Crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle these nutty fruity tortes have a great depth of chocolatey flavour. If you’ve never tried to make chocolate, apricot and walnut meringues before, go ahead and try the recipe. They’re perfect for a special occasion, dessert or afternoon tea.
Chocolate, Apricot and Walnut Meringues
After making yogurt custard, I had some egg whites to use up. These tortes had caught my eye from a book CT had given me for my birthday, High Tea: recipes with a sense of occasion, an Australian book which has a lot of very good traybake ideas I’m keen to try. The original recipe contained dates, but as I had been sent some Crazy Jack apricots to try out, I thought I’d substitute those instead.
I baked these chocolate, apricot and walnut meringues in my ten centimetre (four inch) fluted tart tins* to try and make them as pretty as possible. This means I can also call them tortes. Well why not?
I decided to line the tins with edible rice paper as I’ve had problems with meringues sticking before. Thank goodness I did as I reckon they’d have been nigh on impossible to remove otherwise.
You could, of course, go freestyle. But if you do, I’d recommend using rice paper anyway. It matters not at all if the meringues stick to it as you can eat the rice paper as well.
The tortes aren’t nearly as sweet as I was expecting them to be. CT described them as having a sort of grown up quality about them. In fact they’re a relatively low calorie treat. As you’d expect from a meringue though, they’re crunchy and light on the outside, but chewy in the middle.
The walnuts and apricots give extra crunch and chew and the chocolate adds a good depth of flavour. These are going to become a firm favourite I suspect.
Apart from egg whites, there are three main ingredients needed to make these chocolate, apricot and walnut meringues. Indeed, there are only six ingredients in total.
Dark Chocolate
You don’t have to use a flavoured chocolate to make these chocolate, apricot and walnut meringues. Chunks of plain dark chocolate work really well. I just happened to have a bar of pear and almond dark chocolate and thought it would make a nice addition. Just go with whatever chocolate you fancy or have to hand.
Pear and Almond Chocolate
Oh wow! I can’t believe it took me so long to try this pear and almond dark chocolate. Elizabeth Shaw sent it to me some months ago. The blackberry and ginger was good, but this is one I can see becoming a regular.
I have a penchant for almond chocolate anyway. This bar has the wonderful crunch of almond slivers and a faint yet perceptible pear flavour which is a surprisingly good combination. The dark chocolate is mild giving richness without bitterness. I used most of the bar to make these meringues. Sadly I only left 20g of it to enjoy as was intended but enjoy it I did.
Crazy Jacks Apricots
Crazy Jacks apricots are used regularly in this household as they are unsulphured and organic. I actually prefer the flavour of these dark brown apricots which is quite toffee like. These ones are the soft, ready to eat variety, so they were softer and slightly less chewy than the dried ones I’m more familiar with. But they still have that lovely toffee flavour.
These won Gold at this year’s Soil Association Organic Awards, and I can see why. I love to eat them just as they are. But I also enjoy them chopped up on breakfast cereals, in fruit compotes and in cooking. Grown in the Euphrates valley in Turkey, these apricots are dried naturally in the sun making them particularly delicious as well as nutritious.
They are available from Tesco, Ocado, Amazon and all good health food shops and cost £2.99.
Walnuts
If you think of a classic chocolate brownie, you’ll know that chocolate and walnuts go well together. Likewise, walnuts are a welcome addition to these chocolate tortes. They not only provide flavour but also crunch.
Walnuts contain all sorts of nutritional benefits as they’re particularly high in antioxidants. It’s said that they’re good for the brain. Remind me to eat a few more will you?
Other Meringue Recipes You Might Like
- Brown sugar aquafaba meringues (vegan)
- Chestnut cream meringue cake
- Chocolate meringue with raspberry & strawberry cream
- Hazelnut meringue with blackberries
- Mincemeat meringue pie
- Rose & white chocolate meringues
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these chocolate, apricot and walnut tortes, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more walnut recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Chocolate, Apricot And Walnut Meringues. PIN IT.
Chocolate, Apricot And Walnut Meringues – The Recipe
Chocolate, Apricot And Walnut Meringues
Ingredients
- 80 g dark chocolate (I used pear & almond 57% )
- 80 g semi-dried unsuphured apricots
- 70 g walnuts
- 2 large egg whites
- 40 g golden caster sugar
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
Instructions
- Grease six 10 cm tart tins and line the bottoms with rice paper.
