LE GATEAU SANS RIVAL

Who wouldn't love this delicious French torte called Sans Rival? It's  light and crispy, and melts right in your mouth. Layers of thin wafers with nuts and buttercream frosting in between.  It's  so delicious!

Sans Rival is a French torte that looks so intimidating to make. Some bakers might not want to try baking it for it seems complicated and takes long and tedious to make.  It actually isn't.  You only need four ingredients to make this torte; eggs, sugar, butter, and cashew nuts.   That's all there is to it and you can have a piece of heaven.

Ingredients

12 eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, for the egg white to make wafer

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, for the syrup to make buttercream 
4 cups  chopped cashew nuts

2 cups butter, room temperature

Before starting, prepare the following:

Make syrup with 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 cup water. Boil until thick enough to form a ball when dropped in cold water.  Set aside..

Line four 10" X 15" cookie baking pans with parchment or wax paper.  Grease the pan and parchment paper with butter.

Chop 4 or more cups of cashew nuts by hand.

*Set oven to 325 degrees F

Step 1 Making the Wafer or Sheets of Meringue

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Beat egg whites for 10 minutes with the electric mixer until foamy.  Add sugar a little at a time while beating until mixture forms soft peaks. With a rubber spatula, fold in chopped cashews nuts into the egg whites. Spread  the egg white  evenly into 4 greased cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake each cookie sheet for about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool. Remove parchment paper lining very carefully not to break the wafer.  

Step 2 Making the Buttercream Frosting

Beat egg yolks with an electric mixer for about 15 minutes or until lemon-colored.  Rest or stop electric mixer every 5 minutes.  Add syrup into well-beaten egg yolks, a little at a time until well blended. Cream butter and add egg yolk mixture to make frosting.

Step 3 Assembling your Torte

Put one sheet wafer  on a serving tray lined with aluminum foil or decorative lace paper. Line the four bottom sides with a strip of about 2 inches wax or parchment paper to catch any drippings when frosting the torte.

With a spatula, frost the top.  Then sprinkle with cashew nuts.  Put another wafer on top.  Repeat the process.

Trim the sides of the four piled wafers with frosting to make an even rectangular shape, if needed. 

Spread the cream mixture on four sides of the torte  to frost evenly. Then, sprinkle the chopped cashew nuts.

Chill in the refrigerator for about 3 to 4 hours or until frosting  has hardened.

* Cut torte with a sharp pastry knife.  Serve cold.
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