Sans Rival (and Sylvanas in Cebu)

I started baking in my elementary years, when I read the recipe book as a kid, it went, "Sans Rival (without rival)" I thought how could Sans Rival be like without "Rival" in it? ;)

I've long wanted to try baking Sans Rival, but had been too lazy to make the meringue.  It has been too convenient to just order.  The best tasting sans rival in Cebu is available at Cebu Country Club for a cheap price of less than P500 for a large pan.  However, it's exclusively available for members and their guests.  Alternatively, you can orderly directly through one of their chefs, Pilpa. (I lost her number, I'll update this as soon as I can get hold of it).

Can you try baking this for me and let me know if it tastes good?

Ingredients for Meringue:
6 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup unsalted cashew nuts, coarsely chopped

Ingredients for Buttercream:
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup butter
2 tbsp rum or other flavoring
green food coloring, optional

1. Make meringue by eating whites with cream of tartar until stiff, gradually adding sugar.
2. Add flavoring and one half of the nuts.
3. Prepare cookie sheets; use 2 regular-sized sheets lined with white bond paper.  Overlap if bond paper is too small.
4. Spread meringue evenly over bond paper and bake at 350F, for 1 hour.
5. When quite brown, remove from oven and cool completely before removing bond paper.  (If meringue has not dried out, it will get sticky later).
6. For buttercream, combine sugar and water and heat over fire until syrup almost reaches thread stage.
7. Meanwhile, beat egg yolk, then add hot syrup in a stream.
8. Beat yolks continuously as you add syrup.
9. Cool very well.
10. In another bowl, beat chilled butter until creamy and whitish; add cooled syrup-egg-yolk mixture to butter and beat continuously.
11. Remove bond paper from meringue and spread one layer of it with the buttercream; sprinkle with some nuts.
12. Top with second layer and spread with rest of cream and sprinkle with nuts.
13. Freeze immediately and, when ready to serve, use a heavy sharp knife and cut with a quick downward motion.
14. A tiny amount of green food coloring may be added to the buttercream to give a nice pleasant green color and the yellow color of butter is comouflaged.

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Cebu Country Club 
Banilad, Cebu City 
(032) 231-0345/ (032) 231-1802

Alternatively, sylvanas are likewise popular in Cebu, it's price rising as its popularity.  Home baked Montenegro's sylvanas is the most popular; it's round, thin and crisp (purchased one recently, the meringue is thicker) while that of Mrs. Unchuan is growing popularity; it's oblong and thicker.  My personal choice still goes for Montenegro's.


Mrs. Maria Luisa "Nena" Montenegro
(032) 2322902
# 20 Dr. Tojong St. Lahug, Cebu City
(near Ayala Center Cebu, located one street before Golden Prince Hotel, next to Islands Stay Hotel & the new Metrobank/Asia United Bank Lahug)

Mrs. Marissa Unchuan "Mrs. U"
(032) 2334348

Yemas

A Cook's Treasure by Gloria Parinas Duterte, from Cebu City, Philippines has always been a reliable source of recipes for home cooked meals and goodies.  It was published in 1984, and with a sigh of relief, I still have the book.  It was lost, borrowed, misplaced so many times, and I always go frantic whenever it went missing.  I've already posted some of her recipes here, as a back up.

Since myfriendsunjun asked for this, I'm posting two versions of the Yemas, I as a kid loved.  I can't remember anymore which I preferred, it's your choice between more milk or more yolk.  I suppose, more yolk will turn out creamier in the inside, crisp on the outside.

Yemas

I.
1 can condensed milk
8 large egg yolk or 12 native egg yolk
1 tsp orange rind, minced or any flavoring
2 cups sugar for caramel
Cellophane cut in squares 4"x4", plain or colored

II.
10 egg yolks
2 cans condensed milk
1 tsp lemon rind or other flavoring
2 cups sugar for caramel
Cellophane cut in squares 4"x4", plain or colored

Beat yolks slightly and mix with milk.  Cook over low fire until mixture is thick.  Add flavor.  When mixture is difficult to stir, remove from fire and form into balls (or as you please).

Heat sugar in low heat to make caramelized sugar.  Once caramel is ready, coat balls quickly, using toothpick to dip yemas into it.  Let balls stand for a few minutes to dry coating on greased pan before wrapping.  Use caramel quickly, if it hardens, place over fire again on low heat.  Cool yemas thoroughly before wrapping in cellophane.

Note:  I like yemas minus the caramel coating. :)

Other than the yemas, my childhood favorite includes Duterte's recipes on Lenguas de Gato and Polvoron and I've been wanting to try her sans rival, and I've been saying that for the past twenty years. haha