Dacquoise

Method

1. 1 Beat the egg whites with sugar until stiff peaks form, then sift in the almond flour and powdered sugar.
2. 2 Mix by scooping from the bottom up and stop as soon as it's combined; overmixing will cause the mass to collapse and the cake to become dense.
3. 3 Pipe the mixture into two spiral-shaped discs on a tray, then sprinkle with sliced almonds and powdered sugar.
4. 4 Bake at 160 degrees for 30 minutes, then let cool completely on the tray.
5. 5 Cook the egg custard with egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and coffee, then beat in softened butter to make buttercream.
6. 6 Place the buttercream frosting between two cake plates and refrigerate for 2 hours to allow the cake and frosting to set.

With an appliance

• Air fryer 1 hr 36 min

  Replace step 4: spray oil around the dacquoise plates, bake at 175 degrees in a steam oven for 20 minutes and rotate the tray at 10 minutes; meringue dries quickly, do not flip and divide the batch into individual plates.