This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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! I just tried baking one of the layers, but I think all the sugar went to the bottom and caramelized on the paper and I couldn’t get it off. Any idea what I should do??
That is unusual; do you feel you may have under-beat the meringue mixture? The meringue should be thick enough to shape into the rounds as pictured. Mine always have a slight amount of caramelization at the bottom but it still doesn’t stick to the paper. Did you use parchment or wax paper?
I think it was thick enough…I’ll beat it more in the next batch to be on the safe side. I used parchment paper. Some separate googling I did suggested that my oven may be a bit stronger than usual so I’m trying it at a lower heat.
Thanks!
I hope it works out this time! 🙂
Thank you, I was making the Swiss butter cream frosting and I put my butter in too early before the eggs cooled off, so instead of being thick, It was more runny. I was so disappointed, I used 10 egg whites, then my hubby walked in and tried it and said you can still use it, it’s still good just frost the cake with it inside 🙂 so that is what I did and it was actually really tasty :)) I made two 12″ безквита cut and layered each one with the dolce layers and in between I added walnuts, it gave it that edge. At the end I was very happy with the results :)) so thank you for the recipe, because I couldn’t find it anywhere else. It was very easy to do with you step by step instructions. The trick for the dolce layers not to be runny is to beat the egg whites correctly, mine was so nice and think that u could cut it with a knife, and they baked real well. The top layer on I had honey cake, I just made different frosting then sour cream to make it more stable.
That sounds like an amazing cake! What kind of swiss butter cream recipe do you follow? I found a few online and they sound wonderful but I haven’t actually tried making it before. Thanks so much for the tip! Can you tell I want to re-create your cake? 😉
I followed the recepie from youtube type in “swiss meringue buttercream- super easy” I thing their blog is Sweet wise. Youtube is my school
Thank you so much for sharing that! I sure appreciate it 🙂
Hi Natasha, my sister made this cake it was delicious, but I was thinking to make the layers thiner and maybe use it as dividers between безквит, do you think that’s a good idea? Kind of like the Kiev cake. If I do should I assemble it the day of? And which cream would be best to use? I need to make it by Wednesday … Thanks
I think that would taste great and you could use the frosting that is used for these layers, but I’d probably assemble it the day of so your layers don’t soften. I love that idea! I might just copy you ;). Let me know how it works out and do let me know if you post a picture of it somewhere online.
Yes I will post it on my instagram page alla62. Yes I will be assembling the day of. Thanks for the recipe I hope it works good ☺
I can’t wait to see it! I also can’t wait to try making it myself! 🙂 Let me know when it’s up 🙂
Natasha the cake turned out really great, I froast it on Tuesday night and it was prefect, it wasn’t runny it was just enough moist. It was delicious. The pic of it is on my instagram page alla62. I will post one cut, later today. You should definatly try it like that. I found that it was much easier to do then Kievskiy.
I saw the photo on your feed. Thank you so much for sharing the pics! Your cake looked amazing! I love how you made them tiered; just gorgeous! Which frosting did you end up using?
Hi Natasha i love this recipe it’s amazing. I am actually making it today, but there is one problem i am 1 cup short for the frosting. i have only 2 cups heavy whipping cream and i don’t know what to do. Will it be too sugary if i add it sugar with one cup short heavy whipping cream? Thanks:)
You might add a little bit less sugar proportionally to how much cream you have. And it should work fine. 🙂
Hi natasha,
First of all, thanks for all your recipes, youre website is my first “go to” when I am hungry! I have a question, can I make the layers the day before? if yes how should I store them so they dont become soggy? I am planning to make this cake for the weekend but dont wanna do it all the same day since I will be using oven for other things.
Yes this can be made ahead and then just put them in a loose plastic bag (like a grocery bag) and leave them at room temp (around 70˚F). Don’t refrigerate them or the outer edges might get a little wet from the moisture in the fridge. Are you in a very humid climate? It helps to keep them in a dry place; like a pantry if you are in a high humidity area.
Hi, I have questions regarding the meringue. You say here to put the egg whites and sugar in a bowl on high for six mins until stiff peaks. Papa Hyden’s recipe says beat until stiff, then add sugar every one to two minutes 1 TBSP at a time on medium speed. This would take 30 mins or so more. I have also sen many other ways, all fairly similar. I just want the best product, so I am a little confused. Can you help me? Thank you for your time.
