Mocha Dacquoise is one of those rare desserts that stops you in your tracks. It’s rich with Chantilly cream, nutty with almonds and sweet with mocha chocolate. Served on crispy toasted merinque crusts, it’s the kind of pastry where one bite always leads to another.
I and a close friend became smitten with this at my friend Nancy Shephard’s Café Metro. There, pastry chef Ginna crafted it alongside other indulgent, irresistible desserts on the café menu. I always called before visiting to request an entire mocha dacquoise – though we happily shared with other patrons. When Nancy retired and the café closed, I feared this beloved dessert would disappear forever. Thankfully, Ginna came to the rescue, inviting me into her kitchen and teaching me how to make it myself.
So, What Is Mocha Dacquoise?
Think of it as a symphony of texture and flavor. Layers of toasted almond meringue, rich mocha-chocolate buttercream, and clouds of rum-laced Chantilly cream. The whole thing is elegantly finished with a dusting of powdered sugar and piped buttercream flourishes.
It’s a multi-step process, beginning with the toasted almond meringue crusts. Make these the evening before to allow them to gently cool and crisp. Make the mocha buttercream next, then the chantilly cream followed by the final assembly of the dessert.
The recipe makes 4 crusts, but they are fragile when made properly. This only requires 3 crusts for a two-layer dacquoise, reserving the fourth crust in case I break one during assembly. If you want, you can make two single layer dacquoise to serve a larger group.
Step One – Meringue Crusts
The recipe makes 4 crusts, but if they are made properly and thinly they are fragile. You may use three crusts to make a two layer dacquoise or all four crusts to make two single layer dacquoise.
Toast and grind the almonds then set aside.
Make the Meringue and fold in the almonds
Pipe the almond meringue onto the parchment paper.
Spread the meringue evenly with an icing spatula, then bake @225 for 2-1/2 hours, turn off the heat and leave in the oven to completely cool. Print
Meringue Crusts
Toasted Almond Meringue Crust
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 150
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites
- 1 – 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup skinless toasted almonds – ground
- Parchment paper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and draw (2) 9” circles on each piece of parchment paper – OR – use a stainless pastry ring
- Beat egg whites until foamy
- Add salt, cream of tartar and vanilla extract and beat until soft peaks form
- Gradually add sugar and beat 8-10 minutes until stiff peaks form
- Stop beating and gently fold in almonds with a spatula
- Pipe the meringue in circular fashion with a pastry bag large round tip using about 1/4 of the meringue for each crust. Smooth with a cake icing spatula to make round crusts
- Bake for 2-1/2 hours, turn off the heat, leaving them in oven until they cool overnight. Do NOT open oven door until ready to use!
- In preparation for making the Chantilly cream filling, place a standing mixer bowl and whipper attachment in the freezer
Step Two – Mocha Buttercream
Make the buttercream when you are ready to finish the dacquoise. It needs time to chill enough to pipe around the perimeter of the crusts and decorate the top of the dacquoise. Print
Mocha Buttercream
Chocolate Coffee Buttercream
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz (3 TBL) of hot fresh-pulled espresso
- 1 cup – about 6 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate – chopped
- 2 sticks unsalted butter –softened to room temperature – use land o lakes
- 3 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Make or buy the espresso from your local coffee shop
- Place the chocolate in a glass bowl, pour the hot espresso over it and heat the mixture briefly, about 30 seconds on high in a microwave and mix with a spatula. Repeat until you have a smooth mixture
- Transfer the chocolate to a standing mixer bowl and mix on low speed while adding the butter a little at a time, then add the egg yolks and the powdered sugar
- Mix until you have smooth buttercream and stop. Do not overmix
- Fill a piping bag with a medium star tip and chill until ready to use
Step Three – Chantilly Cream
PrintChantilly Cream Filling
A delicious rum infused, almond flavored whipped cream filling
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 TBL dark rum
- 1/3 cup chopped toasted almonds
Instructions
- Place the almonds in a food processor and briefly pulse. Don’t over-do it, you want to have large enough pieces to add texture to the Chantilly cream
- Remove your mixing bowl and whipper from the freezer, fill with the whipping cream and whip on high speed until it forms soft peaks
- Slowly add the sugar, then the rum and whip until you have stiff peaks
- Gently fold in the chopped almonds with a spatula and refrigerate until ready to use
Notes
Freeze your mixing bowl and paddle attachment for the best whipping results
Mocha Dacquoise – Final Assembly
When ready to assemble, the crusts are baked and the buttercream is chilled in a piping bag. The Chantilly cream filling is resting in the fridge waiting to be spooned into the center. Have a shaker of powdered sugar handy and get started.
Decorate the dacquoise as artfully or utilitarian as you wish. I am not a skilled cake decorator, so it is likely yours will look much better than mine. Ginna’s was absolutely gorgeous, but you can’t teach a steady hand or better eyesight. You have it or you don’t.
I will guarantee that regardless how it looks, it will taste divine. Print
Mocha Dacquoise – Assembly
Finishing the Dacquoise
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1-2
Ingredients
- Meringue crusts
- Chocolate mocha buttercream
- Chantilly cream filling
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Remove a crust from the oven, gently dislodge it from the parchment paper with an icing spatula and transfer onto a cake platter. Be careful, they are fragile
- Pipe the buttercream around the outer edge of the crust, then spoon-fill the center with Chantilly cream and smooth with an icing spatula to the top edge of the mocha buttercream
- Carefully place the second crust on top. Do not press and try to use the crust to level the filling! They are fragile!
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 if making a double layer dacquoise (optional)
- Dust with powdered sugar
- Decorate the top with more chocolate mocha buttercream
Notes
This recipe will make (2) single layer dacquoise, or (1) double layer dacquoise using 3 crusts.