Homemade Silvanas

Silvanas, alternatively spelled as sylvanas or sylvannas, is a Filipino frozen cookie consisting of a layer of buttercream sandwiched between two cashew-meringue wafers coated with cookie crumbs. Silvanas are the cookie versions of the Sans rival, a Filipino cake made from similar ingredients. – Wiki

Silvanas Recipe

Ingredients:

Meringue Waffer:

• 1 cup egg whites
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup all purpose flour , sifted
• 1/2 cup cashew nuts, finely ground and toasted
  
  For Buttercream:          

• 1/3 cup water           
• 2 tsps. vanilla
• ¼ tsp. cream of tartar          
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1 cup butter        
• 6 egg yolks
  
  For coating:  

• 1 cup finely chopped and toasted cashews + ½ cup toasted flour  or crushed grahams

Cooking Procedure:

1. Combine water, sugar and cream of tartar in a thick saucepan and mix well.  Clip candy thermometer.  Cook over medium high heat until syrup reaches 250 degrees F.
2. Start beating the egg yolks when temperature of the sugar mixture reached 220 deg.
3. Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. 
4. When syrup temperature reaches 250 degrees, remove from fire and add syrup in thin streams to the egg yolks, while beating at high speed.  Chill.
5. In another bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy.
6. Gradually add the chilled egg yolk mixture to the butter while beating at medium speed.  Wait for the butter to absorb the yolk mixture before adding the next spoonful or so.
7. Add vanilla.  Refrigerate until ready to use.
8. Pre heat oven to 300 deg F.  Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
9. Trace about 24  2-inch circles on the parchment papers and invert the papers. 
10. Combine egg whites, sugar, salt, vanilla and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl with wire whip attachment.  Start mixing at medium speed and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed and glossy.
11. Stop mixer and add in flour and cashew nuts and mix on high until well blended. Put mixture into piping bag fitted with a plain ½ inch round tip.
12. Pipe meringue onto the prepared cookie sheets.
13. Bake the meringue in the center of the oven for 25 minutes or until lightly brown.
14. Let it cool completely before transferring to a wire rack to prevent the wafers from cracking. Meringue wafers are fragile when it’s hot and very easy to peel off when it’s completely cooled.