About the Recipe
What would happen if sans rival was a cookie? It would be this meringue cashew cookie that packs the flavours and textures of the classic sans rival into one handheld, convenient biscuit and its called silvanas. Both of these desserts are inspired by the French dacquoise which is also a meringue cookie but I’ve tried both and I think the Filipinos do it better, making the name sans rival very relevant. The classic silvana is composed of the cashew meringue cookie, french buttercream, and a cookie crumb coating and it is usually eaten frozen.
Ingredients
Cookie:
150g egg whites (About 5 eggs)
150g white sugar
130g ground cashews
French Buttercream:
5 egg yolks
100g white sugar
45ml water
227g butter, soft
1 tsp vanilla extract
Graham cracker crumbs and ground cashews for decorating
Preparation
Whip egg whites until foamy. Gradually add white sugar while whipping the egg whites. Whip on high until it reaches a medium peak.
Gently fold in ground cashews. Pipe onto parchment paper into small rounds.
Bake at 300F for 20 minutes, until it is golden brown and no longer sticks to the parchment paper.
To make the buttercream, whip egg yolks until it lightens in colour.
Simmer the sugar and water together until it reaches a temperature of 210F.
Slowly add the sugar syrup while whipping until it is mixed through. Gradually add the butter. Whip until it doubles in volume. Add the vanilla extract.
Sandwich two meringue cookies together with the french buttercream. Cover the whole cookie with buttercream and roll in ground cashews and graham cracker crumbs.
Let it set in the fridge for a few hours before serving.