
5. After 20 minutes, decrease the temperature to 60C, turn on the hot air cooking, (optionally sprinkle the top with hazelnuts) and bake for another 20 minutes.
6. Take out from the oven.
7. Bon Appetit! :)

Egyptian Cake

I would never suppose that this cake will be THAT delicious! What's more, it's perfect for every occassion :) It's not complicated and I'm sure everybody will manage to do it :) 

The recipe comes from www.mojewypieki.com, though I changed it a little bit. :)

Ingredients:

Cake: (everything from this part, connected with preparing the cake dough is required to be done 3 times, but one after another, not at once. In brackets I put the amount of all the ingredients altogether)

• 2(6) egg whites
• 2(6) tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 (1,5) tablespoon of flour
• 40 g (120g) of grounded hazelnuts (I skipped it)

Custard-butter like filling:

• 10 egg yolks
• 10 tablespoons of sugar
• 5,5 tablespoons of flour
• 32 g (2 packagings) of vanilla sugar
• 340 ml of milk
• 170 g of butter

Whipped cream:

• 340 g of 36% cream
• 200 g + 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons of water
• 120 g of nutmegs, chopped and toasted (I skipped that part)

Optional ingredients:

• almond flakes - to sprinkle the sides of the cake

Preparation:

Cake:

1. Take a springform cake tin, grease it and put baking paper all over its surface.
2. Take a big bowl and a mixer.
3. Put egg whites inside. Start beating them(it will take around 8 minutes). While doing it add sugar. 
4. When the egg whites are stiff enough, add flour and (optionally) hazelnuts and gently stir everything with a spoon.
5. Pour the cake gently to the springform cake tin.
6. Put the cake in the oven and bake for around 10-15 minutes in 170C. (Check using a toothpick if it is ready, the colour needs to be gold but bright)
7. Cool down in the springform cake tin (the cake tier may seem to be too flat, but don't worry, it will be fine at the end).

Now prepare the second and third piece of cake from the recipe above, cool them all down.

Custard-butter filling:

1. Take a clean pot.
2. Put egg yolks, sugar, flour and milk inside, mix till smooth.
3. Boil it on a low heat, stiring till it thickens.
4. Cool down.
5. Take a clean bowl, put butter inside, mix till it becomes fluffy and bright. Slowly add it to previously prepared in a pot custard.

Whipped cream and caramel:

1. Take quite a lot of baking paper and put it on a clean, free space in the kitchen's surface.
2. Take a big, clean bowl and mixer. Beat the cream, to get whipped cream and at the end of beating, add 2 tablespoons of sugar.
3. Take a pot, put 200 g of sugar inside + 2-3 tablespoons of water, start boiling it on a low heat, stiring from time to time, so that it melts. It will start boiling, even burning a little bit(it is good). 
4. When the edges of the sugar get golden brown, quickly take it out from the stove and pour it on a baking paper, distribute, using a spoon, all over the baking paper.
5. When the sugar will get hard, crumble it on a really small pieces (but be careful not to make a powder)
6. Mix whipped cream with caramel and nutmegs.

Entire cake:

1. Take a big cake plate, put the first piece of the cake on it. 
2. Distribute some part of the custard filling on it and then a part of the whipped cream. 
3. Cover it with another piece of cake, distribute custard filling, whipped cream, etc. 
4. The last layer is whipped cream (only the top). 
5. Leave some custard for the sides of the cake. 
6. Sprinkle the sides with almond flakes.
7. Bon Appetit! :)