Chocolate Ice Cream Cake With Meringues and Walnuts

I'm happy to share this recipe with you. This is one of my favorite summer treats! The tender ice cream, full of chocolate and walnut flavors, goes perfectly with the layers of sweet and melt-in-your-mouth meringues.

Preparing the cake takes time, especially if you make the meringue cookies yourself, but it's all worth it!

Ingredients:

For meringue cookies:

4 egg whites

220g sugar

vanilla (optional)

For the ice cream:

10 eggs (fresh)

250g butter (softened)

125g semisweet chocolate

5 tbsp sugar

5 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/4 shredded walnuts

Tools:

electric mixer

pastry bag

star piping tip

baking paper

springform pan or silicone cake mold

If you want to buy ready-made meringue cookies, you can skip this step!

For this recipe I prefer to make a French meringue. This method results in more tender meringue kisses, which partially dissolve in the cream.

The ratio I use is 1 egg white to 55 grams of sugar. Although 4 egg whites makes enough meringue cookies for this cake, I always like to make more to treat myself :)

Whip the egg whites with a mixer at low speed, until foamy. Start adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, and increase the speed to medium. Wait until it dissolves, before adding more. After adding all the sugar, continue whipping at high speed, until stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla at the end.

Additional tips:

- use clean and dry bowl, preferably metal or glass.

- use egg whites at room temperature

- avoid any trace of egg yolk

- use finer sugar, if you can

- avoid humid weather

- pipe and bake right away

Prepare a pastry bag with a star tip (I use Wilton 6B). Pipe the meringue onto a tray, lined with baking paper. Hold the pastry bag perpendicular to the surface, squeeze, then stop and lift. I like to make different sizes to place them tightly and fill the gaps, if there are any.

Bake in a preheated oven at 95 degrees C (200F) for an hour. Use the convection, if possible. Turn off the oven and let the meringues in for an additional hour.

They are ready when it's easy to peel them off the baking paper.

Separate the eggs in two bowls. Add 2 1/2 tbsp sugar to the yolks and beat them with electric mixer until pale yellow. Mix in the softened butter and whip well. Combine the cocoa powder with the mixture. Melt the chocolate. Pour it in and stir again. Then add the shredded walnuts and fold them in with a spatula.

In a second bowl beat the egg whites with 2 1/2 tbsp sugar, until soft peaks form. Carefully add them to the other mixture, 1/3 at a time.

You can use springform pan, silicone cake mold or just a regular bowl.

I used 25cm. springform pan. The bottom is covered with baking paper. I decided to add acetate collar, but this is optional.

Start by placing the first layer of meringue cookies. Cover them with cream. Add the second layer of meringues. Cover with the rest of the cream and spread evenly.

If you decide to use a silicone mold, start by covering with a thin layer of cream. Try to avoid any air bubbles, as they will be visible on the surface. Add more cream and then place the meringues upside down. Cover with cream. Finish with more meringues.

Wrap with cling film and place in the fridge for overnight.

Enjoy!