Albert Kumin's Dacquoise The New York TimesJanuary 23, 1977 Craig Claiborne with Pierre Franey Yield:12 or more servings For the dacquoise: 5 egg whites, about ¾ cup 9 Tbsp. granulated sugar 1⅓ cups ground hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts Butter cream made with one pound of butter (see recipe below) ¼ cup confectioner's sugar, approximately Preheat the oven to 250o. Select one or two baking sheets of sufficient size so that three nine-inch circles can be traced on them without over lapping. Butter the baking sheet or sheets evenly on top. Sprinkle with flour and shake it around to coat the surface evenly. Shake off excess flour. Using a round-bottom nine-inch cake tin (or false bottom) and a pointed knife, outline three nine-inch circles over the flour-coated baking sheet or sheets. Place the five whites in the bowl of an electric beater. Beat until they stand in peaks, and gradually beat in half of the granulated sugar. Coninue beating until stiff. Blend one cup of the nuts and the remaining granulated sugar. Fold this mixture into the meringue. Outfit a pastry bag with a No. 4 star pastry tube. Add the meringue to the bag and squeeze out the meringue in a neat spiral to completely fill the three circles. Squeeze from the perimeter of each circle going toward the center, or vice versa. Fill in any empty spots. Smooth over the meringue with a spatula. Do not discard any unused meringue, but squirt it out onto the baking sheet apart from the circles. This will be used later for garnish. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until firm and set. Remove from the oven and gently run a metal spatula beneath the meringues to loosen them while still warm. Select the nicest of the three meringue circles for the top layer. Use a metal spatula and smoothly spread one of the circles with butter cream. Add a second circle and spread it similarly. Add the top circle. Spread a light layer of butter cream over the top. Spread smoothly the sides of the dacquoise with butter cream. Blend any leftover pieces of meringue to make fine crumbs. Blend these with the remaining one-third cup ground nuts. Coat the sides of the cake with this and sprinkle any leftover mixture on top of the dacquoise. Sprinkle the top with confectioner's sugar. Chill the dacquoise for an hour or longer to facilitate slicing. The dacquoise or leftover portions of it, may be wrapped loosely and frozen. For the butter cream filling: Yield: 5 - 6 cups 6 egg whites, slightly more than ¾ cup 1¾ cups superfine sugar 1 lb. sweet butter at room temperature Combine the six egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl in a basin of boiling water and start beating with a wire whisk. Gradually add the sugar, beating rapidly with the whisk. continue beating until the mixture is somewhat thickened. Ideally, the temperature for the mixture should be about 105o. In any event, a ribbon should form when the whisk is lifted. Transfer the bowl to the electric beater and start beating on high speed. Continue beating about 20 minutes or until the meringue is at room temperature. Gradually add the butter, beating constantly. This butter cream may be flavored as follows: for Mocha butter cream blend a tablespoon or more of instant or freeze-dried coffee with 1½ tablespoons cognac or rum. Blend this into the butter cream. Or for Chocolate butter cream melt 3 ounces of sweet chocolate with 1 tablespoon of water and blend it into the butter cream. Note: see also Dacquoise for the Coach House Restaurant's version, also published in The New York Times by Craig Claiborne. Albert Kumin, who created the version above, is or was a good friend of Claiborne's and a master pastry chef from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

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