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+ servings
Servings: 1 cake

Fragilité

Author: Thomas Tranegaard Nielsen
Course: Sweet
Cuisine: Danish
Keyword: Cake, Cozy, Denmark, Dessert, Sweet
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 3 hours

Ingredients

Bottoms

  • 200 gram Hazelnuts
  • 200 gram Sugar
  • 240 gram egg white 8 pcs.
  • 4 gram Cream Of Tartar-Tartrates cream of tartar
  • 100 gram Sugar
  • 3 gram Salt

Buttercream

  • 250 gram Butter
  • 180 gram Powdered Sugar
  • 30 gram Nougat
  • 100 gram Espresso strong

Instructions

Bases

  • They can advantageously be made the day before.Pour the nuts onto a baking sheet and roast them for 12 minutes on the second top rack in the oven at 175 degrees Celsius (347 degrees Fahrenheit).
  • Take them out of the oven and throw them in a colander and let them cool.
  • Stir the nuts with your hand or a spoon to loosen the shells – there will be some shells that stick partially, but that's okay.
  • Put the nuts in a food processor along with 200 grams of sugar and chop until the nuts are finely ground.
  • Get the stand mixer and attach the whisk.
  • Pour the egg whites into the bowl and whisk them stiff.
  • Continue whisking and add one tbsp. of sugar at a time until you've used it all – make sure the sugar is whisked well into the egg whites between each spoonful.
  • Whisk until the meringue is shiny and firm.
  • Now gently fold the nut/sugar mixture into the meringue until evenly distributed.
  • Preheat the oven to 130 degrees Celsius (266 degrees Fahrenheit) fan.
  • Find 3 baking sheets and place a piece of baking paper on each.
  • Draw a circle with a diameter of 24 cm on each baking paper – use a springform pan or similar as a template.
  • Evenly distribute the meringue on the sheets (if you have poor judgment like me, place the baking sheet on your scale. There should be approximately 3 x 245 grams). You can also put the meringue in a piping bag without a nozzle and distribute it in a spiral on the baking paper.
  • Bake the bases in the oven for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let the bases stand in the oven for an additional 1-2 hours.
  • Take the bases out and let them cool completely on a rack before removing the baking paper – if the bases are a bit chewy, it's perfect because a fragilité should be a bit chewy!

Buttercream

  • Put the butter in a stand mixer and whisk it with the paddle attachment until fluffy.
  • Add 1/3 of your powdered sugar and whisk it into the butter.
  • Repeat 2 more times until you have used it all and then whisk for 2-3 minutes.
  • Cut the nougat into cubes and melt it in the microwave or over a water bath.
  • Add the nougat to the buttercream while whisking.
  • Now slowly add the espresso while whisking until all of the espresso is incorporated into the buttercream.
  • Distribute the buttercream on two of the meringue bases and assemble the cake – (you can optionally spread a thin layer on top as well).
  • Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or until serving.
  • Decorate the cake with powdered sugar, freeze-dried raspberries, and hazelnuts. You can also make extra buttercream to cover and decorate with!