Natalie’s Meringue and Hazelnut Praline Ice Cream Cake 4

I once posted a photo on the PHOODIE Facebook page of my sister, Natalie’s famous meringue and hazelnut ice cream cake. I have never before been so inundated with requests for a recipe in my life than I was that day! The crowds went mad for it. I didn’t get around to putting it on the blog at the time, but the opportunity to post it on Mamamia came up recently, so I did. For those who missed it on Mamamia, here it is below!

INGREDIENTS

The Meringue

9 egg whites (3 egg whites per meringue)

2 1/4 cups caster sugar (3/4 cup per meringue, which is 1/4 cup per egg white)

1 cap white wine vinegar

1 cup good quality dark chocolate chunks (1/3 cup per meringue)

1 cup toffee hazelnuts, crushed (1/3 cup per meringue) Note: I buy them covered in toffee i.e. hazelnut praline, but you can make your own if you prefer. Almond praline also works well.

The Ice Cream

2L good quality store bought vanilla ice cream

2 cups toffee hazelnuts, crushed

To serve

Ganache: Melt together 200g dark chocolate with 100ml thickened cream slowly over a medium heat, stirring constantly. Allow to cool slightly, then serve over cake.

4 large fresh figs, sliced  – to decorate top of cake

1/3 cup toffee hazelnuts – to decorate top of cake

METHOD

1) ICE CREAM. You will need two 23cm baking paper lined cake tins. Remove store bought ice cream from freezer to soften. Once softened, in a large mixing bowl, place ice cream, and crushed nuts and stir to combine. Divide this mixture in half, scooping each half into a lined tin. Smooth down top and place back into freezer to set.

2) MERINGUE DISCS. Firstly, place the 9 egg whites in to an electric mixer bowl on high speed. It is important that once the mixer has been turned on that it is not turned off until the meringue mixture has been made.

Once the egg whites have whipped to form soft peaks you can start slowly adding the sugar. The mixture will gradually become glossy and stiff peaks will form, but you must not turn the machine off at any point!

When you have reached stiff peaks, add in the vinegar and mix for another minute or so. You can now turn the machine off and gently fold through the chocolate and nuts.

Divide mixture evenly into 3, placing each third on a baking paper lined tray. Sculpt each third into (approx.) a 23cm circle. Place into oven (170 deg. cel. fan forced) for about 20 mins or until meringue is coloured on top. Remove to cool.

3) ASSEMBLE. Place a meringue disc in the centre of your serving platter, remove an ice cream disc and place it on top of the base meringue disc, place the second meringue disc on top of the ice cream layer and then place the second ice cream layer on top of this. Finally, place the third meringue disc on top. Decorate the top of the cake with sliced figs and crushed nuts and pour ganache over to serve.

ABOVE: THE CAKE BEING SLICED

ABOVE: A SLICE OF CAKE SERVED WITH HOT CHOCOLATE GANACHE