Nigella Lawson Meringue Gelato Cake 

Nigella Lawson’s meringue gelato cake is a no-churn frozen dessert: whipped cream folded with dark chocolate splinters, liqueur and crushed meringue nests, frozen in a loaf tin and sliced into slabs with a warm chocolate sauce. It yields 6 to 8 slices, from her book Nigellissima.

It has unusually literary roots. She found it in a 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”. Chichibio, she tells us, was a rakish Venetian cook in Boccaccio’s Decameron.

At Scognamiglio’s instigation she went to great lengths to get a bottle of Elisir San Marzano, now sadly discontinued, which had a peculiarly Italian chocolate-coffee-herbal hit. In its place she says to use coffee liqueur or rum, or better still a mixture of the two. The whole thing is a no-churn affair: mix everything, wodge it into a loaf tin, freeze, and you’re done.

Nigella Lawson Meringue Gelato Cake 

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6-8

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Calories

480

kcal

Total time

8

hours 

15

minutes

Nigella’s no-churn frozen dessert from Nigellissima: whipped cream with dark chocolate, liqueur and crushed meringue, frozen into a loaf and sliced with warm chocolate sauce. Yields 6 to 8 slices.

Ingredients

• For the meringue gelato cake:

• 300ml double cream

• 30g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)

• 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (and/or rum)

• 100g shop-bought meringue nests

• 250g raspberries, to serve (optional)

• For the chocolate sauce:

• 250ml double cream

• 125g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), finely chopped

• 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (and/or rum)

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Directions

• For the cake:
• Line the tin: Line a 450g/1lb loaf tin with cling film, leaving enough overhang to cover the top later.
• Whip: Whip the cream until thick but still soft.
• Fold in chocolate: Chop the chocolate very finely into dark splinters and fold into the cream with the liqueur.
• Add meringue: Using brute force, crumble the meringue nests and fold them in.
• Freeze: Pack into the tin, pressing down with a spatula. Bring the cling film over to seal, then wrap more cling film around the whole tin. Freeze until solid, about 8 hours or overnight.
• Serve: Unwrap the outer layer, unpeel the top and use the overhang to lift out the brick. Unmould onto a board and cut into slabs. Zig-zag chocolate sauce over each slice and scatter a few raspberries alongside.
• For the chocolate sauce:
• Melt: Pour the cream into a saucepan with the tiny bits of chocolate. Over gentle heat, whisk as the chocolate melts, taking the pan off the heat once it’s almost all melted (if it gets too hot the chocolate seizes; off the heat it keeps melting happily in the warm cream).
• Finish: Off the heat, add the liqueur and whisk to amalgamate. Pour into a jug, whisking now and then until it cools to just subtly warm.

Notes

• Freezing Time: (plus 8 hours freezing)
• (the booze): Nigella originally used Elisir San Marzano (now discontinued) for its chocolate-coffee-herbal note. Use coffee liqueur (like Kahlúa) or rum, or best of all a mix of the two.
• (don’t let the chocolate seize): When making the sauce, take the pan off the heat before all the chocolate has melted; the residual warmth finishes it. Overheating makes chocolate seize into a grainy mess.
• (slicing): A sharp, heavy knife dipped in hot water and wiped cuts the frozen cake into clean slabs.
• (make ahead): The cake is best eaten within 1 week but keeps up to 1 month in the freezer. The sauce keeps in the fridge up to 3 days (bring back to room temperature an hour before serving, rewarming if needed) or frozen up to 1 month (thaw overnight in the fridge, then rewarm).

FAQs

Do I need an ice cream machine?

No, and that’s the whole appeal. This is a completely no-churn frozen dessert, so you need nothing more than a bowl, a whisk and a loaf tin. As Nigella puts it, you mix everything together, wodge it into the tin, freeze and you’re done. The whipped cream holds enough air that it freezes to a soft, scoopable, gelato-like texture without churning.

