Summer is time for amazing meringue, yummy fruits and some soft creamy deliciousness! Thats why I suggest you try out my super duper packed with flavour and crunch meringue cake! It has walnuts, chocolate, mascarpone, berries – pretty much everything a summer dinner dessert could asked for! This is definitely to win over your guests with! Plus its super duper simple!

Here’s how you make it!

INGREDIENTS

Walnut & Chocolate Meringue Base 

• 1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts
• 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch (maizena)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 cup melted chocolate, cooled

250g mascarpone

2 cups cream (whipped)

5 tbs light brown sugar (fine/ or moscovado)

1 cup black berries (cut in halves)

1 cup raspberries (cut in halves)

1 1/2 cup strawberries (cut in quarters or halves)

METHOD

Walnut & Chocolate Meringue Base –   

1. Preheat the oven to 177°C and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment/baking paper. Draw two 8-inch rounds on one sheet of the parchment and one 8-inch round on the other. After the oven has heated up – lower it to roughly 107 C.
2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites with the salt at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the granulated sugar and corn starch (maizena) at high speed until stiff. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Pour the melted chocolate down the side of the bowl and gently fold until the meringue is lightly marbled.
3. Spread the meringue in the drawn circles and bake for 2 hours and 30 minutes, until crisp; rotate the pans halfway through baking. Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let the meringues cool completely.

Mascarpone & Berries Filling :

Break up your mascarpone in a medium sized bowl so it becomes a creamy consistency.

Then in another bowl whip your cream with the brown sugar. Once fully whipped, fold the cream into the mascarpone.

Once fully incorporated, spread onto one of the merengue layers, and place half of the black berries, half raspberries and half strawberries ontop of the cream filling.

Then place another layer of the merengue ontop of the berries, and do the same to this layer by spreading the cream and placing the rest of the berries ontop.

Finish off by placing the final merengue ontop of the berries and decorate with some whole berries and cocoa powder. I also added a few dollops of lemon curd only because I love the zing flavor with berries and cream!

Enjoy!