When Elaine Townsend of Café Mochiko was growing up, her mom would buy this multilayered Filipino dessert from bakeries in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley for special occasions like birthdays. It’s a bit of a project—homemade meringue stacked with silky French buttercream—but the crispy-chewy-luscious texture is worth it. While the meringue is traditionally made with cashews, Townsend swaps them out for pistachios. She also adds fresh mango purée to the buttercream, normally kept plain, so that it’s fruity and tart.
A few tips: The recipe calls for egg white or meringue powder, which helps to stabilize the whipped egg whites so that they don’t weep or deflate. If you can’t find it, skip it. You’ll also want to make sure your mangoes are ripe but not too ripe—if they’re too ripe, they’ll have lost their slight sourness and will be hard to shave into thin slivers for swirling on the top. Of course, you can always skip the elaborate decoration: Shingle slices of mango or simply pile up cubes instead.
Once the sans rival is completely frozen (at least 2 hours), you can transfer it to the fridge for up to 5 hours for a softer, chewier texture (any longer and it will start to lose its structure). But if you prefer a crispier meringue, serve it straight from the freezer, where it will last, well-wrapped, for up to 1 week.
Recipe information
Yield
6 - 8 Servings
Ingredients
meringue
2
2
6
½
½
⅛
assembly
3
2
¾
2½
special equipment
Preparation
Meringue
Step 1
Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°. Toast 1 cup (140 grams) pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing halfway through, until golden brown, 10–13 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop; set aside for decorating.
Step 2
Reduce oven temperature to 300°. Cut 2 large sheets of parchment paper and trace three 7x3½" rectangles with a pencil on each sheet. Turn parchment over and place each on an 18x13" baking sheet (you should be able to see the traced rectangles through the parchment; they will be your guides later). Pulse powdered sugar and remaining 1 cup (140 g) pistachios in a food processor until the consistency of very coarse sand. Transfer to a large bowl.
Step 3
Place raw egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until frothy, about 2 minutes. With the motor running, gradually add granulated sugar, meringue powder (if using), and salt. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until stiff peaks form and meringue is glossy, about 7 minutes. Fold into pistachio mixture in thirds, folding until just combined before adding more. (It should still look fluffy.)
Step 4
Transfer batter to a piping bag fitted with a ½"-wide tip (or fill a resealable plastic bag and snip off a corner) and pipe to fill each traced rectangle on prepared baking sheets. (Or, you can divide batter into 6 portions and spread to fill each rectangle all the way to the edges with an offset spatula.)
Step 5
Bake, rotating halfway through, until meringues are light golden brown, dry to the touch, and firm (they shouldn’t crack as soon as you touch them), 40–50 minutes. Turn off oven, prop door open (a wooden spoon works well), and let sit in oven 20 minutes.
Step 6
Remove meringues from oven and carefully peel away parchment while meringues are still warm. Let meringues cool completely.
assembly
Step 7
While the meringues cool, peel 2 mangoes and cut flesh from pits. Purée in a blender or food processor until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan; add lemon juice. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened, 10–15 minutes. (You should have about 1½ cups.) Let cool slightly.
Step 8
With motor on medium-high speed, beat egg yolks in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment until pale and doubled in volume, about 8 minutes.
Step 9
Meanwhile, place granulated sugar and 6 Tbsp. water in another small saucepan (do not stir) and clip thermometer to side of pan. Cook over low heat until thermometer registers 240°, about 8 minutes.
Step 10
With motor on high speed, carefully stream hot sugar into whipped egg yolks, avoiding whisk and sides of bowl, and beat until bottom of bowl is slightly cooler to the touch, about 4 minutes. Mixture should be very pale, smooth, and glossy with soft peaks that fall back onto themselves.
Step 11
Turn off mixer and add warm mango purée. Beat on medium-high just to combine. Reduce speed to medium and, with motor running, add butter 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating until incorporated and smooth after each addition. Add a little more lemon juice to make a more tart buttercream if desired.
Step 12
Take 1 meringue and dot a little buttercream in several spots on the bottom. Set on a parchment-lined baking sheet and press gently to adhere. Using an offset spatula, spread ¾ cup buttercream over. Place another meringue on top and spread another layer of buttercream over. Repeat process until all meringues are stacked, pressing down a bit firmly when placing each meringue to maintain even layers.
Step 13
Using spatula, spread buttercream around sides and top of stacked meringues. Press reserved pistachios onto sides as desired, saving some for decorating the top. (If your buttercream is very soft, chill cake 10 minutes before pressing on nuts.) Freeze at least 2 hours before serving.
Step 14
Slice remaining mango and arrange decoratively on top of cake. Fill in gaps with remaining pistachios.
Do ahead: Cake can be made 1 week ahead. Wrap tightly once firm; keep frozen.
Leave a Review
Reviews (39)
Back to TopThis was scrumptious. Not a crumb left. Thanks!
MaxB
4/23/2021
How much water is needed for step 9 (for creating the hot sugar)? I've reviewed the recipe many times, and I don't see water listed anywhere.
Anonymous
Chicago, IL
4/29/2021
I made this and had to look up how much water to add with the sugar (as other reviewer points out) it was omittted on the recipe. I found a similar recipe that added 3/4 cup of water...I don’t know if this was right or not, but I tried it. No one in my family cared for this recipe—way too much butter and not enough flavor. Too much work for the output. And it tasted way too eggy....unfortunately I won’t try this again.
DessertMaker
Miami, FL
4/29/2021
I plan to make this this weekend. Any recommendations on an aperitif pairing?
Emily
Brooklyn
4/29/2021
"place granulated sugar and 6 Tbsp. water" Water quantity IS there even if not listed in ingredients, it is in Step 9 of the directions Haven't tried this one but made a classic sans rival (with cashews) It was VERY (too?) sweet. Getting the meringues off the cooking paper was impossible. Had to jigsaw puzzle the broken ones for the inner 3 layers with filling acting as glue. The top and bottom layers needed to be intact. Wonder about the wisdom / consequences of freezing fresh mango topping/decoration, in terms of taste and texture.
lgf= les gâteaux fabuleux
Boston & Geneva Switzerland
4/29/2021
I hate to write a negative review but the ingredients are so expensive for this that I feel I should warn others! I'm a pretty dedicated cook but had to abandon this halfway through as it was so fiddly and nothing quite worked for me. The meringue was too runny and burned on the bottom. In the end I turned the puree into mango curd and had to junk the rest!
Anonymous
New York
5/8/2021
Made it for my friend's 30th. I would definitely classify this as a more advanced recipe, but it was easy enough to follow the instructions except the print version was missing the amount of water for the syrup (6tbsp!!!). I was surprised that the mango prevailed through all the butter in the buttercream, but it did! Huge hit. Will make again!
Jess
5/10/2021