- Roughly chop the chocolate, apricots and walnuts.80 g dark chocolate, 80 g semi-dried unsuphured apricots, 70 g walnuts
- Whisk the egg whites with electric beaters until you get soft peaks forming.2 large egg whites
- Add the sugar and whisk again until the whites are stiff and glossy.40 g golden caster sugar
- Sift in the cocoa and whisk again.2 tsp cocoa powder
- Fold in the chopped fruit, nuts and chocolate and divide the mixture between the six tart tins.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 150℃ (130℃ fan, 300℉, Gas 2) for 45 minutes, then turn off the oven. Open the door slightly and leave inside to cool.
- Remove from the tins and serve with the original rice paper on the bottoms.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
Walnuts are one of the main ingredients in these chocolate, apricot and walnut tortes. They play a very important part both in texture and flavour. So I’m sending them off to One Ingredient hosted by Laura of How to Cook Good Food which is walnuts this month.
If asked to describe these tortes, I would have some difficulty, but the closest would probably be a biscuit – a light chewy and crunchy biscuit. With this in mind, I am submitting them to the Biscuit Barrel with Laura of I’d Much Rather Bake Than …. The theme this month is “bookmarked” and I bookmarked the recipe the moment I first saw it.
Post Updated February 2022
Thanks to Kasia of Fuel Pr International for sending me a packet of Crazy Jacks apricots to try. I was not required to write a positive review and as always all opinions are my own.
prwilson says
Chocolate Torte is amazing.
Maya Russell says
I imagine these to be soft, chewy, yet crunchy. Mmmm.
Maya Russell says
I prefer Crazy Jack apricots too – naturally dried is better than additions of chemicals etc.
Nazima Pathan says
beautiful cakes Choclette and nice seeing apricot alongside walnut here. Must have been delicious. I do love Australian cookbooks. Thanks for sharing this one!
Christian Halfmann says
This looks and sounds really delicious to me. If it were already 2014 I would go and try the recipe very very soon.
Phil in the Kitchen says
These sound delicious. I’m a big fan of Crazy Jack’s apricots – there’s always a packet in the house.
Sue says
These sound so delicious. I have not seen these Elizabeth Shaw chocolate bars but will definitely be on a hunt for them.
Angie Schneider says
Chewy and crunchy at the same bite…I would love one too.
Baking Addict says
The pear and almond chocolate sounds delicious. I love the idea of this torte mainly because I like biscuits and of course anything with chocolate in it is a winner 🙂
Laura Denman says
I love the idea of combining walnuts and apricots – two good flavours and textures. The chocolate is an obvious win of course! Thanks for sharing with the Biscuit Barrel challenge =)
Alida says
These chewy delicious cakes made with walnuts look very inviting Choclette. It is so funny as I am munching walnuts right now! I love them. As a child I used to collect them from the tree in Italy. I am bookmarking this recipe as I would love to try it. Have a nice weekend.
simonaskitchen Simona Cherubini says
Chocolate is the right answer to a lot of questions! 😉 love these little cakes! Greetings from Tuscany, Simona!
laura@howtocookgoodfood says
I have tried the Elizabeth Shaw blackberry chocolate and loved it so I imagine this will be just as good. Those crazy jack apricots are way better than the suphured variety and have a lovely toffee taste, making a really healthy snack. This torte can only be delicious with so many good ingredients, I could see myself enjoying these very much! Thanks for entering One Ingredient xx
belleau kitchen says
oh my word, I love anything that’s nutty and egg-whitey like this… looks so chewy and gorgeous… also LOVE the sound of that pear chocolate, wowzers x
Kath says
I love that you have so much chocolate in your house that a bar can hang around for months. I am free this weekend if you need me to help you out with eating some of the bars cluttering your cupboard 😉
Sammie says
These tarts look delicious. We snack on dried apricots a lot and as my neighbour has a walnut tree I am fortunate to have a good supply. I’m going to have a go at making these. Great recipe. Sammie
Choclette says
I was thinking just the other day, I ought to make these again Sammie. Let me know how you get on.