Food & Wine
Chocolate coconut meringue torte
Over60 community member, Cheryl from Sydney, shares her favourite cake recipe that’s put a smile on many dinner guests’ faces over the years.
“My two sisters and I have been making this recipe since I first came across it in the 80s. Every time I have served it, people just love it. So much so that in fact it is now a dinner party staple that my five daughters make and serve to for their friends. It is quite easy and really delicious.” – Cheryl
Serves: 8 to ten
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
You will need
- A pie dish or any shallow round dish that is approximately 20cm in diameter
- Electric mixer (can be made by hand but it is much slower)
Ingredients
- 8 eggs whites
- 2 cups caster sugar
- 2 cups desiccated coconut
- 6 tablespoons cocoa
- 1 teaspoon almond, mint or vanilla essence (depends on your preference)
Method
- Butter the dish well so that the torte will slide away easily to serve.
- Beat the eggs whites until stiff.
- Add the sugar gradually and beat again for a few minutes until the mixture is shiny.
- Mix the desiccated coconut, cocoa, and essence is a small bowl. Very gently fold into the meringue with a spatula – you need to be careful here because if you’re too aggressive it could ruin the stiffness of the eggs and will not rise as well.
- Spread evenly into the buttered dish and place into a moderate oven, 180 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes or until the top is set and it is well cooked on the edges. It is nicest slightly soft and will firm a little as the mixture cools. Turn oven off and leave to cool in the oven as the cake will drop a little – don’t be alarmed this is normal and you can fix this in step 6.
- Leave at room temperature. It can be served warm or cold and is nice accompanied by whipped cream spread across the top like icing, sprinkled with Flake and decorated with strawberries around the edge.