Meringue cake with cherry filling

Meringue cake view on living room table at tea time

Don't be fooled, this spectacular looking cake is easier to make than it looks!

It's been a while since I baked one of these Scandinavian-inspired kvaefjord cakes, when you're in the mood for crispy toasted almond meringue with a creamy or tangy filling, this beauty checks all the boxes.

Here are some tips to keep in mind :

I usually freeze egg whites (from previous recipes needing only egg yolks), and this is the perfect way to use up surplus egg whites
Choose your filling and make it ahead of time. Sometimes I fill this cake with a pastry cream (the traditional Scandinavian way), other times with a lemon curd, and this time with pistachio cream and cherries
Make your buttercream ahead of time as they often need cooling time in the refrigerator to set
Use parchment or wax paper to line your cake pans for a quick removal of cake.

I often have seasonal fruits to pick, gather, buy at the market, or are given by friends from their harvest... I had some cherries from this season's harvest (we have one tree and it bears a tremendous amount of fruit). I used one portion (about a cup and half) for this cake.

But let's get to the recipe :

For the cake batter :

100 g (½ cup or 1 stick) softened butter

120 g (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) sugar

3 eggs yolks

120 g (½ cup) milk

150 g (1 ¼ cup ) flour or gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Meringue layer :

224 g egg (about 7-8) egg whites

280 g (1 ⅓ cups) sugar

½ cup almond slivers

(Optional : 1/4 cup of pistachio or almond cream cream to layer before buttercream)

Buttercream :

3/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

3/4 cup cream cheese

Cherry filling :

1-½ cup fresh or frozen pitted cherries
1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of cornstarch

Prepare cherry filling by simmering cherries with sugar and lemon juice until they have softened (about 10 minutes in low heat). Add 2 tablespoons of the cherry juice to cornstarch in a cup and stir until dissolved, then return this to the mixture and simmer about 2-3 minutes more until thickened. Allow to cool or refrigerate overnight.
Prepare buttercream by whipping cream in a bowl until you get soft peaks, then adding sugar and softened cream cheese until firm. Set aside to cool or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 330 ° F / 170° C. Line two 9 inch cake springform pans with parchment paper. In a bowl cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks, then milk and vanilla. Fold in flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until you get soft peaks. Add sugar and continue to beat until you get stiff peaks.
Pour cake batter in equal amounts in pans. Then top with meringue in even amounts. Sprinkle evenly with almonds. Tap pan gently on the counter to release bubbles. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the meringue and cake layers have set (insert a toothpick that should come out clean). Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

To assemble, once the cake has cooled, remove the cakes from pans and peel off parchment paper. Take one disk and place on a serving dish, meringue side down. Optional : I added a layer of pistachio cream before the buttercream because I had some but this is entirely up to you. Pipe buttercream around the edges, add a thin layer in the middle, then top with cherry preserves in the middle. Top with the other layer of cake, this time with the meringue layer facing up.

Enjoy, everyone !