Marbled Meringue Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:
3 cups all purpose flour
5 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup hot milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
5 drops vanilla essence

Filling:
½ can condensed milk
500 ml milk
½ can heavy cream
3 egg yolk
3 tbsp corn starch
5 drops vanilla essence

Syrup:
¾ cup water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp rum

Topping/Meringue:
2 cups sugar
1 cup hot water
4 egg whites, beaten

Chocolate Topping:
6 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick spray, two 7 inch (18 cm) round pan.

Cake:
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs until smooth and creamy. With a spoon, gently add the flour e the other ingredients. Place the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pan to cool completely.

Filling:
In heavy saucepan, dissolve cornstarch in milk, add the condensed milk and the egg yolks. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Turn off the heat and add the heavy cream and vanilla. Let it cool completely.

Syrup:
Boil the sugar and water. Let it cool and add rum.

Topping/Meringue:
Put egg whites in bowl of electric mixer. Beat on high until soft peaks form. In heavy saucepan, caramelize the sugar until liquid form. Add hot water and let it boil until smooth and bubbly. With the electric mixer on, slowly fold the caramelized sugar into egg whites, beating until gets warm and light brown.

Chocolate Topping:
In heavy saucepan, mix all the ingredients and cook until it boils. Spread the melted chocolate over the meringue (after assembling the cake) and use your imagination to create the design you want.

Assembling the cake:
Place one layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Top half the syrup and the filling. Place another cake layer, spread the remaining syrup. Frost the top and sides with the meringue. And on top of meringue spread the melted chocolate.

Cinnamon Biscuits
Makes 40

Ingredients:

¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (184g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (218g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 ½ cups + 2 ½ tablespoons (375g) all purpose flour
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 egg white, lightly beaten with a fork
granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

Place butter, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the flour, egg and egg yolks and process until a smooth dough forms – my processor wasn’t strong enough to process the dough, so I prepared it on my Kitchen Aid using the paddle attachment. Lightly knead the dough, divide in two parts and wrap each one in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of the dough to form a log (roughly 10cm/4in long). Carefully bend the top to form a candy cane and place onto prepared sheets, 2.5cm (1in) apart. Repeat with the remaining dough. Brush the canes with the egg white and sprinkle over the sugar. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool.
Store the cookies in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks.