Baking is therapeutic for me. I might not know how to cook, but I have been designated as the family baker. I have been reading a lot of posts on the oh so delicious macarons lately, so I was in the mood for something crisp and chewy. I decided to make some meringue – filipino style. I made some silvanas for the first time, which is basically a cashew-meringue and buttercream sandwich. If you love buttery goodness, this dessert’s for you.
This was my first attempt at making this cookie and I think it turned out pretty well (my little brother agrees). You are supposed to coat it with cake crumbs but I couldn’t find any so I used bread crumbs, which is a decent substitute. I’ll have to find some cake crumbs for next time though (I am not trying to make that from scratch). I’ll also have to figure out how to make them into perfect circles or ovals (help! how do i do this??).
I sometimes don’t eat what I bake but I definitely did not pass on these silvanas. It was just the right balance of crunchy and chewy meringue with a not too sweet buttercream icing. This is best eaten chilled but still tastes good at room temperature if you simply can’t wait (my little brother agrees).
Hope I got you interested in some silvanas!
xoxo,
andi
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What good is this post without a recipe?
Silvanas Meringue Buttercream Cookies
Ingredients:
6 egg whites
1 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cup chopped cashew nuts
1 cup (2 sticks) salted or not butter
1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup milk (2% will do)
cake crumbs (or bread crumbs will do)
Meringue:
Process cashew nuts in a food processor until finely ground and set aside. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar (I recommend using an electric mixer). Gradually add granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the ground cashews. Pipe the mixture into circles or ovals onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 300°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let completely cool and remove from paper.
Buttercream:
Beat softened butter until creamy. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar. Then gradually add milk.
Assembly:
Spread buttercream on one meringue and top with another. Make sure the flat sides are facing outside (The opposite of what you would do when making macarons). Then cover all sides with buttercream. Roll in cake crumbs and refrigerate before serving.
It’s a bit tedious to make, but it’s well worth it!
andi
saam
Yummy…:)
those cookies were deliciouuuus! I was lucky Andi saved me some to sample :)
~Saam
thanks! wish i could send some to you brinja to try :)
oooh these look so good!
in order to get perfect circles, you need to use something like a round biscuit cutter – they will come out perfect every time.
for the cake crumbs, just save a cupcake or a slice of cake the next time you make/have cake and store it in the freezer until you want to make these again =)
thanks jasmine! i will have to save you some next time :)
i did try to use a biscuit cutter but the meringue is so delicate and sticky that it didn’t quite work :( but hopefully i will find a solution soon!
and duh! save some cake, i should have thought of that! thanks for the tip!
Oh my, you are killing us with this. we just went through 2 birthday cakes and 6 dozen CC’s and vowed we were off of sweets? but this just sounds so amazing? we are going to save it and make them after we diet for a few weeks? thanks, s
You can never have enough sweets, I say :) But you def have to try these out and let me know how they turn out. And everything is good in moderation :)
hello! I am so happy to find your recipe; I will try it this weekend! wish me luck! we always go to house of silvanas in daly city, california to buy their delicious silvanas but it’s $2 each!
btw, i love ur blog :)
i hope they turned out well! wow, 2 bucks…i guess it’s worth it if you need a silvanas fix quickly. and thanks for the blog love, as you can see we haven’t updated in ages. but hopefully i will do a post soon :)
Hi, I’ve been experimenting on making silvanas and I cannot make them perfect circles either but the ones in the pic above looks good…my question is, how do you put the icing ( my icing are too soft) so you can make it look uniform on the sides… help!!