It is no secret we love all things chocolate over here. We pretty much always have a supply of chocolate bars and we will try any chocolate dessert. I saw this recipe and was drooling, so had to try it.
This dessert starts with a dense chocolate brownie like cake bottom, topped with a layer of crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside chocolate meringue. It is a really nice contrast and the meringue between the outside and the cake is almost like lava cake, but a bit more set. We ate this cake as is, but it would be SO good with whipped cream and berries, or some berry syrup, and I’d probably serve with both if making for a party or dinner.
This cake was pretty quick to make and easy to put together. You definitely need a stand mixer, or a hand held mixer because you need to get the meringue to stiff peaks before topping the cake. I deliberately under baked the bottom layer a little before the meringue got added so that it would stay moist and not get over baked. Overall, this was a total hit of chocolate, just like we were hoping it would be.
Brownie Meringue Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 200 g 70 percent cacao dark chocolate
- 50 g good quality milk chocolate
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 100 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 70 g AP flour
- 1 tsp instant espresso
For the meringue:
- 3 egg whites
- 150 g sugar
- 15 g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 or 325 with convection. Spray a 9 inch springform pan and line with parchment paper.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heat safe bowl by microwaving for 20 second intervals and stirring between each. Stop before the chocolate is fully melted to prevent scorching, and allow the last bits to melt from the heat.
- Add the brown sugar, espresso and mix. Set aside while you proceed.
- In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until light in color and at least double in size.
- Pour the chocolate mixture in and whisk at low speed until combined. Fold in the flour. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the top is just barely set. You want it stable enough to be able to support the meringue when you add it, but not fully baked. After you have baked 10 minutes, start the meringue so it will be ready when the cake it almost baked.
For the meringue:
- In a cleaned stand mixer, whisk the egg whites on high until frothy. Slowly add the sugar, one tbsp at a time as it whisks. Then add the vinegar and continue to whisk on high until stiff peaks stage. You should be able to remove the whisk, slip it over and have the top of the peak at least at 11 o'clock position.
- Whisk the cocoa and cornstarch well and fold them into the eggs, taking care not to deflate them. Remove cake from the oven and cover with meringue. Spread evenly, then bake for another 20-30 minutes until the meringue is hard on the outside. Remove and cool slightly before serving. Serve with berries and whipped cream or as is. Store in a room temp air tight container.