Silvanas (Cashew Meringue)

Silvanas! Cashew meringue with buttercream filling, fully coated with more buttercream and ground cashews. YUM!

It has been years (maybe even a decade) since I last had silvanas! I’m not sure if we have it here in NY or even NJ. It’s time for me to learn how to do it! A few notes:

• I have a silicon mat with macaroon lining so i used that in forming the meringue. A workaround would be creating a guide by tracing a cookie cutter (or anything round) at the back of your parchment paper.

• If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a ziplock bag with one corner cut off.

• I opted for the more tedious approach of letting the filling set before coating the meringue for a cleaner presentation. This is not necessary as it doesn’t affect taste.

• I suggest reading the entire recipe before you begin :)

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Recipe

serves: 10 | prep: 20 mins | cook: 20 mins | idle: 10 mins

MERINGUE

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cashews

•  1 tbsp flour

• 3 egg whites, room temperature

• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300F.

2. Finely ground cashew nuts then mix in flour in the food processor and set aside. (you will do a similar step for assembly 1, I would do assembly step 1 before proceeding)

3. Using a mixer, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue whisking until you reach soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, and and continue whisking until you reach stiff peaks.

4. Very gently fold in  vanilla and the cashew flour mix, make sure you don’t deflate your egg mixture/meringue.

5. Transfer meringue into a piping bag and pipe circles that are about 1/2 inch high on the parchment paper (see note above). Flatten the tops with a knife .

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until the sides turn a light brown. Let cool in oven before transferring meringue to cooling rack to prevent meringue from cracking.

BUTTERCREAM

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp water

• 3 large egg yolks

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature and cubed

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine sugar and water in medium saucepan. Heat over low heat while stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium- high and bring to a boil.

2. Whisk egg yolks in a stand-mixer until thick and foamy.

3. Cook the sugar and water syrup until it reaches 240 F and immediately remove from heat. With mixer running, very slowly drizzle hot syrup into bowl with yolks.

4. Continue mixing until the bottom of the bowl is cool and the yolk mixture has cooled to room temperature.

5. Add in butter one cube at a time allowing each piece to incorporate before adding the next. Add vanilla. Continue mixing until buttercream is smooth and creamy. 

ASSEMBLY

Ingredients

• 1 cups cashews, ground

• 1/2 cup graham cracker, ground

Directions

1. Ground cashew nuts then mix in graham and discarded meringue in food processor.

2. Spread buttercream on one side of a meringue disc. Cover with another meringue disc to make a sandwich. optional: move meringue sandwich to freezer for 5-10 mins to set.

3. Spread buttercream all over the sandwich to cover all surfaces, including the sides. Cover in cashew crumb mix, then refrigerate or freeze until the buttercream is firm.