Strawberry and Almond Dacquoise Gluten-Free

                        Strawberry and Almond Dacquoise

 This is a really delightful dinner party dessert. So light but totally luscious. It's so very easy to prepare and can be made well in advance of your event. It's sure to be a massive hit with your guests. It's also gluten-free...such a bonus for the wheat intolerant. 

Dacquoise is simply a meringue baked with ground-nuts.  This recipe has used ground almonds but it is equally as good with hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts or even pistachios. Just choose the appropriate filling to match the nuts...Hazelnuts are great with raspberries and lemon curd, pecans with banana & toffee, walnuts, with chocolate & coffee cream,  pistachios with pomegranate & peaches, I regularly make this almond recipe with apricots as the accompanying fruit...delicious.  

The Dacquoise halves can be prepared in advance wrapped in foil, they will keep for at least 48 hours this way, (do not refrigerate though)   Fill and decorate up to 2 hours before serving.

This recipe will serve 6-8 portions

If you need a Conversion Chart  click onto this link Easy Conversion Chart


You will need 2 9"/23cms  x 1¾"/4.5cms deep Victoria Sandwich Tins greased and lined with baking parchment

Set the oven to 150c/300f/gas mark 2

Ingredients:-

13 oz/400 gms of ripe strawberries
1 pint/600 ml double (heavy) cream 
5 large egg whites at room temperature
9oz/275gms caster sugar (superfine)
5oz/100gms almonds ground (if you can't buy ready ground just whizz skinned almonds in your food processor)

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until it forms peaks but don't whisk to they dry
Whisk in the sugar a tablespoon at a time until a thick glossy meringue is formed
Carefully, quickly and lightly fold in the almonds using a metal spoon
Divide the mixture equally between the two lined tins, spread & smooth the surface
Bake in the centre of the oven for around 1¼ hours...check to make sure they are fully dry and crisp...if not continue to bake,  mine actually took 1½ hrs.. turn the oven off, open the door and leave the meringues in there to cool.

You can either use them immediately once thoroughly cooled or wrap carefully in aluminium foil  using within 48 hours.  

You can fill and decorate the Dacquoise up to 2 hours before serving

To decorate

Whip the cream till the soft peak stage
Reserve around 8 strawberries to decorate and hull and slice the remainder
Fill a piping bag with around 1/3rd of the whipped cream 
Place a dollop of  the remaining cream onto your serving dish and place the least attractive Dacquoise (base side down) on top to secure it 
Spread the 2/3rds of cream over it
Then the sliced strawberries
Place the remaining Dacquoise on top (topside uppermost)
Decorate with rosettes of cream
Leave on strawberry whole for the centre
Cut the others in half  ensuring that you cut neatly through the leaves as I have done in the picture.
You can dust with a little icing (confectioners) sugar if you want to or just leave it plain as I did.


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                                                       How good does this look ....yum 



    


  

White Chocolate Bavarois with Darkest Chocolate Sauce & Strawberries

This Chocolate Bavarois is such a wonderful dessert for a special dinner party or event. It can be made well in advance & placed in the freezer. It just needs an hour or so at room temperature to defrost. It's quite a complicated recipe but if you take your time and follow the instructions carefully you will have no problem at all. Once you've made them I'm sure you'll be back time & time again as they are so light & a delicious way to end a special meal.

Take a look below and you will see a White, Milk & Dark Chocolate Bavarois. Made in exactly the same way but layered up one lovely Chocolate layer at a time. I always make 3 & freeze two for a later date.

I do hope you try & enjoy them.       

White Chocolate Bavarois with Darkest Chocolate Sauce



This recipe should make 8 small puddings. It could also be made in a loaf tin and sliced. It freezes brilliantly.

recipe

13 fl oz / 375ml milk
8 egg yolks lightly beaten
1.5oz caster sugar
15oz white chocolate grated
3/4oz - / 20g gelatine powder soaked in 6 tbsp of cold water
1and a quarter pints/ 720ml lightly whipped double cream

Method

Line 8 . 3 &1/2"  / 8cm pudding basins with cling film
or a 2pt loaf tin
Boil the milk.
Beat the egg yolks & sugar with a wooden spoon to combine.
Pour the milk onto this, stir well.
Return to the pan and heat very gently until the mixture starts to thicken and will coat the back of the spoon.
WATCH THIS LIKE A HAWK, DO NOT OVERHEAT OR THE MIXTURE WILL CURDLE. IF IN DOUBT TAKE IT OFF THE HEAT. IT'S BETTER UNDERCOOKED THAN SCRAMBLED EGGS.
Place the chocolate into a bowl, pour over the milk & eggs and stir to disolve
Place the gelatine into a small pan, pour over the cold water and leave to gel
Heat slowly on a low heat until completely disolved
Add the the chocolate custard
Pass through a sieve into a clean bowl to remove any straggley egg whitey bits
Place in the fridge & leave until it starts to set around the edges.
Lightly whip the cream
Fold into the chocolate custard and pour into the prepare pudding basins/ loaf tin.
Chill until set firmly, preferably overnight and it's ready to serve. Served with raspberries, strawberries as I have here or it's delicious with Cherry Compote.

Darkest Chocolate Sauce
8oz/Dark 70% solids Chocolate
3oz /80g soft brown sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
6 fl oz/175 ml double cream
1oz/ 30g butter.

Just place everything into a saucepan, heat gently until it's combined & glossy and it's ready. Just warm through if it's sets a little thick.

Now using this recipe you can make a three layered chocolate Bavarois using White, Milk & Dark Chocolate .
Just make sure that each layer is set before you start on the next layer. It's very time consuming so I always make at least three at a time. The recipe freezes brillantly so you'll always have a spare in the freezer when unexpected guests arrive. It will need at least 2 hours at room temperature or even better overnight in the fridge to defrost the loaf.