Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Meringue Cake

 

Have you had one of those days when you are left with too many egg whites ageing on your counter top, have friends coming over for brunch the next morning and you haven't thought of deserts yet? Last Friday was one of those days. I tweeted hysterically asking good old friends for ideas and lovely Jamie gave me the courage.

"@debugcooking Sure, why not? It's meringue and it's baked so I wouldn't see why not? How old?@lifesafeast"

I had an idea of using them up in some sort of meringue; I made this gooey very chocolately flour-less chocolate cake with chocolate hazelnut meringue on top. This cake is very much like a brownie with a crunchy meringue top, classic on its own or with a dollop of whipped cream.
I am sending my chocolate decadence to Ria of Ria's collection this month's host of Chocolate Extravaganza Monthly Mingle for the lovely Meeta.

Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Meringue Cake (adapted from (here)

Ingredients
Butter - 140 gms
Vanilla Golden Caster Sugar - 150 gms
Eggs - 6 separated
Vanilla Extract or Coffee - 1 Tbsp
Amaretto - 1 Tbsp (optional)
Lindt dark Chocolate - 100gms chopped
Hazelnut - 100 gms chopped
Egg Whites - 4
Cornstarch - 1 tbsp
Cream of Tartar - 1/8th tsp
Sugar - 170 gms

Method: Preheat oven to 180C, grease a 9 inch springform tin and  line the bottom of the tin with parchment paper, butter parchment and set aside. Whisk butter and sugar until pale and smooth at medium speed and add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bottom and sides of your bowl if necessary. Add the cooled, melted chocolate, espresso (or vanilla) and (if using) Amaretto. Beat until combined. In a clean mixer bowl whisk the 6 egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. Fold one-third of the egg whites into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining egg whites and pour batter into prepared pan, and bake 25-30 minutes.

Combine the chopped chocolate, nuts and cornstarch in a small bowl. Whish the remaining 4 egg whites on high speed until frothy. With the mixer running, slowly add the cream of tartar, sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in hazelnut-chocolate mixture. Remove cake from oven. Using a large offset spatula, spread meringue mixture on top of cake using as little strokes as possible. Bake until meringue is lightly browned and crisp, about 45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and cool. Run a butter knife on the sides of the pan and slowly release the springform tin.