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Boccone dolce means “sweet mouthful.” It is a classic Italian dessert. It’s similar to our Himmelstorte Recipe but the Boccone Dolce is a cake without any cake. Instead, it’s made up of three crunchy meringue layers, chocolate, cream, berries, and more berries. Each slice is drizzled with a berry syrup. Oh my gosh! It’s the best of everything in one cake.
My friend Mila Ivanov sent me this wonderful recipe and I’m so glad she did! I made this for my sister’s baby shower, and it was a hit! There was a run on the cake and no slice was left behind. Mila, thank you so much!
Before you start, Watch how to make the Boccone Dolce:
P.S. Recipe updated 5/12/16 – reduced the amount of egg whites and sugar, added cream of tartar to stabilize and salt for flavor, increased mixing time to 7 minutes, rephotographed and also, added a super handy how-to video, all because I think you’re worth it! 🙂
Boccone Dolce Cake Ingredients:
10 egg whites, room temp (about 1 1/3 cups + 1 Tbsp of egg whites)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
For the Berry Syrup:
2-4 cups fresh or thawed frozen strawberries
1-2 Tbsp granulated sugar, or to taste
Frosting & Topping Ingredients:
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup chocolate chips (milk chocolate or semi-sweet, or both)
1/2 lb strawberries
1 pint raspberries or other berries to decorate
Preheat the Oven to 200 °F.
1. Draw three 9 1/2″ circles with a pen on parchment paper, then flip the paper over so you aren’t placing meringue over ink. Use a pen so you can still see the circle through the paper.
2. Beat the Room Temp Egg whites with sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar for about 7 minutes on high speed in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or until stiff peaks form. Note: if they aren’t at room temp, they will take much longer to beat.
3. Divide the egg white mix between the three circles on parchment paper. Form the three layers into about 1″ tall circles and shape them as evenly as possible. Flatten the top so the layers sit on top of each other easily when you assemble the cake.
4. Bake for 6 hours at 200˚F, rotating the pans every 2 hours for more even cooking (mine were on two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven). If any of your layers are still springy in the center after baking, turn off the oven and leave them in there another hour to fully dry out. Remove from oven, pull layers off the baking pans and cool to room temp.
How to Make Frosting:
1. Freeze the mixing bowl and whisk attachment for 15 minutes. The cream will form best if your bowl and whisk are super cold. Also, keep your heavy cream in the fridge until you are ready to use.
2. Beat 3 cups heavy whipping cream with 1/2 cup powdered sugar for about 2 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate frosting until ready to use.
Assembling Boccone Dolce Cake:
Assemble the cake shortly before serving. It is best eaten within 2 hours of assembling.
1. Rinse and dry berries and slice strawberries the long way.
2. Melt chocolate according to package instructions. As soon as the chocolate is melted, spread it over the tops of each of the three layers (see tip for success #2 below).
3. Place the first meringue layer on the platter you will be serving the cake on. Spread or pipe a little less than 1/3 of the frosting over the first layer. Place a layer of sliced strawberries over the frosting.
4. Repeat with the next two layers and decorate the top by piping the remaining whipped cream and topping with berries and more chocolate if desired.
Serving the Cake:
The slices get a little messy and that’s ok! 🙂 Use a food processor or blender to pulse your thawed strawberries with 1 to 2 Tbsp sugar and drizzle over the top of each slice.
I’ve been bombarded with requests for this cake. Hope you enjoy it thoroughly!! Does anyone know what I can do with all of those egg yolks hanging out in the fridge?
Boccone Dolce Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Boccone Dolce Cake Ingredients:
- 10 egg whites, room temp (about 1 1/3 cups + 1 Tbsp of egg whites)
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips, milk chocolate or semi-sweet, or both
- 1/2 lb strawberries
- 1 pint raspberries or other berries to decorate
For the Berry Syrup:
- 2-4 cups fresh or thawed frozen strawberries
- 1-2 Tbsp granulated sugar, or to taste
Frosting Ingredients:
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat the Oven to 200°F. Draw three 9 1/2 inch circles with pen on parchment paper then flip paper over so you aren't placing meringue over ink. Use a pen so you can still see the circle through the paper.
How to Make Boccone Dolce Cake:
- Beat the room temp egg whites with sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar for about 7 minutes on high speed in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or until stiff peaks form. Note: if they aren't at room temp, they will take much longer to beat.