That makes it one of the easiest impressive desserts you can make, and a brilliant one to have up your sleeve for guests, since it must be made ahead anyway. There’s no custard to cook, no machine to clean. The crushed meringue melts into little crackly pockets, and the chocolate splinters give flecks of texture throughout. It’s foolproof, which is part of why Nigella loves it. For another no-churn frozen pud, there’s her no-churn matcha ice cream.

What’s the best liqueur to use?

Nigella’s original choice was Elisir San Marzano, an Italian liqueur with a distinctive chocolate-coffee-herbal flavour that she went to great lengths to track down. Sadly it’s no longer available, so she suggests coffee liqueur (such as Kahlúa or Tia Maria) or rum, or, her preferred option, a mixture of the two, which gives both the coffee depth and a warm, rounded note.

The liqueur does more than flavour: a little alcohol also stops the cake freezing rock-solid, keeping it sliceable and soft on the tongue. You could experiment with Amaretto, Frangelico or even Baileys for different flavour leanings. If you want it alcohol-free, use a tablespoon of strong cold espresso in the cake instead, though it will freeze slightly harder. The same liqueur goes into the chocolate sauce.

Why does my chocolate sauce go grainy, and how do I avoid it?

That’s chocolate seizing, and Nigella’s method is designed to prevent it. The trick is gentle heat and patience: warm the cream and chopped chocolate together slowly, whisking, and crucially take the pan off the heat while there are still a few unmelted bits left. The residual warmth in the cream finishes melting them off the heat.

If you let it get too hot or boil it, the chocolate seizes into a grainy, split mess. So low and slow, and err on the side of underheating, as it will happily continue melting in the warm cream off the heat, as she says. Add the liqueur only off the heat, then whisk until glossy and smooth. If it does thicken too much on cooling, a little warm cream whisked in loosens it. Serve the sauce just subtly warm over the frozen slices.

Can I change the meringue or add fruit?

Yes, it’s flexible. Nigella uses shop-bought meringue nests (about 100g), crushed with brute force into the cream, which saves you making meringue. Any plain meringues work, nests, shells or broken pieces. Don’t crush them to dust; you want chunks and crumbs for texture and those little crackly pockets through the cake.

She serves it with a few raspberries scattered alongside, whose sharpness cuts beautifully through the rich cream and chocolate. Other berries (strawberries, blackberries) or a berry coulis work just as well, and are worth adding for contrast. You could also fold chopped toasted nuts or extra chocolate into the cream. The core of whipped cream, chocolate splinters, liqueur and meringue stays the same. It’s a bit like a frozen take on Eton mess.

How far ahead can I make it?

It has to be made ahead, which is the beauty of it. The cake needs at least 8 hours, ideally overnight, in the freezer to set solid before slicing. Beyond that, it’s best eaten within 1 week for the freshest flavour and texture, but it keeps in the freezer for up to 1 month, so you can make it well in advance of a dinner or party.

The chocolate sauce can also be made ahead: cool and refrigerate it quickly, where it keeps for up to 3 days, then bring it back to room temperature an hour before serving (rewarming gently if needed). The sauce freezes for up to a month too. So you can have both components ready and waiting, and just slice, drizzle and scatter raspberries to serve. It’s a genuinely stress-free make-ahead dessert.

How do I get neat slices?

Because it’s frozen solid, a bit of care gives clean slabs. First, use the cling film overhang to lift the whole brick out of the tin and unmould it onto a board. Then slice with a sharp, heavy knife that you’ve dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts; the warm blade glides through the frozen cream and meringue without crushing it.

Cut it into thickish slabs rather than thin slices, as it holds together better and looks generous. If it’s very hard straight from the freezer, let it sit for a couple of minutes to soften very slightly before slicing. Then zig-zag the warm chocolate sauce over each slice (Nigella likes to “Jackson Pollock” it) and add the raspberries on the plate. Serve straight away, as it softens quickly. There’s more on the Nigella Lawson recipes page, including her cappuccino pavlova.