°Grind the nuts in the food processor, together with the flour & sugar (hold back 2 tbls. sugar)

°Whip the egg whites & lemon juice to soft peaks, add the saved 2 tbls. sugar slowly, then whip until stiff, shiny peaks.

°Fold in the ground nuts gently by hand!

°Spread onto a parchment lined half-sheet pan, and bake at 300F. (148 C.) until golden brown.

°Remove form the oven and let cool

°Whip the heavy cream together with the sour cream unti stiff

°Set aside

°Boil sugar & water until bubbles are big & thick

In the meantime....

°Whip the whole egg, and the yolks until emulsified, very bright in color, now add the thick, bubbly sugar syrup slowly to the emulsified eggs. Whip on medium high speed, until cool the the touch.

°Now beat in a piece at the time of the soft butter, whipping slowly but steady.

°Now fold in the the espresso

°Set aside

°Heat the heavy cream in a small pan, do not boil

°Place the chopped chocolate, butter and sugar in a stainless steel bowl, pour the hot cream over it and whip until smooth.

°Set aside to chill

°Place the assembled cake in the refrigerator for at least 3 -4 hours, before cutting

*The tricky part is to cut the Gateaux, you can assemble the cake, whole, the size of the sheet pan or baking tray, and then cut it with a sharp serrated knife, the size you prefer.

*Assembling the cake the size of the baking pan, means less waste when you cut it into sections.

1. Bottom Layer = Nut Merengue

2. Mocca Buttercream

3. Nut Merengue

4. Cream/Sour cream mixture

5. Nut Merengue

6. Chocolate Ganache