The Sans Rival Revival

(The Sans Rival Wedding Cake - February 20, 2020 @ The Brooklyn Historical Society)

The word "Sans Rival"  translates to "unrivaled" in French. It's a cake made of meringue disks with chopped cashew nuts folded in it. It is then layered with Swiss meringue buttercream (traditionally). The base cake is similar to a Dacquoise. A Dacqouise is a nut meringue typically made with ground almonds and hazelnuts. A Dacqouise cake is also layered with whipped cream or buttercream. 

The Sans Rival, a quintessential filipino dessert with a European origin and influence, is having its grand revival! It's becoming popular now and I believe it rivals the indulgent desserts we associate with European classic treats. It is one of the cakes that one must really add to their repertoire of favorites. It's a very simple cake and yet it is so good. 

I had a client who wanted to have their wedding cake made of entirely Sans Rival layers. I have to say it's one of the best wedding cake choices and the cake was a great success. Taking notes from its origin and influence, I was able to create a design that combined Asian and European aesthetics. 

The Sans Rival cake tiers were covered with strips of edible rice paper, and with the bride's decoration of choice of dried flowers, I thought it really added a European country accent to it. The visual texture is so classic and it gave that vintage painting look which was amazing! 

Check out the photos below! leave a comment. what do you think about the cake?