Chocolate Meringue Truffle Cake

by Nigella. Featured in FEAST

Introduction

This is a dinner-party stalwart from a couple of decades back, and I like it no less than I did when I first tasted it, made by my sister Thomasina, about twenty years ago. But I have added something: I make a thin meringue base instead of crumbling biscuits into the tin. This is not hard, not even remotely, and you don't have to worry about anything since you don't want airy puffy meringue, but rather a contrastingly crackling base, with just a hint of chewy marshmallow.

For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

As featured in

FEAST

2004

Buy Now

Chocolate Meringue Truffle Cake — Photo by James Merrell

As featured in

FEAST

2004

Buy Now

Ingredients

Yields: 10-12 slices

Metric Cups

For the Base

1 large egg white
50 grams caster sugar
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
drop of white wine vinegar

For the Truffle Filling

400 grams dark chocolate
60 millilitres rum
60 millilitres golden syrup
500 millilitres double cream
cocoa powder (to decorate)

For the Base

1 large egg white
¼ cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
drop of white wine vinegar

For the Truffle Filling

14⅛ ounces bittersweet chocolate
¼ cup rum
¼ cup golden syrup or light corn syrup
2 cups heavy cream
unsweetened cocoa (to decorate)

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/160°C Fan/350ºF. Line a 20cm / 8 inch springform tin with baking parchment and oil the sides with some flavourless oil; almond would be good.
Whisk the egg white until foamy peaks form and then whisk in the sugar a little at a time to make a thick, glossy mixture. Sieve over the cocoa and sprinkle with the vinegar, and whisk again to combine everything. Spread as evenly as you can over the bottom of the prepared cake tin and then put in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes.
Leave to cool while you make the truffle filling.
Melt the chocolate with the rum and syrup in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and let it sit off the heat for 5 minutes or so.
Whisk the cream until it thickens slightly — it should be slightly aerated and have the consistency of thick pouring custard, no thicker. Pour into the chocolate mixture, beating gently until everything is amalgamated.
Pour into the meringue-bottomed tin and cover the springform with clingfilm, and put in the fridge for a night or day, or for up to two days.
A short time before you are ready to serve the cake, take it out of the fridge and let it lose its chill. It will be easier to spring open if the chocolate truffle filling has become less fridge cold, although you don't want soft room temperature chocolate.
Spring the cake free, then transfer to a plate without removing the base unless you think you can with ease (and have one of those big round spatulas). Smooth the sides with a spatula if you want a smarter look, and push the cocoa through a sieve to dust the top of the cake.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/160°C Fan/350ºF. Line a 20cm / 8 inch springform tin with baking parchment and oil the sides with some flavourless oil; almond would be good.
Whisk the egg white until foamy peaks form and then whisk in the sugar a little at a time to make a thick, glossy mixture. Sieve over the cocoa and sprinkle with the vinegar, and whisk again to combine everything. Spread as evenly as you can over the bottom of the prepared cake tin and then put in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes.
Leave to cool while you make the truffle filling.
Melt the chocolate with the rum and syrup in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and let it sit off the heat for 5 minutes or so.
Whisk the cream until it thickens slightly — it should be slightly aerated and have the consistency of thick pouring custard, no thicker. Pour into the chocolate mixture, beating gently until everything is amalgamated.
Pour into the meringue-bottomed tin and cover the springform with clingfilm, and put in the fridge for a night or day, or for up to two days.
A short time before you are ready to serve the cake, take it out of the fridge and let it lose its chill. It will be easier to spring open if the chocolate truffle filling has become less fridge cold, although you don't want soft room temperature chocolate.
Spring the cake free, then transfer to a plate without removing the base unless you think you can with ease (and have one of those big round spatulas). Smooth the sides with a spatula if you want a smarter look, and push the cocoa through a sieve to dust the top of the cake.

Additional Information

MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
The cake can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in the fridge until needed. Leftovers will keep, covered, in the fridge for an extra day. To freeze, wrap the cake (still in its tin) in a double layer of food wrap and a layer of foil and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, unwrap, loosely cover and leave overnight in the fridge, but note that the meringue base may be a little softer and chewier when defrosted. Eat within 3 days of defrosting.

Tell us what you think

What 7 Others have said

This is the kind of cake I make when I want something elegant but without lots of separate elements as it looks great presented simply with just the dusting of cocoa. The meringue base layer combined with the smooth lusciousness of the aerated chocolate truffle is really indulgent and I definitely recommend. Just so you know, I've served it after 4 hours chilling in the fridge (and it was perfect) so it doesn't have to be chilled overnight or for a full day if your a bit behind schedule.

Posted by George739 on 16th November 2018
I made this in individual ramekins as the description of how to get the cake out of the tin scared me! I was left with a very strong rum taste in my chocolate mix, so think next time I make this I'll go for a tia maria or kahlua instead. I think I may have accidentally got some water from the steam into the chocolate, so next time, I'll melt the choc in the microwave.

Posted by MummaGD on 13th August 2017
My husband is not a sweet eater... but this is his absolute favorite... I'm about to make it for desert tomorrow night, it will have to be hidden behind something in the fridge....so he can't find it!

Posted by Deborahjane on 16th January 2015
Made this for my brother's birthday this year... HE LOVED IT! And so did the rest of. Decadent, delicious dark chocolate! Serious YUM!...P.S. Made it with brandy and a dash of frangelico instead of the rum, worked a treat!

Posted by else.uys on 29th April 2013
Since i don't like rum i substituted it for liquer 43, thats more my kind of thing. The taste went wonderful with the truffle chocolate cake. But probably you can substitute it for any liquer that you might like(i think coconut or mint infused rums would be great also). The cake was not difficult to make but the time of baking the meringue bottom is a little short i suppose, because it became wet after putting the filling on it(and it still hass to sit in the fridge overnight). So the taste and surely the crackling base where Nigella talks about was completly gone. Next time i bake this cake i think it would be a great idea to brush the meringue bottom with molten chocolate before putting the filling on it, so it won't go to waste. But after all this cake was still amazing!

Posted by Yfke on 31st May 2012
The full chocolate taste is very very rich and decadent. Next time I make this I will try to create smaller individual cakes as I found it hard to serve up a piece of this cake as it is quite delicate to cut.

Posted by hindll01 on 11th May 2012
Oh dear ... do you think I could live on this?! Major yummy.

Posted by AnnabellGrace on 1st May 2012