my kicthen rules (well, kind of since I am a little under equipped): chocolate meringue cake

Ahh, and we find an unposted draft.  Hmmmm..... how did I miss hitting the publish button?  It's always a good time for a chocolate cake post and this one is a good one.  Small and different enough to serve for a celebration or just because you need little chocolate.  When this cake was about to go in the oven, Greg texted me that an Aussie celebrity was getting his haircut in the chair next to him at the barber shop just down in town.  So I hit the timer on my phone, jumped on my bike and waited until the haircuts were done to get a picture.  There is a hugely popular reality series here, MKR or My Kitchen Rules, a home cook competition for aspiring chefs.  The two-person teams come from all over Australia and from "instant restaurants" where teams decorate their homes and cook in their own kitchens for the other competitors and the very intimidating judges to cooking challenges including catering a wedding, cooking for an airline and feeding campers the teams have been reduced from 18 to 5.  The team of "Poms" which is Aussie for Brits from Manly and nearby Mosman are still in the top 5.  And my new friend here, Steve Flood (the Manly half of the duo) and his friend Will are clearly favorites to win.  He was very gracious and we had a good chat about baking, Australian eggs, oven thermometers, kitchen scales and of course, MKR.  Good on Greg for tipping me off.  Greg loves the show and is now traveling and terribly sad to miss the finals.

I own the ridiculousness of this brush with Aussie fame:  MKR's Steve Flood of Manly and me

This is the cake that was in the oven during that fateful afternoon.  About a month ago we had a proper little dinner party for our Manly Airbnb hosts who in a very lovely way have become good friends.  I wanted to bake an apple galette, but could not find pie apples (and it is fall here) at the shops I could easily reach on my bike.  But I did find my favorite Belgian chocolate, Callebaut (good news for Sara who is coming to visit soon), on sale at a price less than what I paid in the states (but I bought it at Whole Foods, mind you).   Chocolate in the house, I then fortuitously found a recipe for a single layer chocolate cake on Instagram from an Aussie lifestyle personality, Donna Hay who's not quite a Martha Stewart but that is clearly her goal.  I tweaked it a little, but I do like how in many baking recipes here they include almond meal for part of the structure instead of all flour.  The flours are different here with some milled coarser, some finer, self-rising being a popular thing and the like.  I buy my almond meal from a bulk seed, nut, and etc. stand at our bi-weekly farmers market.  It's fairly coarse, but works well. But even the grocery brands of almond meal/almond flour are less expensive than in the states probably because it is more commonly used.

The measurements here include grams and a close conversion.  I actually brought a kitchen scale to Australia just for this reason.  Easier and more precise to weigh, but you will be fine with my conversions.  If you want to buy a kitchen scale someday, they are kind of cool to use.  Surely better for baking measurements.  This is another baking win all by hand.  I even whisked the meringue by hand.  Quite a workout, but after a while, glossy peaks did indeed form.  

Anyway, this cake is yummy.  The base is almost like a brownie.  The base is baked first and then topped with a meringue and returned to the oven.  Meringue topping trumps frosting in my book.  It just kind of melts into the base layer and is a delightful texture.  I served it with a bit of vanilla ice cream, but it's a good rustic cake that is good for snacking without a scoop of ice cream (or even utensils), if you have some leftover.  I also bake a vanilla meringue cake which is really nice with some macerated strawberries (berries tossed in a little sugar to release the juices) and Spring-y.  Both are a nice one-layer size giving you just enough for dessert, but not too much.

Chocolate Meringue Cake

250 grams dark chocolate  (ha ha, unless you have a food scale that's 8.8 ounces for you and don't sweat it the chocolate measurement is not the most important measurement and you can use milk chocolate or a combination of the two, if you like)
180 grams unsalted butter (6.7 ounces or about 3/4 C)
2 eggs
4 additional eggs, used as yolks first for the cake layer than whites for the meringue layer
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 C almond meal (almond flour in the states)
1 C superfine sugar (here it is called caster sugar, ok)
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp espresso powder (even finely ground coffee beans work)

2 T cocoa powder (dutch process if you have it)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line the bottom of a springform pan with a circle of parchment paper and then spray the sides and the paper bottom of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth.  Set mixture aside to cool a bit.  In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, extra egg yolks, brown sugar and vanilla until pale and thick (yep, you can do this by hand too but it is way easier in a stand mixer).  Add the melted and slightly cooled chocolate mixture, flour, baking powder and almond meal folding gently to combine (this is actually best done by hand).  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester in the middle comes out clean and or the cake springs back when lightly touched in the middle. I'm a cake tester kind of girl, but when I baked this the light touch spring back method worked.  So did my tried and true indicator of "when you smell delicious baked goods, they are probably done".  Remove the cake and turn up the oven to 350 degrees.

Make the meringue layer by beating the reserved egg whites on high (or really get your forearms a workout and whisk it by hand) until soft peaks form.  Gradually add the sugar and beat until the meringue is thick and glossy.  Stir in the cream of tartar, espresso and cocoa powders gently until evenly mixed through.  Scrape the meringue out of the bowl and smooth evenly across the baked cake.  Return the cake to the oven and bake another 20-25 minutes until the meringue is lightly browned (it's kind of hard to tell since it is chocolate, but 20 minutes should be enough).  Cool on a wire rack until room temperature.  Carefully run a table knife around the sides of the springform pan along the baked cake to release.  Remove springform and place cake, covered loosely, in the refrigerator to cool for at least two hours.  Cut in slices and serve with ice cream or berries, if desired.

baked cake layer

hand whisked meringue

baked cake and meringue layer

ready to plate and serve