- Divide the egg white mix between the three circles on parchment paper. Form the three layers into about 1" tall circles and shape them as evenly as possible. Flatten the top so the layers sit on top of each other easily when you assemble the cake.
- Bake for 6 hours at 200˚F, rotating the baking pans every 2 hours for more even cooking (mine were on two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven). If any of your layers are still springy in the center after baking, turn off the oven and leave them in there another hour to fully dry out. Remove from baking pans and cool to room temp.
How to Make Frosting:
- Freeze the mixing bowl and whisk attachment for 15 minutes. The cream will form best if your bowl and whisk are super cold. Also, keep your cream in the fridge until you are ready to whip it.
- Beat 3 cups heavy whipping cream with 1/2 cup powdered sugar for about 2 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate frosting until ready to use.
Assembling the Cake:
- Rinse and dry berries and slice strawberries the long way.
- Melt chocolate according to package instructions. As soon as the chocolate is melted, spread it over the tops of each of three layers (see notes for tip #2).
- Place the first meringue layer on the platter you will be serving the cake on. Spread or pipe a little less than 1/3 of the frosting over the first layer. Place a layer of sliced strawberries over the frosting.
- Repeat with the next two layers and decorate the top by piping remaining whipped cream and topping with berries and more chocolate if desired.
Serving the Cake:
- Use a food processor or blender to pulse your thawed strawberries with 1 to 2 Tbsp sugar and drizzle over the top of each slice.
Notes
1. Meringue layers take awhile to bake/dry out in the oven so feel free to make them the day before. Let cool to room temp and cover with cellophane on the counter overnight.
2. This cake should be assembled the day you are eating it and is BEST eaten within 2 hours of assembly since the frosting softens the meringue.
3. If you want the cake to stay crunchy longer, brush every layer (top and bottom) with melted chocolate. Once chocolate hardens, it will act as a barrier between the meringue and the cream resulting in a crunchier cake, making it last an extra hour or two at room temp. .
4. If you forget to bring your eggs to room temp, you can place egg whites in a bowl and set the bowl over luke-warm water for 5 to 10 minutes to bring them to room temp, giving them a swirl or two in the process.
Hi, this looks amazing and i want to make it but i prefer the meringue to be a little chewy in the middle, about how long would u suggest baking it in order to have it chewy and marshmellowy? thanks !
Search for my pavlova recipe. 🙂
Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes. I did this cake today but I come across this problem everytime I work with beze. Once I layer any cream or anything wet they start to get sticky and melt? Would could I be doing wrong?
Try spreading a thin layer of melted chocolate on each side and it won’t absorb any of the cream.
The cake looks beautiful!! :))
I was very excited to try it out, I am mixing it as I type, it’s been about 25 mins and its still not stiffening up, the consistency is like sour cream maybe a little thicker, I am getting stressed. I really hope it stiffens up!
Are yo working on the frosting or the initial step?
I was doing the meringe, I realized what I did wrong. My egg whites were room temp but I shouldn’t have added sugar that quickly, next time I’ll do slower. They turned out, although not quite as tall as yours :))
I’m new to ur site, I live in Ukraine but its easier for me to go by recipes in English, thanks to u! 🙂
I’m glad you have found my site, I hope that you will find many new favorites :).
Natasha I really want to make this cake but my cream doesn’t turn out. I freeze the bowl and do everything you wrote but it stays liquid. Do you have any suggestions?
Are you using whipping cream or heavy whipping cream? It should be heavy whipping cream and also are you beating on the highest speed for at least 2-3 min?
I was using heavy whipping cream but I started on low speed and moved to high speed. I will try starting with high speed next time. Thank you.
Can I make the frosting a day ahead ? And keep it refrigerated ? Thanks
That should work as long as you keep it refrigerated.
Make sure to separate the eggs in such a way that not a single strand if yolk gets into the whites, or it will ruin the meringue. The bowl also must be clean and dry. I beat cold whites, have been doing it this way for years, beat at high speed for 5-8 minutes, then, as they get pale and foamy, I add in the sugar in a slow, steady drizzle, while still beating to incorporate the sugar without weighing down the egg, I beat until stiff, glossy peaks firm, and then add in a half teaspoon or so of Cream of Tartar powder, it stabilizes the proteins so they do not deflate. I also use cake pans lined with foil and sprayed with a slight sheen of PAM. Bake overnight, so it is effortless. The baked meringues store in an airtight container for days, even weeks! I use huge Ziploc bags that are for clothes, makes for huge, impressive cakes.
