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Nougatine Cake Recipe (Gluten-Free)

A slice of almond nougatine cake dusted with icing sugar on a red dessert plate.
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This gluten-free nougatine cake recipe layers crisp almond dacquoise with vanilla buttercream and a topping of crunchy almond nougatine. Made with just 6 ingredients, this French nougatine cake is a lighter twist on the classic Saint-Epvre and Saint-Louis pastry.

Ingredients

Scale

For almond dacquoise:

  • 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (180 g) egg whites (see note #1)
  • 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (240 g) caster sugar
  • 2 cups + 3 tablespoons (210 g) almond flour

For buttercream:

  • 9 oz. (260 g) butter softened
  • 1/4 cup (65 ml) water
  • 1/4 cup (65 g) whole eggs (see note #2)
  • 2/3 cup + 2 teaspoons (160 g) granulated sugar

For nougatine:

  • 4 tablespoons (60 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 oz. (30 g) slivered almonds

For decoration:

  • 1 tablespoon icing (powdered) sugar

*Don't you have the correct baking pan on hand right now? Try this simple Cake Pan Converter!

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Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 335°F (180°C). To make the dacquoise, place almond flour and half of the caster sugar in a food processor and process for a few minutes. Place egg whites and the remaining half of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until the meringue becomes glossy. Add the almond flour/sugar mixture to the meringue in two to three batches and gently mix with a rubber spatula.
  2. Prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place two 8-inch/20 cm cake rings on parchment. Transfer the meringue mixture to a pastry bag fitted with Ateco plain pastry tip 809 and pipe two spiral dacquoise disks within the cake rings. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until slightly golden. Remove dacquoise disks from the oven and let cool. Gently run a knife around the edges of the cake ring to help release the dacquoise from the mold.
  3. To make nougatine, place the sugar in a saucepan and melt over medium heat. Rotate the saucepan over your stove to stir the sugar. When the caramel turns amber, add lightly toasted slivered almonds. Mix, then pour onto parchment paper. Cover with another sheet of parchment and roll it out with a rolling pin. Let it cool completely. Crush the nougatine between sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin.
  4. To make the buttercream, place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat the sugar syrup to 250°F (121°C). In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer while pouring the syrup along the inside of the bowl. Whisk until the mixture becomes whitish and cools down. Gradually add the softened butter, cut into cubes, and mix until smooth and shiny.
  5. To assemble the cake, place the buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 6B piping tip, and pipe rosettes on the first dacquoise disk. Distribute the pieces of crushed nougatine. Cover with the second dacquoise disk. Sprinkle the cake with icing (powdered) sugar. Decorate with a few rosettes of the cream and some pieces of nougatine.

Notes

  1. 180 g egg whites, approximately equal to 5 1/2 raw fresh egg whites from large-sized chicken eggs.
  2. 65 g eggs, approximately equal to 1 whole extra-large chicken egg (eggshell removed).
  3. If you do not have cake rings, draw two 8-inch (20 cm) circles on parchment and flip the paper. Pipe dacquoise disks in a spiral within the circle's marks, then bake.
  4. Refrigerate the nougatine cake for several hours before tasting. Serve the cake at room temperature, taking it out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.bakinglikeachef.com/saint-louis-by-christophe-michalak/