Frosted Fruit Cake with Longan Curd

The spring is just starting but if you already miss the frost, bring it back with this light, fruity frosted cake.
Source
Angel-like cake - improvised
Curd, meringue and design inspired by “Celebration Cakes” by the Australian Women’s Weekly Magazine.

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 4 (out of 5)

Ingredients
For the cake (915 cal)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (150 cal)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup margarine or butter (405 cal)
- 1/3 cup sugar (255 cal)
- 1 egg (70 cal)
- 1/4 cup milk (30 cal)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (5 cal)
- pinch of cream of tartar
For the longan curd (485 cal)
- 150 g canned longans in syrup (130 cal)
- 2 eggs (140 cal)
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 30 g butter (215 cal)
Meringue (220 cal)
- 2 egg whites (30 cal)
- 1/4 cup sugar (190 cal)
Fruit (220 cal)
- 1 cup seedless grapes (100 cal)
- 3 small mandarins (120 cal)
- 1 egg white for brushing
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ / icing sugar for dusting
Total 1840 cal, one 6 inch / 15 cm cake, 6 servings, 305 cal/serving

Instructions
For the cake
1. Separate the egg white from the yolk. Beat the egg white with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and whisk to stiff peaks.
2. Mix the remaining ingredients (including the egg yolk) until uniform. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to lighten the mixture and then fold in the remaining egg whites.
3. Grease a 6 inch cake pan, pour the cake mix and bake at 350F for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out smooth.
4. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then remove it from the pan and let cool completely on a rack. Split the cake in half.
For the longan curd
5. Puree the longans in a blender. Combine all the ingredients in medium heat proof bowl over simmering water and stir until the mixture thickens enough to coat a wooden spoon. Cover and cool the curd and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the meringue
6. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the sugar and cream of tartar and continue whisking until firm peaks.
For assembly
7. Place the lower half of the cake on a baking sheet. Spread half of the curd on top. Reserve several mandarin segments and grapes for decoration. Arrange the remaining fruit over the curd. Spread the remaining curd on top of the fruit and cover with the upper half of the cake.
8. Spread the meringue all over the cake, and bake at 350F for 3-5 minutes until meringue is lightly brown.
9. Brush the remaining fruit individually in egg whites and dip in the icing sugar. Place the frosted fruit on a tray lined with parchment paper. Leave for about an hour to dry.
10. Arrange the frosted fruit on the cake.

Afterthoughts
- The base cake is absolutely wonderful. Just a little hassle to make, because you need to whisk the egg whites. And for this cake you also need to make the meringue, so you’re whisking twice. But maybe you can whisk all the egg whites at once, and use part for the cake and part for the frosting. I wonder if you can keep the whisked unbaked egg whites for the meringue for 1-2 hours outside, that’s probably as long as it will take to bake, chill and assemble the cake.
- The curd was not “optimal” – the liquids separated and I had to drain them. So far, I have never had luck with whisking the eggs over a double broiler. But when I warm the rest of the ingredients and then add them slowly to the egg mixture, it tempers the eggs perfectly. That’s what I’ll do next time. After draining, the curd tasted really good, though. And maybe the extra liquid served to moisten the cake a bit more, so overall, the cake tasted great.
- The meringue is extremely sticky, so it is very challenging to transfer the coated cake to another dish. It’s best if you can serve it on the same dish you used to bake it. Also, you might try dipping your knife in cold water before cutting the cake, to prevent it from sticking and tearing the meringue apart.