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Currant Meringue Torte

Currant Meringue Torte

A German confection that showcases red currants in frothy meringue.  If you don't have currants available, raspberries or even wild blueberries would be amazing.

Course Dessert
Cuisine German
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 1 2/3 cup (200 g) AP flour
  • 1/3 cup (75 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 9 tbsp (4.4 oz or 125g) chilled butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 4 tbsp ground almonds or bread crumbs

Meringue Filling

  • 4 cups or a bit more (500 g; 1 lb) red currants (washed and de-stalked) in a large bowl
  • 5 large egg whites, chilled
  • 4 tbsp cornstarch or corn flour
  • 2/3 cup (150 g) sugar
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 1/4 cups (125 g) ground almonds, can also use finely chopped almonds if you want.

Instructions

Pastry

  1. In a food processor (or you can do this by hand in a bowl) combine the flour, sugar and baking powder. Give it one whiz.
  2. Cut the chilled butter into cubes and add it to the processor bowl. Give it a couple of pulses to create large chickpea sized bits of the mixture.

  3. Blend the egg and almond extract together and add to the mixture.

  4. Give some more pulses until the mixture starts to come together. It doesn't need to form a ball. If you pinch a good section and it stays together, you're done. If you find it dry, just not coming together, add 1 tbsp of milk. The lack of humidity in the kitchen or even the flour can affect the moisture content of the dough.

  5. Dump it onto the counter and form a ball. Press it down into a disk shape and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour (I have even made this the day before)
  6. When ready, bring it back out to warm up on the counter.
  7. Roll it out on a well floured surface. It should not be less than 1/4 inch (7mm)thick.
  8. Take a 9 inch (23cm) springform pan and spray all the surfaces with non-stick spray. You can also use butter to coat the sides instead.

  9. Take the pastry and transfer it to the springform pan. You can do this by rolling it around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pan. Or else just fold it in half and then in half again and transfer it so that the point of the 'wedge' is sitting in the centre of the pan. Unroll and press to the bottom and sides. The pastry will warm up through use, and the butter makes it very soft. But don't despair. You can easily patch it together. Just make sure the sides are all the same height all around.  The sides should be roughly 1 1/12- 2 inches (5 cm) high

  10. Pierce the bottom with a fork all over, and cover with a thin layer of ground almonds or bread crumbs. Place the pan into the fridge till needed.

Meringue Filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F

  2. Place the chilled egg whites into the bowl of your mixer. Beat on medium high speed for the first 30-45 seconds. Increase speed. Beat until quite foamy.
  3. Add the cornstarch slowly and evenly.
  4. Slowly pour in the sugar. Beat until the eggs are firm and glossy. When you pull out the whisk, the egg whites should keep their shape and not melt back into the bowl. Don't rush this step.

  5. Scatter the ground or chopped almonds and lemon zest over the currants in the large bowl

  6. Take 2 thirds of the egg whites and add them to the bowl with the red currants, ground almonds and lemon zest. Fold gently till combined.

Assemble and Bake

  1. Spoon the berry meringue filling into the chilled pastry shell. It should come close to the top of the sides of the pastry.

  2. Using a silicone spatula, spread the remaining egg whites over the filling in a fun, haphazard way. Try and create some height (but not too much!) It should cover the filling, but if it doesn't, that's fine- the red berry filling peaking out from the sides is lovely.

  3. Place the pan onto a baking sheet and bake in the lower third of the oven until firm. This should take approximately 1 hour or a bit more. If towards the end you find the top is browning more than you would like, place some tin foil loosely over it. If you are worried that the foil may adhere to the meringue, adjust one of the other racks so that it is sitting right above the cake without touching it. Place the foil on this to protect the meringue from the heat element.

  4. Test by using a wooden skewer. It doesn't have to come out totally dry, but it shouldn't be wet with uncooked egg whites either.
  5. Serve with good coffee!

Recipe Notes

You can switch out the currants with raspberries, wild blueberries, huckleberries or gooseberries.

This recipe is a riff on the recipe found here