The meringue cake is one of the classic cakes in Chile with a thousand leaves or Mil Hojas, thin layer cakes, Tres Leches, and the orange cake. With its different filling options: meringue-lucuma, meringue-raspberry, meringue-strawberry, meringue-chestnut, and the possibility of buying it or making it at home, it is popular on many birthdays.
Tips for a spectacular meringue cake:
Why is meringue cake sold frozen?
The meringue absorbs moisture and loses crispness very quickly. One way to preserve it and avoid this is to keep the cake frozen. Keeping the cake frozen is especially important if you live in a humid climate: you must make the meringues on a dry day without rain, and as soon as they are cold, fill the cake and decorate it and keep it frozen. Move it into the refrigerator 2 hours before serving.
What fillings are popular in Chile?
Raspberry is a classic. You can also add mango jam or lemon curd.
Lucuma is popular too, a traditional fruit.
In general, any fresh fruit: mango, kiwi, strawberries, peaches, not overly ripe works well, and any fruit puree: lucuma or chestnut. Jams are also common.
Here you can see the recipe for the meringue-lucuma cake and meringue-chestnut.
How do I store the meringue cake?
I recommend keeping it frozen for up to 3 months.
How to achieve a firm whipped cream?
There are three fundamental factors: the cream, the bowl, and the blades must be cold. And the percentage of fat in the cream must be at least 36%, that is, 36 grams of fat per 100 grams of liquid cream. Lower fat creams are not as stable. Mix at high speed. Other factors, such as adding the sugar initially or later, are not critical.
How to separate yolks and whites?
Eggs are easier to separate when they’re cold, so you can put them in the fridge for a couple of hours and then separate them. I recommend cracking the egg on the flat counter, not on the edge of the counter or bowl. The rest is practice.
What are the different types of meringue and when to use them? How to make meringue?
French: the most common and straightforward. Beat the egg whites until foamy, add the sugar little by little, and beat everything until the meringue is white and silky. It is less stable, but the one with more air—ideal for souffle.
Italian: it is the most stable. It is made by adding hot sugar syrup to the egg whites while beating.
Swiss: It is made by heating the egg whites and sugar together and whisking until cool. Here you can see the method in detail—the best for decorating pies.
What is the standard egg size in pastry?
Recipes in the US are written for large eggs, which weigh about 65 grams in the shell.
Without shell 50 grams: 35 grams the egg white, 15 grams the yolk.
With what knife do I cut the cake?
It is better to use a serrated knife. It crumbles less.
Raspberry Meringue Cake
One of the most beloved cakes in Chile.
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 16
Ingredients
For the meringues,
- 6 egg whites, it is better if they are a little dehydrated, so use eggs 1 week old and separate the whites from the yolks the day before. Refrigerate.
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 5 tablespoons
- 1 pinch of salt
For the raspberry whipped cream,
- 1 liter of liquid cream (heavy cream)
- 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
To assemble the cake,
- 2 cups of raspberries, washed and dried with paper towels or other fruit
- 3 discs of meringue cold
- 1 cup raspberry preserves or another flavor you like
- sweetened whipped cream
Instructions
For the meringues,
Prepare 3 circles of parchment paper or silicone, 20 cm in diameter, leaving a flap peel, or use Silpats. Preheat oven to 200F or 100C.
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy and soft peaks appear, and if you flip, the bowl will not slip. With a mixer on low speed, add sugar as rain and salt. Continue beating at high speed for 7 minutes. It should look glossy and hold hard picks.
Divide the batter into 3 parts and spread onto the paper discs, or if you prefer, place the meringue into a pastry bag top with a large tip and make piped from the outside to the center on top of the parchment circles.
Bake for 1 hour and a half. The meringue should feel solid to the touch and dry. Allow cooling in the oven.
For the sweetened whipped cream,
Chill the bowl and the beater blades for 10 min in the freezer. The cream should be icy too.
Beat at medium speed until it doubles in size and forms soft peaks. Add the sugar, taste, and add more sugar if you want. Continue beating at high speed until it is firm, about 2 minutes more.
To assemble the cake,
Place a dollop of whipped cream on the plate where you will assemble the cake. Place a meringue disk cover it with half of the jam.
Add the whipped cream and then the raspberries or other fruit. Top with another meringue disc and repeat. Complete with 3rd meringue disc and cover the entire cake with whipped cream garnish. Freeze.
To serve, move to the refrigerator about 2 hours before serving time.
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Oven-baked
- Cuisine: Chilean
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 418
- Sugar: 36.4 g
- Sodium: 195.3 mg
- Fat: 26.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 16.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 42.5 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 4.3 g
Keywords: Meringue cake, chilean cake
It seems delicious! I want to try to cook this delight as soon as possible! 🙂
Great, let me know if you have any questions.
Yum! My Chilean mother-in-law made a meringue cake (which she always pronounced mer-EN-gay) but she used sliced strawberries and no jam. I like your version better because the strawberries in her cake never thawed enough in the center. Chilean cakes are the best. I just returned from a trip there and we ate so many wonderful cakes!
Thanks, totally agree with you. Love our cakes!
Hi, I would love to make this cake, my daughter is in Chile as an exchange student so I have been searching food from Chile. I love your webpage and can’t wait to try this cake. Can you tell me what kind of lemon curd you use or do you make your own? Thanks
I made my own with Meyer lemons using this recipe https://www.chileanfoodandgarden.com/meyer-lemon-curd/
But I also recommend the Stonewall Kitchen or King Arthur flour Lemon curds.
Good luck!
I see raspberry jam AND lemon curd in the ingredients for assembling the cake, but the directions say to use jam OR curd. In the blog you had said raspberry jam is traditional, but you like lemon curd or mango preserves. So I’m just a little confused. Do you mean you assemble the cake with just 1 cup of lemon, or mango, or raspberry? Or do you use raspberry jam and either mango or lemon with it?
If you want to make it as they do in bakeries in Chile: only add raspberry jam, whipped cream, and fresh raspberry as filling. In Chilean homes, every baker goes their own way, so feel free to experiment.
In the end, you need 1 cup of either raspberry jam, mango preserve or fractions of each.
Have fun!
Hello. I just made this recipe and put the finished cake in the freezer for tomorrow. I have made meringue cakes before (my husband’s from Chile and they’re his FAVORITE), but I’ve never put in the freezer before. I put the cake in the freezer uncovered – is that ok?
Yes, bring it out to the fridge 1 to 2 hours before serving. I use the freezer because of the year around humidity in Houston, if you live on a dry part you can keep doing what you were doing.
Hi:) can I make this cake day before eating and keep i the fridge? Thank you
You can make it the day before, but you MUST keep it frozen. It melts on the fridge. Pull it out 1 hour before serving or even less if it is a hot day.
What is the traditional topping/garnish please? I’m making this for a Chilean friend
For the cake, it’s traditionally cover with whipped cream and decorate with fresh raspberries on top. Some people do shaving of white chocolate if you want to be fancier.