Pastry recipe
Almond dacquoise with aquafaba
A dacquoise starts with a meringue, but the difficult moment comes afterwards: that foam has to take the ground almonds, icing sugar and cornflour without becoming a dense batter. This recipe uses 250g of VERY AQUAFABA, 90g of sugar and 250g of ground almonds. The reference bake is 10 minutes at 200 °C in a frame or ring. The recipe contains almonds, so replacing the egg white does not make the finished dacquoise allergen-free. Updated: .
What goes into one batch?
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| VERY AQUAFABA | 250g |
| Sugar | 90g |
| Icing sugar | 250g |
| Ground almonds | 250g |
| Baking powder | 5g |
| Cornflour | 75g |
Keep the sugar for the meringue separate from the icing sugar that goes in with the dry ingredients.
How do you build the dacquoise?
Have the dry ingredients weighed before you start whipping. Chill the aquafaba and use a clean, grease-free mixer bowl.
- Whip the aquafaba until the foam stiffens.
- Add the 90g of sugar and continue until the meringue holds.
- Only then add the ground almonds, icing sugar, baking powder and cornflour, progressively.
- Mix only until combined.
- Transfer the batter to the frame or ring and bake for 10 minutes at 200 °C.
The process sheet puts each step beside its reference value for the station.
Why does the order matter?
The meringue needs enough structure before you add the heavy dry ingredients. If the almonds and icing sugar go in before the foam holds, the finished batter starts with less air. If you continue mixing after the dry ingredients have disappeared into the batter, you knock out more of that air. Prepare the frame, the ingredients and the oven before you start whipping so there is no pause between stages; how to whip aquafaba gives the peak to look for.
How do you use powder for the 250g dose?
The powder rule is 2g with 30 ml of water for one egg-white equivalent. For this recipe, make up 16g of powder with 240 ml of water. That gives 256g of prepared aquafaba. Chill it, then weigh the 250g recipe dose into the mixer bowl. Do not use the entire 256g simply because that is what the reconstitution produced. Check the powder and water proportions for a different amount.
How do you scale the recipe?
Scale every ingredient by the same factor. For two frames:
| Ingredient | Two batches |
|---|---|
| VERY AQUAFABA | 500g |
| Sugar | 180g |
| Icing sugar | 500g |
| Ground almonds | 500g |
| Baking powder | 10g |
| Cornflour | 150g |
Keep the reference bake at 200 °C for 10 minutes and check the result in the frame or ring you actually use. The calculator scales any number of frames.
What should you check when the dacquoise goes wrong?
| What you see | What to check | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Meringue does not stiffen | Temperature or grease | Chill the aquafaba and use clean equipment |
| Batter is loose | Dry ingredients went in too early | Build the meringue first |
| Dacquoise is dense | Batter was mixed too long | Stop once the dry ingredients are incorporated |
| Centre is under-baked | Bake or mould setup | Check the full reference bake in your frame |
| Edges dry too far | Oven or bake time | Check the bake at the reference time |
