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! :)

Meringue Cookies

Mmm! Very nice and elegant cookies! Equally sweet and sour. Though if You don't like the sour taste of lemon, the filling may be different, as a lot of fillings match here :) 

And - If You're running out of time, there is no need to bake a home-made meringues, as they're available in most supermarkets.

Those cookies - smaller or bigger - will wonderfully decorate the table. 

I think a pyramid of sweet meringues on a big white plate, on a wedding table would look just purely perfect .. don't You think? :)

Recipe for meringues, slightly changed, comes from that website.

Ingredients:

Meringue:

• 3 egg whites 
• 200g of sugar (finely ground)
• a pinch of salt

Lemon curd:

• 3 eggs 
• lemon zest and lemon juice from 3 lemons 
• 100g of powdered sugar 
• 100g of cool butter 

Additional ingredients:

• food colouring (powdered or gel)

Preparation:

Meringue:

1. Prepare a baking sheet, cover with baking paper.  Draw a lot of small circles all over the baking sheet, leaving some space between those circles (diameter: max 5 cm). Put aside. 
2. Take a mixer and its bowl, put egg whites and salt inside, start beating. After a while, start adding sugar, one tablespoon after another, mixing precisely all the time. The beating should take 10-15 minutes, not less. The meringue after the beating should be stiff and shiny and sugar should dissolve completely. 
3. Here is a good time to add food colouring, as much as you wish, and mixing precisely. Note that the colour will fade a little bit due to the baking process, so add a little bit more of it, not to be dissapointed with the final colour of the cookies.
4. Using a syringe, distribute the meringue on the baking sheet, on previously drawn circles. 
5. Put in the oven and bake for 60-90 minutes (or a little bit longer) in 120C. After that time, meringue cookies should be crunchy. 
6. After baking, keep in a room temperature, till the filling is ready.

Lemon curd:

Lemon curd requires a 'bath' so it is necessary to have a suitable pot and a bowl, that can be put one on another.

1. Chop the butter into smaller pieces. 
2. Take a pot, put some water inside, start boiling it. 
3. Take a bowl that matches the pot, put eggs inside, beat. 
4. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered sugar and stir till everything links and there are no lumps. 
5. Now put the bowl on the top of your pot (make sure the bowl stands out from the pot so that you don't get burn) and slowly keep heating up the mixture (don't boil it). 
6. Keep adding the butter, one piece after another, stiring after adding. 
7. When all the butter is melted in the mixture, turn off the heat and put the bowl with lemon curd somewhere aside, to let it cool down. 
8. Then put your lemon curd in the fridge so that it stiffens more. 

Finishing:

1. Take a meringue, distribute some filling on its bottom and link with another small meringue cookie.
2. Bon Appetit! :)

Tropical Pavlova

I have no idea why I was hesitating for such long time... this is absolutely gorgeous... It exceeded all my expectations :) not only its appearance on the table is wonderful but the taste is just overdelicious! sweet meringue with tropical fruits! this is a real feast for senses ;) I do recommend! :) 

For those afraid of baking a meringue - here is a tip - you can buy a ready-made one in a good bakery ;) And they are probably available in a few sizes - you can make a couple of small pavlovas or one, very big :) all of them will be same delicious :)

Recipe for the meringue comes from this website, the rest is my idea, as Pavlova might be prepared in plenty different ways and will always taste good :)

Note: meringue and lemon curd might be prepared earlier. But - lemon curd must be stored in a closed box, in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Meringue:

• 4 egg whites from 4 big eggs 
• 250g of sugar 
• 1 teaspoon of potato starch 
• 1 teaspoon of white or rice vinegar 

Lemon curd:

• 3 eggs 
• lemon zest and lemon juice from 3 lemons 
• 100g of powdered sugar 
• 100g of cool butter 

Whipped cream:

• 500 ml of 36% cream 
• 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar 
• 1-2 packages of powdered whipped cream (to stiffen the whipped cream, or polish smietan-fix*) 

* remember to stick to the proportions while using powdered products. If powder package says it is enough for 200 ml of cream/milk (no difference), and you're using 500ml of cream - add 2 packages.

Top:

• Tropical fruit (any, tinned or fresh) 
• peach 
• mango 
• passionfruit 
• lychee 
• pineapple 
• guava 
• ... :) 
• a handful of shredded coconut, to sprinkle the top 

Preparation:

Meringue:

1. Preheat the oven to 120C (without convection, just this time) 
2. Prepare a baking sheet, cover with baking paper. Draw a circle (diameter: for M size eggs - 18 cm, for L size eggs - 20 cm). Put aside. 
3. Take a mixer and its bowl, put egg whites inside, start beating. After a while, start adding sugar, one tablespoon after another, stiring precisely all the time. The beating should take 10-15 minutes, not less. The meringue after the beating should be stiff and shiny. 
4. When done, add potato starch and vinegar and beat for another few minutes so that it links. 
5. Using a spoon or spatula, distribute the meringue on the baking sheet, on the drawn circle. Pull up the sides. (please don't play with it much, just few good moves, because the meringue might be destroyed). 
6. Put in the oven and bake for 30 min in 120C. After that time, lower the temperature to 100C and bake for another 3 hours. 

