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