Full question
This Strawberry Meringue Layer Cake is absolutely divine! Made it for the first time for my granddaughter 5th birthday. Everybody loved it. It was so easy to make. One problem I had was not being sure how to test for done-ness because I don’t want to break the meringue to get to the sponge part. Any suggestions?
Our answer
Nigella's Strawberry Meringue Layer Cake (from NIGELLA SUMMER) is a popular dessert cake that is a cross between a layer cake and a pavlova. The sponge batter is topped with a layer of meringue before baking.
Unfortunately it is slightly difficult to test the sponge to see if it is baked. However the sponge layer is not that thick and the oven is fairly hot, so usually the layers for this type of cake would be baked in no more than 20 minutes. Even allowing for the insulating effect of the meringue, the baking time of 30-35 minutes should be enough for the sponge to bake and if you are not sure then aim for the longer end of the time frame. If the meringue is browning too quickly then you can tent the cake tins loosely with foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking.
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