Lesson 14: Dacquoius

Finally, we are done with choux pastry! Now comes a new phase, which is getting to know the meringue. We learnt about the Italian Meringue which is the 'hot meringue' and the french 'cool' meringue and the swiss meringue which is the toughest meringue of them all! Basically the difference in meringues is the ratio of egg whites and sugar. The higher the sugar content, the more stable the meringues are.

The first item we made was the dacquoius. When Chef Geraldine was making the sponge, I really couldn't imagine how by just using egg white, we can make sponges for cakes! Basically dacquoius is two pieces of sponge and in between that is the praline butter cream, which we have to pipe in. The tough part about this is, as it is our first time beating the meringue (by hand!), we have to make sure we put the sugar in three stages and in the right stage of the meringue. My meringue came out ok.. phew that was a relief! and i really love the soft and fluffy sponge! (Well I really did not know that egg white could make such soft sponges!) The cake was so yummy! When you bite into the sponge you can taste the cream and also the almond sticks inside. Totally Heavenly!

Dacquoius by Chef Geraldine

Dacquoius by Li Lian