Lemon curd:

Lemon curd requires a 'bath' so it is necessary to have a suitable pot and a bowl, that can be put one on another.

1. Chop the butter into smaller pieces. 
2. Take a pot, put some water inside, start boiling it. 
3. Take a bowl that matches the pot, put eggs inside, beat. 
4. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered sugar and stir till everything links and there are no lumps. 
5. Now put the bowl on the top of your pot (make sure the bowl stands out from the pot so that you don't get burn) and slowly keep heating up the mixture (don't boil it). 
6. Keep adding the butter, one piece after another, stiring after adding. 
7. When all the butter is melted in the mixture, turn off the heat and put the bowl with lemon curd somewhere aside, to let it cool down. 
8. Then put your lemon curd in the fridge so that it stiffens more. 

Finishing:

1. Prepare fruit. If fresh - wash, peel (if necessaroy) and chop. Dry them on a paper towel. Put aside for a while. If tinned - half of the job is already done - just chop and dry. 
2. When the meringue is baked and cooled down, distribute cooled down lemon curd all over the top. 
3. Now, prepare whipped cream going through the steps below:
   
   Whipped cream: 
   1. Before preparing the whipped cream make sure your cream is really, really cool (I always put it in the freezer before beating, for around 10-15 minutes). 
   2. Take a mixer and its bowl, put cream inside, start mixing. After a while add powdered sugar and something to stiffen it (powdered whipped cream/smietan-fix). 
   3. Beat for around 10 minutes (depending on the power of a mixer it might take more or less time, keep paying attention not to make butter).
   
   
4. Distribute whipped cream all over the top. 
5. Just for the sake of safety, dry all the fruit again on a paper towel, before putting them on the meringue with whipped cream (as the juice from fruit may destroy both whipped cream and meringue). Make any pattern you wish out of the fruit. 
6. Sprinkle with shredded coconut. 
7. Store in the fridge. 
8. 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! :)

Plum cake with crème pâtissière - extended version

Ohh, by accident, my mum came up with a gorgeous idea to 'upgrade' that cake. If you've already tried to do it, you've probably noticed that there are 6 egg whites remaining. I have no idea why haven't I thought about it earlier - it is possible to make a sweet meringue on that cake :) it is cruelly delicious ! must try! :) Recipe... basic + my mum :) greets for her !

Here you can find the basic recipe

Meringue:

Ingredients:

• 6 egg whites (the ones that remain from the cake)
• 200-250 g of sugar
• 1-1,5 teaspoon of potato starch 

Preparation:

1. Prepare the dough for the bottom of the cake, crème pâtissière and the crumble from the basic recipe.
2. Bake the bottom of the cake as the basic recipe says.
3. Cool down the baked bottom, put crème pâtissière on it and plums.
4. Not earlier, but now start preparing the meringue.
5. Take a big bowl (preferably mixer's bowl), put all the egg whites inside, start beating them with a mixer.
6. Start adding sugar, one spoon after another, beating all the time. Add potato starch.
7. Mix (for around 7-10 minutes) till the meringue is really stiff*
8. Put the beaten meringue on the plums. Sprinkle with the crumble.
9. Bake in 170C for 35-40 minutes.
10. Bon Appetit!! :)

* A good way to check it is to take to bowl and overturn it. If the meringue doesn't move - it's perfectly fine.

'Everyberry' crumble cake with custard foam

Why everyberry? Because it is possible to add many different fruit - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries... or event currants :) It is possible to make it from one kind of fruits or to mix some of them. It is absolutely a wonderful cake. During this year's summer holidays I made it a couple of times! I do recommend preparing it with double foam (I will write below how to bake it, because it differs from the basic version).
A must-do!

Recipe from: http://www.mojewypieki.com/przepis/kruche-ciasto-z-malinami-i-lekka-budyniowa-pianka

Ingredients for the dough:

• 2,5 glasses of flour
• 250 g of cold butter or margarine 
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 5 egg yolks (do not throw away the whites, they are necessary to make the foam! Put them aside.)

Ingredients for the foam:*

• 5 egg whites
• 1 glass of sugar
• 1 packaging of vanilla sugar (16g)
• 2 packagings (40 g each) of powdered vanilla/cream custard (budyń, budyń again!) 
• 1/2 glass of oil

* I do recommend making double foam - if so, just double every ingredient - 10 egg whites (but the bottom of the cake, the dough, takes only 5 yolks, it doesn't change!) 2 glasses of sugar, etc. Then, we bake the bottom as the basic recipe says, but the second baking will take around 30-40 minutes in 170-180C.

