Dacquoise
A dacquoise is a dessert cake. It is made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue and whipped cream or buttercream. The name comes from the French word dacquois, meaning "of Dax". (Dax is a town in southwestern France.) It is usually served chilled with fruit. One form of dacquoise is marjolaine. Marjolaine is long and rectangular and combines almond and hazelnut meringue layers with chocolate buttercream.
A classic dacquoise is made of two layers of a meringue filled with an egg-yolk-based buttercream. Often, the layers are of a meringue japonais. (Meringue japonais means there are ground nuts added.) The nuts can be blanched almonds or hazelnuts. While this dacquoise is based on layers of meringue japonais, it is held together with a mix of sour cream and milk and dark chocolates.
