Sans Rival Cake

5 from 2 votes

Sans Rival is a popular Filipino layer cake consisting of cashew meringue and French buttercream. It is a very rich dessert best serving during special occasions!

Yield: 8-inch round cake

Prep Time35

Cook Time1

Assembly40

Total Time2 15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Filipino

Servings: slices

Author: Maryanne Cabrera

Ingredients

Cashew Meringue:

340 grams raw cashews
230 grams confectioners sugar
235 grams egg whites, room temperature
230 grams granulated sugar

French Buttercream:

100 grams eggs
120 grams egg yolks
255 grams granulated sugar
60 mL water
340 grams unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, softened
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Garnish:

150 grams toasted cashews, roughly chopped

Instructions

Meringue:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
Spread cashews in an even layer in prepared baking sheet. Bake for 5 minute intervals until cashews are toasted. Stir cashews after each interval to ensure even cooking. Set aside and cool completely.
NOTE: To speed up cooling time, transfer hot cashews to a clean, cold baking sheet in an even layer. Cashews can be roasted up to three days in advance. Store cooled cashews in an airtight container.
Place cooled toasted cashews and about 1/3 of confectioners sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with blade attachment. Pulse mixture in quick short bursts. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to ensure even grinding. Continue to pulse until mixture resembles even, coarse sand. Whisk remaining confections sugar with cashew mixture. Set aside.
NOTE: Be careful not to overheat the cashew mixture. Too much friction will cause the cashews to turn into "cashew butter" instead of a powder/flour mixture.
Reduce oven temperature to 200°F. Trace five 8-inch rounds on parchment paper. Flip paper over so ink is on underside. Set aside.
NOTE: If using half size (13x18-inch) baking sheet trays, you can fit two 8-inch rounds per tray.
Place room temperature egg whites in a clean mixing bowl. Use a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment or electric hand mixer to beat egg whites at low speed until foamy. Once foamy, slowly add granulated sugar one tablespoon at a time while beating at medium speed. Continue to beat at medium speed until all the sugar has been added. Then, increase to high speed and beat egg white mixture to shiny, stiff peaks.
Use a large sturdy spatula to gently fold ground cashew mixture into egg whites in three additions.
NOTE: Do not overmix. Overmixing will cause the egg white mixture to separate.
Transfer batter to a piping bag fitted with an 11mm round piping tip. Follow the traced circles on prepared parchment lined baking sheets to pipe five 8-inch rounds.
Bake in preheated 200°F oven for 60-90 minutes until meringue is dry. Rotate sheet trays midway through baking. Keep meringues on sheet tray and cool to room temperature.*
NOTE: Baking time will vary depending on the humidity of your environment and amount of moisture in meringue mixture.

Buttercream:

Place eggs and egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until pale in color.
Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed sauce pot combine sugar and water. Set over medium heat. DO NOT STIR. Heat mixture to soft ball stage, between 235-245°F.
With the mixer running on medium speed, carefully pour hot sugar syrup into whipping egg mixture in a slow steady stream. Once all the sugar has been added, increase to medium-high speed. Continue to whip until mixture has cooled to about 75°F, about 5 minutes.
Remove whisk attachment and replace with paddle attachment. With the mixer running on medium speed, add softened butter one to two tablespoons at a time. Once all the butter has been added, mix in vanilla and salt. Continue to beat until buttercream is silky and smooth.
NOTE: The butter will melt if the egg-sugar mixture is too hot. If you notice the butter separating, cool down the sides of the mixing bowl with bags of frozen vegetables or ice. Alternatively, you can put the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes to cool contents down before adding in more butter. Eventually, the buttercream should come together.

Assembly:

Place one cashew meringue round on cake board or serving plate on cake turntable. Spread about 7 tablespoons of buttercream in an even layer over meringue round. Repeat stacking cashew meringue round and buttercream.
Use remaining buttercream to coat sides and top of cake. Place assembled cake in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to allow buttercream to set up.
Coat sides of cake with chopped toasted cashews. Decorate the top of cake with tines of fork in desired pattern. Return to fridge and keep chilled until ready to serve.
NOTE: Let cake chill for at least one hour. Ideally, let cake rest overnight.
Let cake sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to soften buttercream before serving. See notes in blog post regarding serving suggestions.

Notes

Follow cashew toasting instructions listed in cashew meringue for garnishing cashews.
It is important to use a kitchen thermometer to measure temperature of sugar syrup for French buttercream. Syrup needs to be hot enough to "cook" and pasteurize the egg yolks to make them safe to eat.

Preparing Components In Advance:

Cashews can be roasted up to three days in advance. Store cooled cashews in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to use.
Cashew meringue can be baked two days in advance. Cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap. Store at room temperature.
Fully assembled and decorated cake can be stored whole in the fridge for up to two days before serving. Keep in an airtight container to prevent buttercream from absorbing any unwanted smells or flavors from the fridge.
Once cake has been sliced, leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to three additional days.

Nutrition