Bake Off week six and I’m still on a bit of a sugar high. This was dessert week and it inevitably involved a great deal of meringue. My Mum would have loved this week. I always remember that if we went out for a meal she would choose her dessert first and then pick the preceding courses accordingly to ensure that she still had room for what was clearly going to be the highlight of the evening.
Having a dedicated dessert week in a baking themed show always feels a little odd. Lets face it, with the possible exception of bread week, aren’t they all desserts in some way shape or form. I suppose the rationale must be that these are bakes that require a certain amount of oven time but aren’t strictly speaking cakes or pies.
This weeks challenges were a multi layered meringue cake as the signature bake. Mango, coconut and raspberry verrines for the technical bake and a bombe cake for the show stopper.
The meringue cake is fairly self explanatory but the other two challenges may need a little explanation.
Verrines are small layered desserts served in a glass. The one that they did on the show had layers of mango compote, coconut panna cotta and raspberry jelly that were topped with crumbled streusel cake and a sable biscuit. They looked beautiful and when I’ve got a bit more time and a bit more patience I will have a go at making them.
Bombes cakes are easiest described as large domed cakes that contain a different and often surprising centre when you cut into them. My favourite is a Baked Alaska. Hot golden meringue on the outside that encases cold ice-cream in the centre. My mother used to make them and I remember a few childhood birthdays when I requested one rather than a birthday cake. I did think about making one this week but there’s always that concern about getting the timings wrong and the oven being awash with melted ice-cream.
In the end I opted for the signature challenge and an opportunity to make a Jens Jorgen Thorsen Meringe
Ever since I bought Trine Hahnemann’s wonderful Scandinavian Baking book this has been one of my favourite desserts. To be honest I don’t get to make it too often as the rest of the house complain about the amounts of sugar and cream involved, but yesterday I pointed out that I’d have nothing to write about if I didn’t, so common sense, or an impending sugar rush, won the day. Jens Jorgen Thorsen was a Danish painter and apparently Trine’s meringue carries his name due to the abstract way that the melted chocolate is scattered and splashed over the meringue and figs. The recipe is for two large meringues that are sandwiched together with caramel cream. In light of the Bake Off meringues having been multi layered I used the same amounts but made smaller meringues so that I could go to three layers. I also added black currents to the cream between each layer. I’m not going to lie to you, this a ridiculously sweet and rich dessert but on a damp October Sunday evening it was a gorgeous treat. An added bonus is that there’s still a couple of slices left for tonight. The full recipe for the meringue plus a few others from Trine’s book is in the link at the foot of this post.
As is always the case after making meringues I was left with a bowlful of egg yolks, six to be precise, and I asked on Twitter this morning if anyone had suggestions for using them up. So far I’ve had Lemon & Thyme Semifreddo, Brown Bread Ice-cream, Daffodil Cake and Spatzle. At this rate I can see more meringues being made just so that i can then make the wonderful egg yolk dishes that people are suggesting.
Next time it’s festival week. I’m not sure if this means what you would eat at Glastonbury of if it’s an early chance to make Christmas cake or mince pies.
David in the kitchen. 
So, first I hd to do a bit of research on what exactly IS a meringue cake. I mean, does that mean the cake is actually made only of meringue or is it frosted with meringue and meringue between the layers or ?. The ONLY experience I’ve had with meringue was the rare lemon meringue pie that my mother would make (and by rare, I mean maybe three times in my childhood) and also there was a cookie that was called a meringue cookie but it was very dry and loaded with sugar. All I remember is that it was a crispy cookie that tasted like you were eating just plain sugar. I turned those down. Now, it might be that everyone else in America was eating meringue cakes so I can’t say this is a regional thing. I suspect it’s more like my mom went with the simplest desserts (packaged pudding – just add milk and stir!). Once I left home, well, if the dessert wasn’t chocolate or possibly a berry pie, I didn’t bother. Even now, with lemons growing in the back yard I have yet to make a lemon meringue pie.
Today I am having an elbow surgery that will put my right arm/hand out of commission for a few weeks. I am hoping to catch up on the baking shows since I won’t be able to do a lot else but read. I really want to try these things. But there is also the problem with how to make such delectables and not gain a bunch of weight . 🙂
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Hi, I’ve only just read so this I hope that the surgery went well. Hope the problem isn’t too serious and that the recuperation doesn’t take too long. Just think of all of those books that you can catch up on.
To answer your question I think that you can have meringue and cake cakes (if that makes sense) but mine was just layers of meringue with caramel cream and fruit. I keep hanging on to the fact there was fruit in it as that makes it sound not quite as unhealthy as it was. I can’t deny though that the Bake Off has led to even more sweet baking than normal recently, I will have to look at the healthier option soon.
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