Marjolaine (Dacquoise) Recipe
Marjolaine is a classic French pastry made with dacquoise (nut meringue layers). This spectacular dessert is chocolaty, nutty, crunchy and creamy. Swooooonnnn…..
Are you ready for a baking project? Yes? Great!
I’ve got a really good one for you. Marjolaine is of my all-time favorite classic French pastries.
My version of this decadent dessert is made with crisp almond and hazelnut meringues layered with dark chocolate ganache, chocolate whipped cream and hazelnut buttercream.
Even though there are lots of steps to this recipe, you can spread the work over several days and the cake can be assembled a day before.
So, take your time, enjoy the process, and get ready to take a bow.
How to make Marjolaine:
- To make the dacquoise (nut meringues) start by grinding the almonds and hazelnuts with the flour.
- Whip the egg whites with the sugar to stiff peak.
- Fold in the nuts in two batches.
- Spread the meringue into a half sheet pan and bake.
- Toast the hazelnuts. Put the warm nuts in a dry kitchen towel and rub to remove the skins.
- Set 24 nuts aside for decoration. Use the rest to make hazelnut paste.
- Grind the warm nuts until they look like peanut butter.
- Add the sugar.
- Add the hazelnut oil.
- Process to a smooth paste.
- Cook the sugar to a dark caramel.
- Remove the caramel from the heat and toss in the nuts.
- Lift the nuts, 1 at a time, with a greased fork.
- Put the nuts onto a lined sheet pan to set.
- The dacquoise should be firm, not soft.
- Cut the dacquoise into 4 pieces across the short side..
- Gather all the fillings and get ready for assembly.
- Spread ganache onto the first layer of dacquoise.
- Spread chocolate cream over the ganache.
- Add the next layer of dacquoise and top with hazelnut buttercream.
- Top the third layer with ganache and cream.
- Set the final nut meringue layer onto the cake with the smooth side up.
- Ice the entire cake with a layer of hazelnut buttercream and chill until firm.
- Glaze the cake with melted ganache.
- Lift the cake onto a serving platter to decorate.
FAQs for Marjolaine & Dacquoise
Yes. Dacquoise is the name for nut meringue cake layers and is also the name of any assembled cake that includes those nut meringue layers. A Marjolaine is a specific type of Dacquoise that always includes chocolate and is presented in a rectangular shape.
The dacquoise should be light and crisp, not spongy like a cake. After the baking time, turn off the oven and leave the dacquoise in the oven to continue drying until the oven is completely cool.
Yes. I suggest you slice the dacquoise into the 4 layers, then wrap them with a piece of parchment or wax paper between the layers. Unwrap the layers and allow them to defrost at room temperature.
Yes, because of the chocolate cream the cake should be refrigerated until 1-2 hours before serving. The cake tastes best at room temperature.
Yes, you can freeze the assembled cake or left over individual slices. Double wrap in plastic and bring to room temperature before serving.
If you love classic French pastries (and who doesn’t?), here are a few great recipes you’ll want to try; Concorde Cake, Caneles de Bordeaux, Apple Frangipane Tart, Classic Cream Puffs, Chocolate Eclairs, French Apple Tart, French Apple Cake, Creme Brulee, Chocolate Merveilleux, and airy Genoise or Chocolate Genoise.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
Marjolaine (Dacquoise) Recipe
Ingredients
Meringue Layers
- 5 ounces almonds or almond flour
- 5 ounces hazelnuts
- 1 ¼ ounces all purpose flour (¼ cup)
- 10 ounces egg whites (8 large)
- 12 ounces granulated sugar (1 ½ cups)
Fillings & Assembly
- 5 ounces hazelnuts
- 4 ounces confectioner’s sugar (1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil (see note)
- 4 ounces granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 1 recipe Dark Chocolate Ganache (room temperature)
- 1 recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream
- ½ recipe Chocolate Whipped Cream
Instructions
Meringue Layers
- Preheat the oven to 275 °F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, grind the nuts until fine. Toss in the flour. Pulse a few times to combine. Set the nuts aside.5 ounces almonds or almond flour, 5 ounces hazelnuts, 1 ¼ ounces all purpose flour
- In a large mixer bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites on medium speed (#6-7) until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, gradually add the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high (#7-8) and continue whipping until stiff peaks are formed.10 ounces egg whites, 12 ounces granulated sugar
- Fold the ground nuts into the meringue in two batches.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and spread to an even layer.
- Bake until lightly browned and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Turn off the oven and leave the pans in the oven until completely cooled. The layer should be crisp, not spongy like a cake.
- The meringues can made made 1-2 days ahead and stored at room temperature, tightly wrapped.
