I recently queried an Italian speaking friend about the meaning of the Italian words, boccone dolce, that are in the name of this recipe. I’ve been making this beautiful dessert for many, many years but had never thought to find out what it meant before but truer words were never spoken.
This dessert really is a sweet mouthful. Lovely clouds of meringue layered with chocolate, whipped cream and berries. Oh my. Typically called a pavlova for the light layers of meringue mixed with whipped cream and berries, it is truly a stellar dessert for Valentine’s Day but it’s so easy we don’t limit it to just one day of the year.
I’ve never made it with anything but raspberries but have had friends use strawberries and rave as much about their results so use whichever is most available and fresh! Beautiful to look at, wonderful to eat; it’s a dessert you will love to present but the truth is…it’s pretty doggone easy too!
I’ve been swept up into the Macaron Madness a couple of times but making these lovely French meringue cookies has been an exasperation for me. So many factors influence their success and since I can’t control humidity or altitude; the results have been less than stellar. So I retreat to a tried and true result with meringue and I’m glad I did.
I made this Raspberry treat for a barbecue I hosted last summer; friends were awed by the look and thought I should not have gone to that much trouble for a barbecue. I kept it a secret that it was easier than many ‘regular’ cakes I could have baked. Let them think I worked all day to please them, I’m OK with that!
Raspberry Boccone Dolce
Ingredients
Meringues
- 4 eggs white at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup sugar
Whipping Cream
- 3 cups whipping cream
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
Chocolate and Raspberry layers
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 to 1 1/2 pints fresh raspberries
Preparation
- Beat egg whites until frothy. Add salt and cream of tartar, beating until stiff. Gradually add sugar continuing to beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and trace 3 circles with cake pan, each 8 or 9 inches in diameter.
- Spread the meringue evenly over the circles and bake at 250 degrees for 35-50 minutes, or until the meringues are pale gold and still pliable. Remove from the oven and carefully peel the paper from the bottom.
- Place on cake racks to dry. The meringues may be made the night before.
- Melt the chocolate chips with with water over hot water.
- Beat the cream; gradually adding the 1/3 cup sugar. Beat until quite stiff.
Assemble
- Place one meringue on a serving plate and spread with a thin coating of melted chocolate. Spread approximately 1/3 of whipped cream over the chocolate. Top with 1/3 of the fresh berries.
- Repeat with a 2nd layer and 3rd layer.
- Drizzle chocolate over the top layer of fruit.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
What a lovely dessert! I would love a bite (or two) right now! I’m sure it was absolutely divine.
Thank you Jen…and just so you know, really pretty easy to make for something with such a lovely presentation. Although in lieu of you making one; let me know when you’ll be here in Denver and I’ll make one for you!
I’ve never had much luck with my meringues…they always seemed to fail, but I came across a recipe that incorporated corn starch which helped it to keep its shape.
That said, I think I will try this recipe out…I hope it’s as easy for me as it was for you. Love the presentation, by the way. My family would look at me funny and say “what did you do?” implying that such a special dessert meant I’d done something wrong! ;-D
That is beautiful. Great job.
Thank you Joy, for stopping by and for the nice compliment.
*gasp*
Delicious…beautiful…foodcoma inducing…
Simply beautiful.
Simply thank you!
This is truly a beautiful and elegant dessert! I wish I had your recipe for meringue when I was making the pavlovas for the Daring Baker’s Challenge. Yours looked perfect (in spite of the altitude!).
Thanks! Guess I would have entered the challenge if I had known but hindsight, you know?
This is spectacular. I had no idea that you could refrigerate this. I can’t wait to try this. Would this be appropriate to bring to a luncheon? Will it make it in the car if I put it in a cooler?
I think it would be great for a luncheon; it’s such a light dessert…lots of air in that meringue and whipped cream! I think a cooler would be fine; it’s the whipped cream that most needs to be kept cool enough to not melt. I’ve taken it places relatively close to my home without worrying about keeping it cool on the way. Just be sure to really whip your cream til it’s very firm.