Gateau Sans Rival

Here is the amazing winner of Dessert Club Internationale. Dessert Club member CC got the recipe from a friend that makes it every Christmas. "I always can't wait for her holiday party so I can gobble this up!" It was equally sans rival at Dessert Club, winning with a landslide 5 votes.

From City Muse - "It means "without equal". Sans Rival is a type of mille feuille or cake napoleon with alternating layers of meringue, buttercream icing and ground nuts. Biting into this flourless cake is a combination of crunchy, creamy, chewy goodness. Pure decadence." Even though it has a French name, it comes to us from the Philippines, probably via Spain.Gateau Sans Rival
Meringue:

5 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups chopped cashews (I added a bit of Kosher salt to the cashews)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add sugar gradually. Add cashews and vanilla. Spread thin on well-greased pan in the size you want for layers (at least 4 layers). (I usually line a baking sheet with foil, and butter well before spreading each layers.) Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown.

Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup water (less 1 tablespoon)
1/2 lb butter

Boil sugar and water until it spins into threads. Beat egg yolks well. Pour sugar into yolks and continue beating. Allow to cool. Cream butter, then add egg mixture a little at a time, creaming all the while. Spread layers and sides of cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

(The meringue layers are really fragile, but if a layer cracks while you work with it, you can just use that layer in the middle. Served the same day you make it, the meringue stays crunchy. If you serve it the next day, the meringue and filling have had a chance to meld flavors, which is better, but the meringue isn't as crunchy anymore. I use a serrated knife to cut it, since a regular knife will just crush the meringue layers as you try and cut it. If it stays out of the refrigerator too long, the filling will become really soft and the butter might start to separate.)