Delia Smith hazelnut meringue cake is two crisp, chewy hazelnut meringue layers sandwiched with apricots, orange and whipped cream. You bake the layers at 140°C for 1 hour while the apricots simmer with cinnamon, then cool the meringues in the switched-off oven. One cake feeds 6 to 8, and it needs about 1½ hours plus cooling.
This version comes from her 2014 book Delia’s Cakes, and her website shows it today as Apricot Hazelnut Meringue Cake. It is a different dish from her chocolate meringue roulade, which rolls one thin hazelnut meringue round chocolate cream.
She first printed it as a soft, squashy meringue, baked hot and quick. Now she likes it crisper and chewier, so the layers bake low and slow and dry as the oven cools. The whites and sugar go together just as in her plain meringue nest recipe, and the sharp apricots balance the sweet, nutty meringue.
The meringue layers keep for several days in a tin and freeze very well. You can fill the cake up to 2 hours before serving. Her website made it Cake of the Week for Mothering Sunday in March 2026.
Delia Smith Apricot Meringue Cake
Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy8
servings25
minutes1
hour10
minutes380
kcalTwo nutty meringue rounds with a cinnamon and orange apricot filling and softly whipped cream.
Ingredients
- For the meringue:
3 large egg whites
175g golden caster sugar
75g blanched hazelnuts
- For the filling:
150g ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
juice of 1 large orange and a 5cm strip of its zest
4 tablespoons water
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
275ml double cream
a few whole toasted hazelnuts
Directions
- Nuts: Heat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas mark 4. Toast the blanched hazelnuts and a few extra for the top on a baking sheet for 8 minutes, timed. Cool, then grind the 75g finely in a mini-chopper.
- Tins: Lower the oven to 150°C, fan 130°C, gas mark 2. Lightly butter two 18cm loose-based sponge tins, 4cm deep, and line the bases.
- Whisk: In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whisk in the sugar roughly a tablespoon at a time.
- Fold: Lightly fold in the ground hazelnuts with a metal spoon. Divide the mixture between the tins and spread it out evenly.
- Bake: Set the tins near the centre of the oven and turn it down to 140°C, fan 120°C, gas mark 1. Bake for 1 hour, then switch the oven off and leave the meringues inside to cool.
- Filling: Meanwhile, put the apricots, zest, water, cinnamon, vanilla and half the orange juice in a shallow pan. Bring to a simmer and cook gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
- Purée: Off the heat, let it cool and lift out the cinnamon and zest. Whizz half the apricots with the rest of the juice in a mini-chopper, then stir the purée back into the rest.
- Release: Free the cold meringues from the tin sides with a palette knife. Sit each tin on an upturned bowl, push the ring down, then slide each layer onto a flat surface.
- Assemble: Whip the cream to soft peaks. Spread the apricot mixture over one meringue and top it with half the cream. Add the second meringue, the remaining cream and the whole hazelnuts round the edge. Keep it covered in the fridge.
Notes
- The bottom of a cake tin makes a handy lifter when you move the finished cake to its plate.
- Toasted hazelnuts burn very quickly, so never leave them without a timer.
FAQs
Can I use ready-ground hazelnuts in this meringue cake?
You can, because ready-ground hazelnuts work well in this meringue cake, and the 1992 edition of her Complete Cookery Course suggests buying them. Grinding your own after toasting gives the meringue a deeper, nuttier flavour.
That older book browns them at 180°C for 10 minutes before grinding. Her 2014 recipe toasts them a little less, then grinds them finely.
How do I get the meringue layers out of the tins?
The meringue layers come out cleanly if you let them go completely cold in the oven first, then loosen the edges with a palette knife. Loose-based tins help, because the side ring drops away when you stand the tins on an upturned bowl, one at a time.
Lift each layer off its base with the palette knife, keeping it flat so it does not crack.
Can I make the softer, old-fashioned version?
Yes, you can bake her softer apricot hazelnut meringue from 1992, which needs a hot 190°C oven for just 20 to 30 minutes. It uses the same 3 egg whites, 175g caster sugar and 75g hazelnuts, and serves 6.
Leave those layers in their tins for 30 minutes before turning them out. The filling uses 110g of dried apricots soaked overnight and simmered for 10 to 15 minutes with orange, cinnamon and soft brown sugar. Then 2 teaspoons of arrowroot thicken it.
Can I use other fruit instead of apricots?
Yes, other fruit works too, because Delia says any fruit suits this meringue cake, such as summer berries, or passion fruit in winter. Spread it over the bottom layer with half the cream, just as you would the apricot filling.
