Meringue-Topped Blood-Orange Curd Cake

Name: Meringue-Topped Blood-Orange Curd Cake
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: Butter and flour for preparing pans; 6 large eggs; 3/4 cup sugar; Finely grated zest of 1 orange; 3/4 cup cake flour; 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch; Pinch of salt; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature; Blood-orange curd (see recipe); Meringue (see recipe)

Recipe from Claudia Fleming

Adapted by Melissa Clark

Total Time: 1½ hours, plus chilling
Rating: 4(32)
Comments: Read comments

This is a layer cake in the loosest sense of the term. The cake looks like a giant toasted marshmallow, and beneath its swirled meringue are layers of orange spongecake and blood-orange curd. If your kitchen lacks a blowtorch for toasting, broil the finished cake until the meringue turns golden brown. —Melissa Clark

Featured in: Endangered: The Beloved American Layer Cake

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

Butter and flour for preparing pans
6large eggs
¾cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
¾cup cake flour
⅓cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
Blood-orange curd (see recipe)
Meringue (see recipe)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a simmer. Line two 8-inch cake pans with wax or parchment paper. Grease paper and dust with flour.
Step 2
In a stainless-steel bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and zest. Set bowl over simmering water, and whisk constantly until mixture is warm to the touch.
Step 3
Remove from heat, and beat with an electric mixer until light colored and triple in volume, about 5 minutes.
Step 4
Sift together flour, cornstarch and salt. Resift over the egg mixture in three additions, folding after each addition. Fold in melted butter.
Step 5
Pour mixture into cake pans. Bake about 20 minutes, or until cake springs back to the touch. Remove pans to a wire rack, and let cool slightly. Run a knife around edges of pans, and invert layers onto racks to cool completely.
Step 6
Spread blood-orange curd between layers. Frost cake with meringue. Using a blowtorch, toast meringue until golden brown. (Or preheat broiler or oven to its highest setting, and broil or bake cake until meringue is golden brown. Watch carefully, it happens fast.)

Ratings

4 out of 5

32 user ratings

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Comments

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Pierre2 years ago

I found the sponge is too heavy and the curd is too thin. The meringue is perfect.

Marcella6 years ago

I skipped the meringue topping and just dusted powdered sugar and candied blood orange slices, amazing! The cake took me two tries though, wasn’t sure if I didn’t whip the eggs enough or didn’t mix flour enough, but second tome I whipped for closer to 7 minutes and then folded the flour in with more force, because I wasn’t afraid of knocking all the air out. It was a big hit!

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