Jason
You can do it that way, but I’ve had great results doing it by the instructions above. I’m not patient enough to stand in front of the mixing bowl adding 1 Tbsp at a time 😉
I tried it the long way, seemed to work ok. Tried drying two at a time and I think my oven is pretty basic (cheap). One came out ok and one wept a lot. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Jason
I posted these pictures when I still had my old oven (and it was kind of a dinosaur) and I do t recall them weeping at all. You might try beating the meringue a little longer.
I’ve made this cake a few times before and it’s delicious. Today we are getting together with family and there are a lot of kids so I decided to make this except bite size like little pavlovas. There is about 30 of them. So i was wondering if you have ever tried doing that? And how long do you think I should bake them?
Valentina, I haven’t tried making mini pavlovas before, but what a great idea :). Let me know how they turn out.
Do you refrigerate it after assembling it? Or leave it out at room temp?
This cake is best eaten shortly after assembling, but if you have leftovers or wont’ be eating it for several hours, you can and should refrigerate 🙂
Hey Natasha,
I was just wondering if I could use another cream, the Mom’s Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting??? I love any cream or frosting with cheese and I have all the ingredients already at home. What do you think?
That one might be a little too moist for this cake. If you eat it pretty soon after making it, that frosting would work 🙂 otherwise it might make the meringue mushy.
That’s a good point thanks I’ll use the original cream then… Thank you for the quick reply
Hi, would you consider this cake as gluten free? No rush on an answer
The only ingredients are eggs, sugar, fruit, chocolate and dairy, so yes, I would 🙂
ok thank you so much !
hi thank you for this recipe.. i was wondering if i make the cream and everything else day before putting it together. then put it together right before serving…would the cream melt in fridge?
The cream will stay overnight just fine in the fridge. I probably would leave the cake layers out at room temp and cover them with plastic wrap since the fridge can do funny things to meringue and make it sticky if there is too much moisture in there.
You can skip piping the meringue and bake them in cake rounds. It’s much easier and the results are the same.
Thanks for the tip! I did not have three cake rounds at home so this way worked out well for me so that I could bake them all at once.
Love this cake! Super easy & yummy! Already making it
For the 5th time
For my cuzins baptism party and everyone loves it
Wow, the 5th time!! That’s awesome!!. I like what you put in for website. “cakeboss”; that’s cute! 🙂
It was at 220°… I wonder if I messed something up. I made it a few weeks back and want to make again. Not sure if I should bake it in shorter amount of time. Or I think maybe some yolk dripped into egg whites and I took it back out. That probably ruined it huh?
Egg yolks can prevent the meringue from reaching its full potential. Was it browned around the edges on the bottom (which is normal) or all over?
Also did you rotate your layers while cooking? You might try 4 hours next time if it was brown all over. Maybe you have a super oven? 🙂
Natasha,
I cooked mine for 5 hours and it was dark and hard. I don’t think it was suppouse to be that way. Maybe that’s too long for my oven?
What temp did you set it on? Definitely should not be dark and hard.
Hello, I wanted to make mini boccone dolce cakes. Do you know if I could use the exact same instructions as for a big cake but just make small circles, and keep it in for 5 hours too? Please help if you can. thank you.
Yes use the same measurements but it may bake faster; I’m only guessing since I havent tried to make them small but maybe take them out an hour sooner.
I have made this cake twice now and it is so good! A couple of days ago I used the same ingredients but on a sponge cake. I let the berry sauce soak into the cake before putting the other ingredients together. Also very yummy! Thanks so much for sharing all these wonderful recipes!
Great way to be creative and explore Jennifer :), thank you for the good report.
Natasha please help. I was making this beze and left it over night in the oven on parchment paper. it stuck to it and i cant take it of…. what should i do? can i heat it up again so that brown thing melts and it will be easier to take of?
Oh I’ve never had that situation before; do you have a sharp, thin knife that you could use to slice between the cake and the parchment?
I used knife cake turned out beautiful. Everyone loved it thank you for the recipe 🙂
I’m glad you were able to rescue it! Yay!!!!! 🙂
Natasha do I have to serve it with thawed berries or it tastes good without the syrup as well? I just want to make it for someone.
It’s good without the syrup too, but the syrup is a nice touch if you do decide to use it 🙂