MERINGATA: the taste of an ice-cream cake, with no ice-cream at all!

| Italian Goodness
 
Meringata (literally “meringued” – with meringue on it or in it) refers to any type or cake or dessert with a meringue topping or meringue mixed into it.
In Veneto (the Italian Region which I come from), Meringata is a very picturesque cake
similar to Pavlova,
the Austialian/New Zeland meringue cake consisting of wheels of meringue layered with whipped cream.
Except for the custard layer, the Meringata does not need to be cooked or baked, but rather just needs to be assembled together, to obtain an absolutely tempting dessert, delicate, velvety, and fresh!
Your guests will be amazed by the beauty and the deliciousness of this cake,
and you’ll be amazed to know how easy it is to make!
 

INGREDIENTS for a 12″ round Meringata

1 container Lady Finger cookies              (un pacco di Savoiardi)

1  can peaches in heavy syrup       (un barattolo di pesche sciroppate)

a quart heavy whipping cream     (un litro di panna da montare)

about 12 oz. meringues                (circa 250 grammi spumiglie)

about 4.4 oz. dark chocolate finely chopped      (circa 125 gr. cioccolato fondente tagliato finemente)

about 30 Amaretti cookies (3.5 oz.)           (circa 30 amaretti, 100 gr.)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CUSTARD (CREMA PASTICCERA)

6 yolks  (6 tuorli)

2 oz. or 1/4 cup all porpose flour (45 gr. farina)

1 tsp. vanilla extract (1 cucchiaino di  aroma alla vaniglia)

2/3 cup sugar (140 gr. zucchero)

16 oz. or 2 cups whole milk (500 ml. di latte intero)

1 lemon zest (la scorza di un limone)

DIRECTIONS for making the custard

A few hours before making the cake, or even the day before, prepare the custard according to this recipe.  (To build your Meringata, the custard MUST be cool.).

FOR THE MERINGUES

You can easily buy meringues at the groceries store, but if you prefer to make them from scratch, follow this recipe, and these quantities:

200 gr. cold egg whites (usually 6 or 7 cold egg whites)

2 cups granulated sugar (400 gr.)

optional :1 tsp. lemon extract

To build your Meringata

 Separate the peaches from their syrup and save the syrup for later (you have to soak the Lady Fingers in it).    Crumble the Amaretti and arrange them on a round platter to form the first layer of the cake, and sprinkle with the chopped dark chocolate.

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The next layer will be made by crumbling the meringues.  Crumble them into coarse pieces- big enough to be felt when you eat the cake.

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Whip the whipping cream and cover the meringues.  Spreading whipped cream on chunks of meringues can be a little challenging, so I usually arrange small dollops of whipped cream close together, and then spread it evenly, so as to cover the layer underneath.

Next, soak the Lady Fingers in the peach syrup and layer them onto the cake.  (If you haven’t enough syrup from the peaches, you can dilute it with water and sugar.  For each Tbs. of water you add, you need to add a tsp. of sugar.)

Spread the custard evenly on the lady fingers.

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Cut the peaches into pieces and arrange them on the custard, in a way to cover every free spot.

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Make another layer of whipped cream, and this time make sure to cover not only the top of the cake, but also the sides.

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Finish your awesome cake buy covering it with the crumbled meringues left.

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Put your Meringata in the freezer at least 5 or 6 hours.  Let it thaw a little before serving: it will be like eating an ice-cream, with no ice-cream at all!

 LEARNT IT, MADE IT, LOVED IT!

Tips:

– It really make sense deciding to make also the meringues from scratch since to make the custard you will have 6 eggs white left. If you agree with me, I suggest you to make the custard and the meringues the day before making the cake. Only be sure to cover the custard properly with a plastic wrap and keep it refrigerated until it’s time to use it.

– This cake could be filled with any kind of fruit you prefer (even a fruit cocktail). The important part is that you use a syrup to soak the Lady Finger with the same taste of the fruit you picked (or otherwise use just water and sugar as syrup). I usually make Meringata with peaches or strawberry because they give to the cake a very light and delicate taste, but I would say that using a mix of berries would be a delicious alternative!

– Keep your “Meringata” in the freezer until a couple hours before serving it, and then move it to the refrigerator until the moment you are ready to cut and serve it.

– For sure this cake is ideal for the summer time, since is very refreshing, but honestly, I made it in February, with 8 F. outside, and everybody loved it anyway!

– Considering the white color, meringata could fit perfectly as a wedding or a first communion, but if you use a bit of creativity, by using blue or pink meringues you could prepare it for a baby shower, or by writing numbers on top with chocolate or crumbled cookies, it could be a perfect Birthday cake… Look how cute it turned out with a heart made out of crumbled Amaretti cookies, for a “neutral” Baby shower…

I really hope you like this recipe, and please, if you do,

share it, like it, leave a comment, and subscribe to receive a new recipe each week for free,

and help support my blog!

Much thanks,

Silvia

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        IN CASE YOU DON’T KNOW,

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Check out my HOME BAKERY PAGE to learn more!   

20 thoughts on “MERINGATA: the taste of an ice-cream cake, with no ice-cream at all!”

    1. Thank you Thelma! Honestly this dessert turns out pretty well even with storebought meringues! So if you will decide to make it, you can for sure take the easiest path 😉! Thanks for your comment and your pin!

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    1. LOL! Where are you located exactly? Because I could consider it 😉! Anyway, I love this dessert because there is no baking involved at all… just assemble the ingredients together, and enjoy! Thanks for your comment Deborah!

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  5. A lovely recipe…I don’t make desserts often..but this would be a lovely one to keep in the freezer…My tweaks would be I would use mango and coconut cream which is our new favourite instead of cream as it is non-dairy. Definitely, one to try…Thank you for the follow I have followed you back as you have some great recipes 🙂 x

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    1. Thank you Carol! Unfortunately I am so slow in writing in English, and it takes me so much time with pictures and stuff that I make it to post barely once a week and so there still a lot I have to write about… maybe in few when all my daughters will be in school, I’ll be more persistent! I love your idea of a non Dairy version of Meringata… please if you give it a try let me know how it turns out! And maybe write about it (maybe keeping in mind my inspiration ☺️)

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      1. Oh I will…I always do … Cream is expensive here and not always readily available…Thais don’t eat a lot of dairy and I live in rural Thailand so many things just are not available here…So I have to improvise at times and I always tweak a recipe anyway…haha… Lady fingers I can get when I go into town so once I get my ingredients together I will try it and post and link back to you…I think your English is great as it isn’t a first language and I look forward to seeing more recipes from you. 🙂

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        1. Now I am blushing 😊 if you like baking and have time to do it, you could even bake your own lady fingers. Eggs white, sugar and flour and that’s it… I am so happy I met you and very curious to find out your recipes, created with such a restricted availability of ingredients.

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          1. I dont feel restricted they are different ingredients and being here has taught me not to be recipe driven but to cook with what I have and find a substitute or wait until one of my friends or relatives visit and bring goodies to cook with…😀

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            1. Somehow I feel in the same condition, because here in MidWest is impossible to find all those peculiar foods you can find only in restricted parts of Italy… but maybe that makes our cooking more exciting! And YES We do to wait for some relatives to bring edible goodies when they come visit 😂😂

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