Additional ingredients - the top:

• 500-600 g of fruit (for example 200 g of raspberries, 200 g of blueberries, 200 g of currants)
• powdered sugar, to sprinkle the top

Preparation:

1. Take a big bowl. Put the flour, baking powder, powdered sugar and egg yolks inside. Chop the butter and add it to that bowl as well. Knead it quickly. Divide the dough into 2 spheres - one 60% of the dough and another 40%. Twist every piece around a cling film and put inside the freezer for an hour or 2. (It is possible to prepare the dough one day earlier).
2. Take a rectangular pan. Grease it and put baking paper all over the pan. 
3. Take the bigger sphere from the freezer and grate it on the entire bottom of the pan(the smaller one remains in the freezer). Bake it in 190C for around 20minutes (till it gets a light-gold colour). Cool down.
4. While the cake is cooling down, wash all the fruit and put them on paper towels, to let them dry.
5. When the bottom of the cake is cooled down, start preparing the foam.
6. Take a big bowl, put egg whites inside. Beat till stiff (around 7-9 minutes). One tablespoon after another, add sugar and vanilla sugar, still mixing. Without stopping the mixer, add powdered custard and slowly, the oil.
7. Put the foam on a cooled down bottom of the cake. 
8. Put all the fruit on the foam.
9. Take the second sphere and grate it on the top of the cake.
10. Bake in 190C for 30-40 minutes.
11. Cool down, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
12. Bon, bon Appetit! :)

Eton Mess

Without a hesitate I claim that this is a gourmet sensation vol.2 :) It also has plenty of advantages: it is easy to prepare, with every fruit you wish and can be a 'soft' dessert or it can contain some ingredients for adults... :)

Slightly changed, recipe comes from Nigella Lawson.

Ingredients:

• 1 packaging of ready-made meringue
• 300 ml of 36% cream
• 1/2-1 kg of fruit (strawberries, raspberries, cherries, blueberries...)
• 2-4 teaspoons of vanilla sugar

Optional ingredients:

• strawberry, pomegranate, raspberry, cherry syrup

Preparation:

1. Wash your fruit. Dry on a paper towel. Cut 3/4 of them into smaller pieces (not in the case of raspberries or cherries, they're small enough), put into a bowl.
2. Sprinkle your fruit with vanilla sugar, put aside.
3. Using a mixer, prepare the cream. Put the cream in a mixer's bowl, add 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar and mix - it needs to be really stiff (it will take around 5-9 minutes of mixing).
4. Crumble the meringue.
5. Prepare some dessert bowls - start making tiers in every dessert bowl, starting from whichever ingredient you wish (for example: cream, meringue, (syrup), fruit...) the last tier belongs to fruit - either chopped ones or the remained 1/4.
6. Bon appetit! :)

About the Cherry Mess:

I simply used some cherries from my Cherry Liqueur (I didn't sprinkle them with anything) and instead of syrup I put 2-4 teaspoons of the liqueur. For adults - worth, worth trying!

Muffin cake with seasonal fruit and meringue

There is one, particular muffin recipe that I do love. The dough is soft, fluffy, it melts in your mouth. And I thought about a cake made of that recipe, with seasonal fruit... and some my private topping ideas...and it appeared to be delicious :) worth trying :) 

The recipe for the dough comes from: http://www.kwestiasmaku.com/zielony_srodek/maliny/babeczki_z_malinami/przepis.html

Ingredients:

• 300 g of butter
• 2 glasses of sugar
• 1 glass + 2 tablespoons of potato flour
• 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 6 small eggs or 4 big ones
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon of water
• 3/4 glass of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• fruit - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc

Top:

• 2 packagings of budyn (or 2x ingredients from this recipe)
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• 1-2 packaging(s) of ready-made meringue (of course you can use your own, home made if you wish)

Preparation:

Base, the dough:

1. Take a bigger pot. Cutting butter into smaller pieces, put it inside. Melt on a low heat (2-4 minutes or shorter if it starts burning). 
2. Take it out of the stove. Add sugar, potato flour, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of water. Stir quickly to make it link. Cool down.
3. Add eggs - one after another, stiring after every egg. Add flour, baking powder, stir.
4. Take a rectangular pan, put the dough inside, distribute all over the form.
5. Add fruit - all over the cake.
6. Put in the oven for around 30-45 minutes on 150-170C, till it gets golden colour. (I set 160C).*! Check, using a toothpick, if the cake is ready.
7. When done, cool down.

Top:

1. Prepare 2 ' budyń ' as the packagings (or recipe - double it) says. When ready, add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, stir. Pour it on the cake, distribute all over the cake.
2. Sprinkle with meringue (try to choose meringue that has no additional flavour)
3. Sprinkle with fruit.
4. Keep in the fridge.
5. Bon Appetit ! :)

*Keep looking - every oven works differently (mind that some ovens tend to burn some parts - for example things that are at the back of the oven) don't let it get gold too fast, because the inside will be raw.