With a significant birthday coming up (yes, me, cough cough) I've had a version of this gfcf hazelnut chocolate layered torte in my head for a week. It took a bit of experimenting to find just the right combinations of custards and creams and bases, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Tah-dah.

Want the recipe? Here it is.

Hazelnut meringue

There are four of these layers. This is a big cake. For one layer, you need

4 egg whites 

1 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp vinegar

pinch of salt

125g hazelnut meal (buy pre-prepared or do it yourself beforehand - roast in the oven for ten minutes, remove the skins and grind in the TMX).

In the thermomix, use the butterfly and beat the eggs at speed 4 for 4 minutes. Add the sugar, vinegar and salt and beat at speed four for another two minutes until thick and glossy. Fold in the hazelnut meal. 

Pour onto baking paper and spread to about 1 centimetre thick. I cut the paper to fit a pizza tray and spread it out to the edges.

Multiply the quantities by the number of layers you want in the cake. You can get a quadruple quantity in the thermo bowl, but if you want more than that, you'll have to do several batches.

Bake at 160C for about 20 minutes, until golden and firm.

 

Chocolate cream layer for GFCF Torte

400g coconut cream

200g dark chocolate (I use Lindt 70% as it is basically dairy free and soy free. Read labels!)

Heat the coconut cream for 5 minutes at 60C and speed 2. Add the dark chocolate, broken up roughly so it melts and the two combine.

This quantity did three layers of my cake.

 

White custard layer for GF CF Torte

400g coconut cream

2 eggs

100g sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 leaves of natural gelatin (from a health food shop, or get it here. You may have to experiment with how much gelatin to use depending on the type you use.)

Cook cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla in thermomix at 80C, 5 minutes, speed 4. Prepare the gelatin according to instructions and whisk into the custard mixture.

This quantity spread over one layer of my cake.

 

Put the torte together

You'll also need 1 1/2 packets of frozen berries (or about 600g of whatever berries you choose to use)

The cream and custard need to be cold and thickening. Don't do this with warm ingredients. I found it best to freeze the bases to make them just a little bit stronger too.

On a tray, lay one of the meringue layers flat and centred. I spread a little chocolate underneath it just to stop it sliding off the plate.

Spread chocolate cream on the bottom layer to your desired thickness, making sure you've got enough for more layers. Lay another base on top. Spread this one with the white custard and sprinkle it with 200g of berries. Now put the third layer on and cover it with chocolate cream. The final layer is also to be covered with chocolate cream. Load the remaining berries on.

Melt about 100-200g dark chocolate and drizzle on top on everything.

And voila - your gluten free dairy free layered hazelnut chocolate berry torte, ready to go. I put it in the freezer until the big day. It's probably best refrigerated for several hours at least before eaten.