Meringue Layers:
4 Egg whites
1 pn Salt
1/4 ts Cream of tartar
1 ts Cider vinegar
1 ts Vanilla
1 c Superfine sugar
Filling And Sauce:
6 oz Semi-sweet chocolate pieces
3 tb Water
3 tb Confectioner's sugar
3 c Heavy cream
1/2 ts Vanilla
1 pt Fresh strawberries; sliced
1 pt Strawberries;
- sliced, sugared
Preheat oven to 275°F. In mixer, beat egg whites, salt, cream of
tartar, vinegar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Gradually beat
in sugar and continue beating until meringue is stiff and glossy.
Line baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Trace three 8"
circles on paper. Spread meringue evenly and equally over circles.
Bake 1 hour, until meringue becomes bisque colored. Then turn off
oven, open oven door and let meringues "rest" in oven another
15 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully peel off parchment or
waxed paper. Put cake on racks to dry until thoroughly cool.
Once cooled, meringues may be wrapped in saran and frozen. I wrap
each meringue in several saran layers, then stack (gently!) in
tupperware container for freezing. Remove from freezer at least
1 hour before assembling.
Filling And Sauce:
Melt over hot water the chocolate bits and water. When perfectly
smooth, remove from heat and cool, but don't let harden. Whip the
heavy cream until stiff, gradually add confectioner's sugar, then
vanilla. Slice 2 pints of strawberries: One is used between cake
layers, the other is sliced, sugared and refrigerated to produce
more juice. The sugared berries are served as a sauce. Save several
whole berries for garnish.
Assembly:
Place a meringe layer on a serving plate, rounded side down. Spread
a very thin coating of chocolate over it. Go easy on chocolate--too
much will make it impossible to cut cake! Top chocolate with a
layer (about 3/4" thick) of whipped cream. Top cream with a layer
of sliced berries. Place a second layer of meringue on top of this,
and repeat filling. Top with final meringue, rounded side up, and
frost sides and top smoothly with remaining whipped cream.
Additional cream may be used to pipe a design onto sides and top of
cake.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with several
whole strawberries and chocolate curls.
