Durian Meringue Buttercream Cake

The yummiest durian cake is the durian mousse cake: light sponge layers alternating with durian mousse, covered all over by whipped cream. Durian and whipped cream truly are made for each other. But since I'm put off by whipped cream, because it is made of hydrogenated veg/palm oils and is thus a trans fat (artery blocker), I decided to make a durian cake using butter, which has saturated fat but as the dieticians will tell you, is still the lesser of the two evils. I think. I didn't want too much butter either, so instead of pure buttercream, I decided to use a meringue buttercream with reduced sugar and butter but more egg whites, and mix in a sinful amount of mashed durian at the end. Mashed and sieved durian is also added to the cake batter, just to intensify the flavor.



Durian Meringue Buttercream

3 egg whites
150g fine sugar (or less, bc durian is sweet)
300g butter
300g (or more) durian flesh (sieve or blend if you like it fine, or just mash it like I did)

1. Put egg whites and sugar into a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir well. The sugar will melt and the mixture will become frothy and white. Remove and, using a machine, whisk till it's thick and glossy.

2. Add the butter by the spoonful beating till well-combined with the egg whites.

3. Lastly add mashed durian flesh and mix well.

To assemble the cake:

1. For the sponge cake, go to my basic sponge but add 6 oz (180g) durian puree. You can either force the durian flesh through a metal sieve or whizz it in a blender. You can use melted butter in place of oil if you are under 20.

2. When cake is cool, cut into thin 1 cm layers. This is easier done if you cut the cake into smaller pieces first, then layer each piece. Trimming off the crust (I forgot to) will make a prettier, all-white cake.

3. Sandwich the sponge layers with the durian buttercream and cover the whole cake with the durian buttercream. Chill, but take out about 15 min. before serving.

The verdict, ladies and gentlemen? Ming couldn't tell the difference;he had slice after slice of the cake. I still prefer the freshcream version but I must say this is a pretty good alternative because the buttercream is so light and the durian so intense I couldn't stop at one slice myself.