Chocolate Meringue Cake

Total Time: 4 hrs Preparation Time: 3 hrs Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or you can use almond(i've tried both)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dutch process cocoa
• 2/3 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 24 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, finely chopped (ghirdelli)
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, finely chopped (ghirdelli)

Recipe

• 1 for cake:.
• 2 beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form; set aside.
• 3 in a separate bowl, beat butter at medium speed until creamy.
• 4 add sugar and beat well.
• 5 add egg yolks, one at a time and beat until well blended after each addition.
• 6 in a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and 2 teaspoons flavoring.
• 7 in a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and cocoa. add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk mixture; beginning and ending with the flour mixture. beat at low speed after each addition until well blended.
• 8 stir in the pecans and mix well.
• 9 fold in the beaten egg whites and pour the batter into 3 well greased 9 inch cake pans.
• 10 bake at 350°f for 20 minutes until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.
• 11 cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove cake to wire racks to cool completely.
• 12 cream cheese filling:.
• 13 beat the first four ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
• 14 once the cake cools completely, spread this filling between the layers.
• 15 ganache:.
• 16 bring whipping cream to a simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
• 17 remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is melted.
• 18 cool until ganache becomes a spreading consistency (stirring often).
• 19 frost the top and sides of the cake with ganache reserving 1/2 cup.
• 20 meringues:.
• 21 beat the egg whites, vinegar and salt at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy.
• 22 gradually add sugar; beating until soft peaks form and sugar dissolves.
• 23 fold in chocolate.
• 24 drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake at 250°f for 35 minutes.
• 25 transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
• 26 once cool, mound meringues on top of cake to form a small mountain, beginning at the sides and working in, layering 3-4 layers high. drizzle the meringues with the remaining ganache.
• 27 to serve the cake:.
• 28 before cutting, remove the meringues with small tongs and use them as a garnish on each cake serving.
• 29 to store:.
• 30 if you have any cake left, store it in the refrigerator without the meringues. store the meringues in an airtight container at room temperature.