Apple-Butterscotch Sans Rival

Ingredients:

Topping:

150 grams cashew nuts, crushed

Chocolate decor:

This is entirely optional.  Feel free to decorate as you like.

200 grams white chocolate, melted

Milk chocolate on transfer sheets

Cashew Dacquoise Merengue:

210 grams (around 7) egg whites  

3.5 grams (1 teaspoon) cream of tartar

200 grams icing sugar

100 grams cashew nuts, ground

5 grams corn starch

Frosting - Butterscotch Syrup:

125 grams (around 7) egg yolks
150 grams soft brown sugar
60 ml water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting - Buttercream:
400 grams Westgold butter, softened at room temperature

Butterscotch syrup (from above)
60 grams apple sauce

20 grams apple syrup (optional)

Recipe by Pastryfied.

Method:

Chocolate decor:

Mold the white chocolate into half-spheres.  Cut holes with a hot metal stencil (to resemble bells), then paint with edible gold.

Spread melted milk chocolate onto transfer sheets of choice, and carefully peel off after it sets.

Cashew Dacquoise Merengue:

Preheat the oven to 140°C. 

Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl.  With the whisk attachment, whip until medium peaks are formed.

Detach the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the icing sugar.  Mind that you don’t deflate the aerated egg whites.

Fold in the ground cashews and corn starch, then mix until just combined.

Pour into a piping bag, and on a sheet pan lined with baking or parchment paper, squeeze out the mixture into 2 flat rectangles, around 23 x 15 cm each.  Repeat the same on another sheet pan.

Bake one sheet at a time, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until dry and crispy.

Place on wire cooling racks as soon as its out of the oven, and immediately peel off the baking or parchment paper.

Trim the sides if needed, for straight and nice edges.

Frosting:

Cook the sugar and water in a sauce pan over high heat.

When the sugar syrup reaches 90 to 95°C, start beating the egg yolks with the vanilla extract in a stand mixer until pale yellow.  Switch to low speed.

When the sugar syrup reaches 112°C to 115°C (soft ball stage), take off the stove and pour carefully into the still mixing egg yolk.  Continue beating until combined.

Cool down before using.

Buttercream:

With the paddle attachment, cream the butter at low speed until soft and creamy.

Add in the butterscotch syrup (from above) and continue to beat until combined.

Pour in the apple sauce (use good quality ones like Barker’s with chunks in it) and the optional apple syrup, and beat until mixed in.

Assembly:

Use either stacks of 2 or 4 merengue wafers, it’s entirely up to personal choice.  Traditionally, it is layers of 4, but I chose 2 so the decorations won’t topple over.

Spread buttercream between 2 layers of cashew meringue wafers.  Do the same for the sides and the top.

Sprinkle with crushed nuts all over or just the top. 

Cut with a large serrated knife, approximately at 15 x 3cm each.

Decorate according to preference.

Keep in the freezer to keep crunchy, or the fridge so it stays chewy.