Sans Rival Cake

Sans Rival is a popular Filipino layer cake consisting of cashew meringue and French buttercream. 

The best desserts have a variety of textures and flavors that work together to complement each other.

This sans rival cake checks all the boxes!

Sans rival translates to “without rival.”

And, after one bite of this sweet treat, you’ll definitely agree.

No other cake stands a chance against this crunchy and creamy dessert.

Filipino Sans Rival Cake

Like most Filipino desserts, this cake is naturally gluten-free.

Other gluten-free Filipino dessert options include: taho (silken sweet tofu), biko (sticky rice cake), and ginataang bilo-bilo (sweet coconut soup with tapioca).

Sans rival is a layered cake alternating between cashew meringue and French buttercream.

The cake is predominately flavored with cashews and butter.

As such, it is important to use high quality cashews and butter.

Cashews are native to tropical climates. As such, they are commonly used in Asian cuisines including Indian, Pakistani, Thai, and Chinese cusines.

In the Philippines, it is most popularly used for sweet applications.

The most iconic being the sans rival cake.

Raw versus Roasted Cashews

It is important to use relatively fresh cashews!

Cashews are high in oil (meaning high in fat!). Therefore, they can go stale or rancid quite fast.

Once purchased, raw cashews should be used within one month of opening package (wether pre-packaged or bought in bulk).

Sample the raw cashews before starting this recipe. The cashews should taste rich and creamy. If they’re flavorless, stale, or bitter, throw them out!

What’s the biggest different between raw and roasted cashews? 

FLAVOR! Roasting nuts helps to enhance flavor. I suggest toasting the cashews yourself rather than purchasing pre-roasted cashews.

Eat the raw and roasted cashews side by side, and you’ll definitely taste the difference. 

Cashew Meringue

Meringue is a simply a mixture of egg whites and sugar slowly baked in a low temperature oven until dry.

The meringue used for this Sans Rival Cake is special because ground toasted cashews are folded into the batter before baking. 

This cashew meringue requires four simple ingredients:

• roasted cashews
• egg whites
• powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
• granulated sugar

Use a food processor fitted with metal blade to grind the roasted cashews with powdered sugar.

Use the “pulse” setting of the food processor to grind the cashews in fast, quick intervals or short bursts. 

DO NOT use the “on” setting to grind the cashews in one go. That will create too much friction and heat. As a result, you will end up with cashew butter.

In order to produce a flour-like texture photographed in the image above, you need to use the pulse setting to slowly and gently grind the nuts.

The resulting cashew powder/flour should be uniform. If the cashew pieces are too big , you will have difficulty piping the meringue in the next step. 

How to make cashew meringue round layers:

1. Whip room temperature egg whites to shiny, stiff firm peaks.
2. Gently fold the ground cashew and powdered sugar mixture into the whipped egg whites in three additions. 
3. Transfer batter to a piping bag fitted with a round 11 mm tip. 
4. Pipe batter into an 8-inch round. Repeat with remaining batter until you have 5 cashew meringue rounds.
5. Bake in a 200 degree F oven for about an hour until meringue is dry.

French Buttercream

There are various types of buttercream: American, Swiss, German, Italian, and French.

They all contain butter but differ in their incorporation of sugar and/or eggs.

French buttercream is rich and creamy. The required ingredients are:

• softened unsalted butter
• granulated sugar
• egg yolks and whole eggs
• vanilla extract
• kosher salt

To make French buttercream, heat sugar syrup (sugar and water) to soft ball stage (between 235 – 245 degrees F). Place egg yolks and whole eggs in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.

While the eggs are whipping, slowly stream in hot sugar syrup. The heat from the syrup will “cook” the eggs, making them safe to eat. Continue to whip until mixture has cooled to room temperature.

Transfer to a paddle attachment and slowly add in softened butter, vanilla, and salt. After a few minutes of beating, you’ll be rewarded with a shiny, rich, and very silky French buttercream. 

How to assemble Sans Rival Cake:

1. Place one cashew meringue round on cake board or cake turntable. Spread French buttercream in an even layer.
2. Repeat.
3. Continue to stack layers of cashew meringue and French buttercream.
4. Use remaining French buttercream to coat sides and top of cake. 

Decorate sides of the cake with chopped toasted cashews.

If desired, decorate top with cake with cashews, as well. 

Otherwise, use the tines of a fork to decorate the top of the cake with any desired pattern.

Serving Suggestion:

• Allow the assembled cake to chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving. Overnight is ideal. 
• Before serving, let cake sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to soften buttercream. The buttercream should be soft and silky. Cold buttercream will not be as pleasant to eat.
• Sans Rival Cake tastes best at room temperature.
• Use a clean, sharp knife to slice portions. Wipe knife clean after every cut. 
• This is a VERY RICH cake. Slice into 12 portions or more.

Storing Leftovers:

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Use of an airtight container is vital! The buttercream will absorb the smells and flavors in your fridge.

NOTE: This recipe is measured by weight for accuracy and consistency. Use a kitchen scale (affiliate link) to measure out ingredients.