Raspberry Rhubarb Meringue Cake

Great news - you can eat this cake and call it dinner. That's right, this cake is a fully balanced meal. Egg whites - protein. Raspberries - fruit. Rhubarb - vegetable. Whipped cream - dairy (calcium!). It even has almonds, and everyone knows that almonds are healthy. We'll just ignore the sugar and flour and call this a superfood.

Seriously, though, THIS CAKE. I think we mostly wanted to make this just because it's stunning, and then were surprised by how incredibly delicious it was to boot. Plus - it's not even hard! It's like the perfect dessert! And we can vouch for how good it is even the next day. It's the perfect make-ahead dessert to share with friends.

Raspberry Rhubarb Meringue Cake

servings: 8
time: 2.5 hours (active time is probably only about 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
Cake:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 5 Tbsp milk

Meringue:

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 Tbsp sliced almonds

Raspberry Rhubarb Compote:

• 1 lb. rhubarb, chopped
• 12 oz frozen raspberries, thawed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup corn starch dissolved in 7 Tbsp warm water

Whipped Cream: 

• 1 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Garnish:

• Fresh raspberries
• powdered sugar

Instructions:

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9" springform pan with parchment paper and grease the paper and sides of the pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Separate eggs and set aside.
4.  In bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla.
5. Slowly add egg yolks to mixture one at a time while mixing.
6. Gradually add flour while continuing to mix until fully incorporated.
7. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Remove other half to mixing bowl, cover tightly and set aside.

Meringue:

1. Wash out your electric mixer bowl and dry thoroughly. Add egg whites and beat with whisk attachment until they begin to turn white.
2. Add sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.
3. Spread half of this meringue on top of your cake batter. Cover the other half tightly and set aside.
4. Sprinkle meringue cake with half of your sliced almonds.
5. Bake for 28 -30 minutes. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove to wire cooling rack to cool completely, and repeat process with the other half of your batter, meringue, and almonds.

Compote:

1. Meanwhile, add rhubarb, raspberries, water and sugar to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add cornstarch that has been dissolved in warm water. The compote should thicken almost immediately; stir for about one more minute, then remove from heat.
3. Scoop compote into a bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate until needed.

Whipped cream:

1. Wash out mixing bowl and whisk attachment. Pour in cream, sugar and vanilla.
2. Mix on medium speed until thickened and it holds it's shape, 2-4 minutes.
3. Wrap tightly and chill until needed.

Assembly:

1. Place one meringue cake layer on your cake stand and secure the outer round of your springform pan around the cake. Spread your compote over the top, making a flat-topped layer.
2. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Spread with whipped cream.
4. Cover with final cake layer and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5. Dust with powdered sugar, garnish with raspberries, and remove springform ring. Enjoy! 

The batter will be thick for cake batter, and it doesn't make a lot since half of each cake layer is actually meringue. 

It's tricky to spread, but it's ok if it doesn't spread perfectly. 

Stiff peaks for meringue! 

Spread your meringue as evenly as you can, but it's ok if it's not totally level. 

 Sprinkle with some almonds and bake.

It's already pretty, and we're not nearly done yet. It gets better. 

Chop your fresh rhubarb - we're lucky enough to have a plant growing in our backyard, so we can harvest some whenever we have a craving. 

Raspberry rhubarb compote! We didn't use quite all of ours on the cake - we saved the extra to have with ice cream.

Both layers are ready to go! 

Place one layer back in the springform ring and spread your compote.

Try to make it as level as you can, then chill it. You will cover this with your whipped cream and then your second layer.

 Fully assembled! Ready to take the springform ring off.

Ta-daaaaa! We were worried about how this cake would slice, but it came out beautifully. 

Pretty from all angles! 

Yum