Chocolate Peppermint Meringue Torte

After spending 2 days in the kitchen making a huge Thanksgiving dinner for 5, I'm the crazy person who wants to spend another full morning making a fancy torte. That's just the crazy kind of person I am. I first eyed this torte up when my December Bon Appétit arrived in my mailbox. I knew then that I MUST make this cake. It just looked soooo delicious! Unfortunately, I wasn't sure if my husband would be interested in such a dessert. Luckily, our friends Shawn and Lisa invited us over for dinner so I now had the perfect excuse in the event the cake wasn't received as well as I hoped.


I had nothing to worry about though, because this torte was just sooooooo good...chocolaty and pepperminty and a richness but with a light texture from the meringues. My husband said it was the BEST dessert he’s ever had! It starts out the first layer with a peppermint meringue slathered with chocolate buttercream, topped with a chocolate sponge and then repeated. I sprinkled crushed peppermint candies on top for garnish. I did make a small change to the recipe in the chocolate buttercream by using a different recipe for a French meringue chocolate buttercream. The original recipe called for corn syrup, which I didn't have and don't like to use. The French meringue is kind of the same but you make it by boiling sugar and water until it reaches 250 F. While doing that beat your egg whites to about medium peaks. Then when the syrup hits the right temp you have to very carefully pour it in to the bowl while the mixer is still whipping without spilling it on the bowl or whip (it will harden on there...no fun). You continue beating until the meringue is cooled and then add butter and chocolate if necessary. This just gives such a nice glossy sheen to the buttercream and it just looks beautiful!

This is a labor intensive cake, but totally worth it. I made up a little plan before I got started and decided it was best to get the cake part taken care of first then while that was baking/cooling do the meringues which take 2 hours or so to cook. While the meringues cook you can make the peppermint simple syrup and the buttercream. The meringues will also just cool in the oven, after cooking time just turn it off and prop open the oven. I found this plan to work really well for making and serving all in the same day.

Also, the original recipe called for a rectangular shape, which is fine but I have a torte ring mold. I think it helps give it a cleaner look and hold it together while you are layering.

I totally recommend this recipe but make sure you make it for a special occasion or special person because it is a lot of work but totally worth it!