MERINGUE GELATO CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE

 

INTRODUCTION

I found this recipe for one of the world's easiest but most delicious desserts in a rather fabulous book, by chef and "culinary philosopher" Gioacchino Scognamiglio, called Il Chichibio: ovvero poesia della cucina, which translates as "The Gallant: or the Poetry of Cooking" (and Chichibio, I should also tell you, was a rakish Venetian cook in Boccaccio's Decameron). At Scognamiglio's instigation, I went to great lengths to acquire a bottle of Elisir San Marzano — sadly no longer available — which has a peculiarly Italian, chocolate-coffee-herbal hit. Feel free to use coffee liqueur or rum or, better still, a mixture of the two in its place.

This is a no-churn affair. You mix everything together, wodge it into a loaf tin, freeze and you're done.

For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

INGREDIENTS

Yields: 6-8 slices

METRICCUPS

FOR THE MERINGUE GELATO CAKE

• 300 millilitres double cream
• 30 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
• 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (and/or rum)
• 100 grams shop-bought meringue nests
• 250 grams raspberries (to serve, optional)

FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE

• 250 millilitres double cream
• 125 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (and/or rum)

METHOD

For the Meringue Gelato Cake:

1. Line a 450g / 1lb loaf tin with clingfilm, making sure you have enough overhang to cover the top later.
2. Whip the cream until thick but still soft.
3. Chop the chocolate very finely so that you have a pile of dark splinters, and fold them into the cream, along with the liqueur.
4. Now, using brute force, crumble the meringue nests and fold these in, too.
5. Pack this mixture into the prepared loaf tin, pressing it down with a spatula as you go, and bring the clingfilm up and over to seal the top, then get out more clingfilm to wrap around the whole tin. Freeze until solid, which should take around 8 hours, or overnight.
6. To serve, unwrap the outer layer of plastic wrap, then unpeel the top and use these bits of long overhanging wrap to lift out the ice-cream brick. Unwrap and unmould it onto a board and cut the frozen meringue cake into slabs to serve. I like to zig-zag a little chocolate sauce over each slice, and sprinkle a few raspberries alongside on each plate.

For the Chocolate Sauce:

1. Pour the cream into a saucepan and add the tiny bits of chocolate.
2. Put over a gentle heat and whisk as the chocolate melts, taking the pan off the heat once the chocolate is almost all melted. If the mixture gets too hot, the chocolate will seize, whereas it will happily continue melting in the warm cream off the heat.
3. Add the liqueur, still off the heat, and whisk again to amalgamate the sauce completely. Pour into a jug, whisking every now and again until it cools to just subtly warm.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

MAKE AHEAD:
Cake can be made ahead — best if eaten within 1 week but can be kept for up to 1 month in the freezer. Sauce can be made ahead — cool and refrigerate as quickly as possible, will keep in fridge for up to 3 days. Remove the sauce from the fridge 1 hour before serving to allow it to come back to room temperature; if necessary rewarm as directed in the recipe. Sauce can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then rewarm as directed in the recipe.