Category: Dessert

Almond meringue gateau with mango cream cheese filling.

This was inspired by a recipe I saw in one of my recipe books. The original recipe called for hazelnuts, raspberries and whipped cream filling, but obviously, as the title has indicated….I replaced them with almonds, mangoes and cream cheese.

I used almonds because it’s cheaper than hazelnuts and I happened to have them in the pantry. Same goes for mangoes.

As for the filling, although I had whipped cream, I thought it might render the meringue a bit too damp by the time I delivered it to Old Klang Road (where a bunch of us were having dinner) so I replaced it with cream cheese, which tasted like, oh I don’t know, 100 times better? Hahahaha.

# – Almond meringue gateau with mango cream cheese filling.

It should be quite stress-free to make this gateau but for some unknown reason, baking luck was not with me.

The recipe called for 4 egg whites…but I managed to waste about 7 eggs due to “reason of multiple yolk explosions in hand” before I managed to successfully separate 4 eggs. So yeah, total number of eggs used were 11, instead of just four :P

/hangs head in shame…

And then, believe it or not, I managed to burn my first batch of meringues. I’m guessing hazelnuts have higher burning temperature compared to almonds because my attempt to bake almond meringues at the temperature stated by the original recipe resulted in two burnt discs of rancidness.

/hangs head in shame again…

As dinner time was approaching quickly, I had to whip up a new batch of meringues at lightning speed. Thankfully, an almost yolk explosion incident was successfully averted and I even had the rare brilliance of turning the oven’s temperature down, resulting in perfectly baked almond meringues.

Final count of eggs used: 15.

Anyway, enough with the sob stories, lets begin on how to make this delicious pudding!

For the meringues:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 180 grams of caster sugar
  • A few drops of vanilla essence
  • 1 teaspoon of vinegar
  • 120 grams of ground almonds

For the filling:

  • 2 mangoes, peeles and cut into small cubes
  • 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
  • 300 grams of cream cheese, softened
  • 5 tablespoons of yogurt

# – First, beat the egg whites until fluffy and then gradually add in the caster sugar while still beating.

# – When the mixture has turned glossy, add the vanilla essence.

# – Followed by the vinegar. I used malt vinegar in this case. Beat for about 10 seconds more.

# – Next, fold in the ground almond.

# – Gently stir until combined.

# – Separate mixture into two 8″ pie/cake tins. I used non-stick silicon baking moulds but you can greased ordinary tins and lined them with non-stick baking paper.

# – Stick into preheated oven at 135 degrees celcius for about 40 minutes to 1 hour. Always check to make sure your oven’s not too hot to avoid burning. The final result should be slightly browned.

# – When done, leave the meringues out to cool down completely.

# – In the meantime, beat softened cream cheese and yogurt together until smooth.

# – Add a tablespoon of icing sugar to balance out the tartness.

# – Then throw in the cubed mangoes.

# – Gently fold to combine. The mango cream cheese filling is now done. I don’t recommend sticking it in the fridge as it’ll be hard to spread chilled cream cheese.

# – When the meringues have completely cooled down, place one piece on a serving plate and then spread the mango cream cheese filling all over.

# – Next, top with the other piece of almond meringue and dust icing sugar all over. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour. It tastes better chilled.

# – Almond meringue gateau with mango cream cheese filling, DONE!

The gateau is a combination of crispiness, nuttiness and crumbliness with the most decadent, almost savoury cream cheese filling. It is a true adult’s dessert. I brought the gateau to a dinner outing, which will explain the sudden change of lighting in my pictures.

# – Crispy, slightly crumbly almond meringues with a rich, decadent mango cream cheese filling.

# – Grill Sergeant Lance giving me the look of approval. Yay!

# – I can’t wait to make more!

The boyfriend was very happy with the pudding too and told me it’s like I’d combined my 3 big loves into one super dessert: pavlova, macaron and cheesecake.

Yeah baby, that’s how I roll it!

Coconut lemon layer cake recipe.

I made this for Father’s Day. The lemon and coconut flavours complemented each other gorgeously in this light, fluffy cake.

Aside from a mille crepe, this is the most time consuming cake I’ve ever baked. I was standing from 11am – 4pm just making this. The end result made it all worth it though :)

That said though, as long as you’ve got all the ingredients ready and prepared, it would cut the time down significantly.

