Black star's watermelon cake recipe

It has been weeks since I departed Sydney but one thought that still lingers on would be the taste of Black Star Pastry dessert. I constantly try to envision the cake's ingredients because from memory, it was not too complicated, provided that I approach it in a more domestic-friendly manner.

And hence, I found it purely coincidental that I stumbled upon their cake's recipe on Gourmet Traveller whilst browsing for random/ challenging recipes. I quickly jotted down the recipe and within the next few days, had assembled the necessary ingredients.

Ingredients:

Almond dacquoise:
150gm almonds, coarsely chopped
150gm icing sugar, sifted
5 egg whites
135gm caster sugar

Process almonds in a food processor before adding in the icing sugar. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form before gradually adding the caster sugar to achieve stiff peaks. Spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at 150C until golden.

Note: I have used a lower temperature compared to the recipe's but this is only because of how my oven works (bottom part heats up too quickly and can burn the dacquoise!).

Rose scented cream:
300ml thickened cream
30gm caster sugar
2 tbsp rosewater

Whisk cream and caster sugar until soft peaks form before adding rosewater and whisking until stiff peaks are attained

Note: I tasted mine and had to use another 2 tbsp more of rosewater as mine did not produce the desired rosewater flavour that I was after. I have read other blogger's reviews on the cream and some bloggers recommend doubling the amount of cream used. Being the worrywart that I am, I did exactly as recommended and regretted my decision as there was way too much cream in the cake. Stick to the recipe!

Assembling ingredients
250gm seedless watermelon, thinly sliced
60ml rosewater
4tbsp caster sugar
40gm almond meal
500gm strawberries
10 seedless grapes, halved
1 tbsp slivered pistachio
1 tbsp dried rose petals (available at speciality stores which I had omitted due to cost :/)

Sprinkle 20ml rosewater and scatter caster sugar on watermelon. Allow to macerate for 30 minutes before patting dry.

Assembling:
Spread 1/3 of cream evenly on dacquoise, scatter with half almond meal then top with watermelon. Scatter remaining almond meal on watermelon then spread remaining cream. Top with dacquoise and spread remaining cream before refridgerating for 2 hours (left mine overnight!)

Combine strawberries, rosewater and sugar in a bowl and allow to macerate for 10 minutes. Pat dry and decorate cake with strawberries, grapes and pistachio pieces.

I think I am pretty good with whisking egg whites by hand, after getting a lot of practice from attempting macarons in the past;)

At this stage, I was not convinced that the cake's going to make it:S Did not look as pretty as I wanted it to be.

Finished product was stunning (after trimming the sides a bit!). I am very impressed with what garnishes can do to an overall piece. Aside from its beauty, the cake tasted quite nice, minus the extra bit of cream that I was misguided to add.

Ohh and what did I do to the remaining egg yolks? I made mayonnaise with white wine vinegar and dijon mustard. More whisking but definitely tastes better than the store-bought versions:)