Thank you for sharing Tatyana :).
Hi, so I’ve done this cake twice already, and I both times my meringue starts leaking. It was in the refrigerator all night and when taking it over somewhere, it starts to leak (the meringue). Finally I found out what was wrong! In your recipe, you show that the egg whites and sugar should be beat together, but that makes the meringue not as stiff. You have to beat the egg white first, then slowly add the sugar. Also I recommend to use half sugar and half powdered sugar. That will make the meringue incredibly good. So if you ladies had any of the same issue, please try my suggestion. The cake is delicious tho, everyone loves it when I make it. Making it for my dad’s 50th birthday. God bless you Natasha.
Marina thank you for the tips! I haven’t had that issue, but I would love to try using some powdered sugar to see the difference in flavor. Sounds like a very good (and fancy) birthday cake! 🙂
Use your leftover yolks to make zabaglione. I’ve found that piping the meringue into circles is a waste of time. Just use round cake pans. I’ve tried both methods and the meringue turned out the same.
That’s a great idea! I just don’t have 3 round cake pans so I did it this way.
Hi there, I was just wondering if all three cake layers fit on the same Baking sheet, or do u bake using two racks? I think my oven is not wide enough to accommodate 3 cakes on a same rack.
It was on 2 racks; please see step 4 🙂
I’m so making this for Valentines!!!!(I waited and waited and waited for an occasion to bake this one ever since I discovered your amazing site…not that long ago) So excited! Thanks you, Natasha!!! The cake look gorgeous!!! You honestly make my life in the kitchen so much easier and so fun!
With leftover egg yolks, make homemade mayonnaise! My husband makes it with dill, it’s delicious, healthy and so fast to make!
That’s a great idea Alina, thank you for the tip :).
Thank you for the recipe i made this cake it looked great and it was delicious my husband and family loved it.
You are welcome Irina :).
This took for ever to make:(:(:(
Normally you’re supposed to use only cold egg whites… I stuck to my gut and did that…but the reason it takes longer is cause you do not add sugar right away. You wait till the eggs are somewhat soft peaked and then… The second time around was much easier… But over all.. Very scrumptious!!!!!!
Olga, I’ll have to try your method and see if it’s faster. I’ve found that room temp whites beat faster but I haven’t tried with adding the sugar after you have soft peaks. Thanks for the tip. I’m glad you liked the cake 🙂
Do you store this cake in fridge after Made?
Refrigerate assembled cake. If its only cake layers, than its ok to leave them on the counter, covered in plastic wrap.
Looks amazing, fancy, and delicious! Can’t wait to make it!(:
Also, i have a question, when you put the layers in the oven with parchment paper, do you put it on a baking sheet or alone? Thank you(:
I put it on the baking sheet.
Natasha, I also add a drizzle of orange liquour to the cream.
I should give that a try 🙂
Yes that does. Thanks!
Would it possible somehow to make 2 layers instead of 3 somehow?
Oh yes, you can just cut everything down by 1/3 so you make 2/3 of the total recipe. Does that make sense? 🙂
8 яичных желтков
1,5стакана сахара
200гр.сл.масла
400гр.сметаны
1,5 ст.грецких орехов
1,5-2 ст.муки
В самом начале поместить сметану в глубокую миску, положить 2 ч.л.соды, перемешать и поставить в сторонку.
Отделить желтки от белков. а желтки взбить с сахаром, добавить сливочное масло (оно комнатной температуры,мягкое) и сметану, которая уже перекипела и увеличилась в объеме,теперь добавляем орехи(кстати,я их режу покрупнее,а не измельчаю в пыль-так вкуснее)ну и мука.Тесто должно получиться, как густая сметана.
Разогреваем духовку до 170гр. Форму(28, а то и 30 см) застилаем, смазываем маслом, выливаем половину теста и выпекаем.
Печется быстро-минут 15. Так же вторую половину. really good korjiki dlya torta
Thank you! What do you call this cake?
Great! thank you! Planning ahead for my husbands bday party next month. I will be making this cake and the cherry layer cake.
Sounds like it will be an awesome party! 😉