Fillings
- Toast the hazelnuts in the oven until golden brown and fragrant. If the hazelnuts have skins, fold the warm nuts in a kitchen towel and rub back and forth to remove as much skin as possible. Remove 24 nuts and set them aside for garnish.5 ounces hazelnuts
- Place the rest of the warm nuts in a food processor. Process for 4-5 minutes. At first it will look like a powder, then it will look like wet sand and eventually it will form a paste that looks like peanut butter. Stop the processor and scrap down the bowl whenever the mixture builds up on the sides. Add the confectioner’s sugar to the hazelnut paste and process until combined. Stop the processor and scrape down the bowl whenever the mixture builds up on the sides. Add the hazelnut oil and process until it becomes a smooth paste. The hazelnut paste can be made ahead and stored at room temperture for a day, refrigerated for as long as a week or frozen for up to 3 months.4 ounces confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
- To prepare the reserved 24 hazelnuts for garnish, place a silicone baking mat or a sheet of parchment paper onto a half sheet pan. Have the hazelnuts set near the prepared pan. Lightly oil a dinner fork with oil or use baking spray to coat the tines of the fork.
- For the caramel, sprinkle the granulated sugar into a small sauce pan. Place the pan over medium-high heat. When the edges of the sugar begin to melt, reduce the heat to medium and begin stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent spots from burning. Continue cooking the sugar until it melts completely and cooks to a golden caramel color. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.4 ounces granulated sugar
- Drop the hazelnuts into the the warm caramel. Use the greased fork to immediately lift a nut out of the caramel. Allow the excess caramel to drain back into the pan. Set the coated nut onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Continue with the remaining nuts, working quickly before the caramel in the pan begins to set. The nuts can be dipped several days ahead and stored in a covered container at room temperature.
- Make the ganache according to the recipe and set aside to cool to room temperature. You can make the ganache up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate. Bring it back to room temperature and to a spreadable consistency before assembling the Marjolaine.1 recipe Dark Chocolate Ganache
- Make the Italian Meringue Buttercream according to the recipe. Add the hazelnut paste to the buttercream. Set aside at room temperature.1 recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Just before you’re ready to assemble the cake, make the chocolate whipped cream. The cream must be used as soon as it’s made so this should not be done ahead of time.½ recipe Chocolate Whipped Cream
Assembly
- Cut the meringue layer into fourths across the short side.
- Place a meringue layer onto a cardboard cake board or the back side of a baking tray. Spread ¼ of the ganache over the meringue layer. Spread ½ the chocolate cream over the ganache.
- Place the 2nd meringue layer over the chocolate cream. Spread ⅓ of the hazelnut buttercream onto the meringue.
- Top with the 3rd meringue layer. Spread ⅓ of the remaining ganache over the meringue layer. Spread the rest of the chocolate cream over the ganache.
- Place the final meringue layer with the smooth side up. Smooth ice the top and sides of the cake with buttercream. Place the cake into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours until the buttercream is set firm or set into the freezer for 30 minutes. The buttercream must be quite cold to glaze the cake.
- Set a cooling rack over a clean sheet pan. Use a long spatula to lift the chilled cake onto the rack.
- Warm the remaining ganache in the microwave in 10 second increments until it is pourable but not very hot. Don’t overheat the ganache or it will curdle. Starting from one end of the cake, drizzle the ganache over the top of the cake. Use a spatula to swipe 1x along the top of the cake and allow the ganache to flow over and completely cover the sides. Use a spatula to fill in in any bare spots. Allow the ganache to set completely before transferring the cake to a serving tray.
- Using the reserved buttercream, pipe 12 rosettes along each side of the cake. You want a pair of rosettes on each slice of cake. Place a candied hazelnut on each rosette. Pipe a border of buttercream around the bottom of the cake.
- Refrigerate until 1 hour before serving. The cake can be assembled up to a day in advance.
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Baked this for my husband’s 49th birthday. We usually buy hazelnut dacquoise from a French patisserie however I thought I’d give it a try at home. It was rather time-consuming and having a helper is a good idea (especially if you only have a handheld hand-mixer like me). I made it in stages over a couple of days too. The recipe provides excellent instructions so I found it very easy to follow. My husband, kids, and neighbour all loved the cake, and they are still raving about it! It is probably the most delectable cake I’ve ever eaten – much like a Ferraro Rocher chocolate but in cake form. I found it tasted better when it was almost at room temperature rather than straight out of the fridge. I’m raring myself up to make it again for my neighbours birthday in a couple of days now 😉 I do have photos of the cake if anyone is interested.
Hi Elizabeth. I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake. It’s definitely a personal favorite. If you post photos on social media please feel free to tag Baking Sense.
It was definitely a technicality challenging dessert. Too sweet to my taste even though I cut sugar and way too much buttercream.
My favorite dessert! I always bought this from a French bakery but now I make it myself. Your recipe is wonderful……it’s better than the bakery’s! Thank you!
What do you do with the hazelnut paste??? The recipe does mot say??
Step 7 says “Make the Italian Meringue Buttercream according to the recipe. Add the hazelnut paste to the buttercream. Set aside at room temperature.”.
Can I use a frosting that does not have a butter base instead of Italian Meringue Buttercream in this recipe? If so, which one?