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1
Heat the oven to 150–160°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment and mark two 20 cm circles as guides. Verify the nut flour is completely dry; any retained moisture will prevent the meringue from drying correctly in the oven.
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2
Sift the nut flour together with the icing sugar. The combined mixture should be uniform and fine with no visible coarse particles; coarse ground nuts produce a grainy, uneven texture and prevent even baking.
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3
Beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then add the caster sugar gradually and continue beating to a firm, glossy meringue. The mixture holds a stiff, smooth peak when the whisk is lifted.
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4
Add the sifted nut and icing sugar mixture to the meringue in one addition. Fold — exactly enough strokes to combine without visible streaks of dry nut flour, without deflating the foam. This is where the dish lives or dies: one addition, minimum folding, no more once the mixture is homogeneous. Over-mixing deflates the foam and produces a flat, dense result.
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5
Pipe or spread the batter immediately within the marked circles in an even thickness. Uneven thickness causes thin areas to overbake while thick areas remain underdone.
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6
Bake at 150–160°C until the surface is dry to the touch but slightly yielding when pressed at the centre. Completely dry dacquoise becomes too brittle for assembly; the correct result is crisp on the exterior and slightly chewy within.