# – Coconut lemon layer cake.

For the cake:

  • 175 grams of plain flour
  • A pinch of salt
  • 6 eggs
  • 225 grams of granulated sugar
  • 65 grams of desiccated coconut
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice


For the lemon curd filling:

  • 1 tablespoon of cornflour
  • 125 grams of caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 120 ml of water

For the frosting:

  • 75 grams of butter, at room temperature
  • 175 grams of icing sugar
  • Zest of 1 1/2 lemon
  • 30 ml of lemon juice
  • 200 grams of dessicated coconut

Lets start with making the cakes…

# – First, put a large bowl over a pot of boiling water. Crack 6 eggs into it and beat.

# – Beat for about 10 minutes until the mixture has turned pale, like this.

# – Add the lemon zest in it.

# – Add the one tablespoon of lemon juice.

# – Followed by the dessicated coconut.

# – Sift some of the flour into the mixture, stir to combine and then repeat till all flours are used up.

# – Divide the mixture into 3 non-stick/greased cake tins.

# – Stick them in a pre-heated oven 180 degrees celcius for 20 minutes. Remember to rotate the cakes around for even baking.

While the cakes bake away, it’s time to make the lemon curd filling.

# – Dissolve the cornflour with a dash of water.

# – Crack an egg over the mixture and whisk till combined. Set aside.

# – Melt butter, caster sugar, lemon zest and 120 ml of water in a saucepan.

# – When butter has melted, pour the egg + cornflour mixture into it while still whisking.

# – Keep whisking and you will start seeing the mixture thickens while turning a gorgeous yellow.

# – Stop whisking when it’s thick and gooey. Pour it out into a bowl to cool down. Delicious, homemade lemon curd, DONE!

The last bit to whip up is the yummy frosting…

# – Dump everything except the dessicated coconut into a bowl and beat till creamy.

# – Lemon frosting, DONE!

Finally, it’s time to assemble the cake, woohoo :D

# – Lay the cakes, lemon curd filling and lemon frosting out so it’s easier to work :)

# – Spread lemon curd over one cake.

# – Then lay another cake over and the rest is self explanatory in the following picture.

# – Next, frost the cake up. Yummy!

# – Then sprinkle dessicated coconut all over the cake and voila, coconut lemon layer cake, DONE!

# – Eat up!

Light, lemony fluffy cake with gorgeous homemade lemon curd and a tangy frosting. Absolutely delicious! If you’re planning to make something for a loved one, look nowhere else as this is the cake that says ‘I Love You’ :)

Lemon almond sandwich cookies.

I have a confession to make. This was supposed to be an attempt to make lemon macarons :P

However, instead of macarons, these turned out instead. I decided to call them lemon almond sandwich cookies because no macaron feet appeared. I didn’t want to file this under “Cooking Failures” either, because they are DELICIOUS!

# – Lemon almond sandwich cookies.

Crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle with a decadent lemon flavoured cream cheese filling.

For the cookies:

  • 300 grams of finely ground almond, sifted
  • 220 grams of icing sugar, sifted
  • 4 egg whites
  • 100 grams of caster sugar
  • Juice of 1 whole lemon
  • Zest of 1 whole lemon


For the filling:

  • 150 grams of cream cheese
  • 50 grams of butter
  • 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • Some yellow colouring

# – First, sift icing sugar into the sifted finely ground almond (sifting store bought ground almond is time consuming…please armed yourself with some patience)

# – Then, mix them up till combined, like this. Set aside.

# – In another bowl, beat the egg whites till stiff. Add in the lemon zest.

# – Followed by 1/2 of the lemon juice.

# – Lastly, add in the caster sugar and beat everything till mixture looks shiny and glossy. You now have a meringue mixture.

# – Next, gradually add the almond/icing sugar mixture into the meringue.

# – Gently fold to combine, then stir in the remaining 1/2 of lemon juice.

# – Spoon mixture into a piping bag.

# – Pipe out evenly sized disc on your non-stick baking mat/paper.

# – Leave this out for a minimum of 30 minutes to form shells.

# – Stick it in oven that has been preheated at 160 degree celcius. Once the cookies are in, turn the temperature down to 150 degrees celcius. Bake for 25 minutes.

# – Leave the cookies are to cool completely (I cheated by sticking them into the fridge :P)

# – In the meantime, allow the cream cheese and butter to soften in a bowl.

# – When they have softened, beat till smooth then add the icing sugar, lemon juice and yellow colouring. Beat again to combine. The lemony cream cheese filling is now done.

# – Scoop filling into a piping bag.

# – Pipe it onto one cookie and the rest is self explanatory…

# – Lemon almond sandwich cookies, DONE.

# – Refreshingly lemony and creamy.

# – Couldn’t resist having a bite while taking pictures.

Macarons, what macarons? Hehe.