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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:
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.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi Natasha,
I’ve made several of your dessert recipes & they came out perfect the very first time 🙂 THIS one however, eludes me. I’ve made it 3 times & am still having trouble getting the meringues to where they don’t completely crumble in pieces when serving. I have a gas oven & have tried lessening both the temp & amount of time in the oven a bit, finishing the baking process with the oven off/door closed. Tonight I lessened the time even more & the meringues were sticky in the middle -not crumbly, but I don’t think there should be 1/4 inch of white stickiness throughout the layers. A bit of chewiness & not crumbling into pieces is what I’m hoping for. Any other suggestions? Btw, I’ve made the mini-pavlovas & they were perfect!
Hi Sharon, these should be dry all the way through, unlike pavlovas where they are marshmallow soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. The Boccone Dolce is a messy one to serve you have to slice carefully and I’m not sure there is a way to prevent a fully dry meringue it from crumbling when you slice it, especially when you’re slicing smaller pieces than the one I showed in the video above.
Natasha, I’m in love with your blog and even though I never bake, my meringue cake was just taken out of oven in perfect condition!!! Score!!! My question is more of asking for your recommendation. I love walnuts and dolce de lecce, is there anyway to make cream by somehow incorporating these ingredients?
Hi Olha 🙂 Thank you so much for your nice comment :). I think you could maybe make a caramel/nut version of boccone dolce although it might seem overly sweet without the tartness of fruit cutting the sweetness. You could drizzle with dulce de leche instead of chocolate.
Hi Natasha! I have a question about the recipie- the ingredient list has cream of tartar and salt but the instructions only mention egg whites and sugar… i was wondering when i should add the salt and cream of tartar- at the beginning or at the end when im beating the egg whites? I just guessed and added those ingredients towards the end. Hope thats ok and it works out.
Oh goodness sorry I missed that! I used to not add those 2 ingredients but I found that it works better with them. I fixed the instructions to include those. I add them along with the sugar but it will still work if you add them later. Did you get a chance to watch the video recipe? I hope that helped!
I have a simple recipe for a cake using only egg yolks !!!
Oh awesome! Please share! 🙂 My email: natasha @natashaskitchen.com (no spaces) Thanks Olga!
My meringues are in the oven right now – hoping for a beautiful father’s day treat! As far as the left over yolks – I’m going to make a creme brulee.
I hope you enjoy it and I love that you’re using the yolks for another dessert! 🙂
Hi Natasha. I don’t know where I went wrong, but half way through baking my meringues have released a lot of caramel all around them, and I was unable to take meringues off the parchment paper – they just broke into pieces. I repurposed it for Eton Mess, so wasn’t at a complete loss, but I really wanna try it again and need to know what I can do differently next time. Thank you in advance! Helen
Hi Helen, did you wait before putting the meringues in the oven? If you let the meringue sit too long at room temperature, it will start releasing juices around the bases. Also, did you use the same baking instructions? Mine usually release small bits of caramel here and there which is normal but to have so much that it doesn’t release form the parchment is not normal. Did your meringue fully dry out in the center after it was baked?
Hi Natasha, I put them into the oven right away, but it was a very warm day so maybe that had something to do with it. Also my oven sets temperature in centigrade and 200F would be 93C, so I could only set to 90C or 95C, which may be part of the reason. The meringues dryed on top really well but the caramel was all on the bottom and I couldn’t take them off. I’ll try it once again when the weather cools down a little and will try baking at 95C next time. Hopefully it works out 🙂 thank you!
I’m happy to hear you’re giving it another try! It really is a wonderful cake :). I think you’re right about the oven temp – setting to 95˚C and trying in cooler weather or in an air-conditioned environment.
I made this cake at night cause of small kids but next day when I tried it can’t even taste the base , cake was wet & u only feel the cream …. I was disappointed to spend so much time but dosnt taste good next day.
Oh no!! I’m so sad to hear that! 🙁 As I stated in the instructions, “Assemble the cake shorty before serving. It is best eaten within 2 hours of assembling.” I went in to the post and bold faced it and put it in red so someone else doesn’t miss it in the future. With it being a meringue cake, it softens quickly from the cream – it’s just the way it is with meringue. I wish it wasn’t the case because I would love for it to last and last!
Hi Natasha, this cake looks absolutely delicious! Instead of using real egg whites I used store bought container egg whites. I had to beat them for 30 min to get stiff peaks! I have a mixer stand just like yours and I wonder why it took so long? The maringue is in the oven right now so we’ll see if it works out.
That is odd that it took that long! Very unusual. Are there any additives in the store-bought egg whites? Also, were they at room temperature when you started beating the meringue?
Hi! I’ve been reading your blog for a long time and I’ve also tried almost all of your cake recipes (I love them ALL! Seriously! They’re not too sweet and not too bland, they’re great!). I’ve wanted to try this recipe for the longest time, but the only thing holding me back is that my oven is quite small and only one circle (about 8 inches) could fit in my oven. Since the baking time is 6 hours, does it mean that I have to spend ~3 days before completing this cake? Please help! T_T
Hi Vanessa, I’m afraid there is no other way to make this cake besides baking the layers. You can make the layers a day in advance and keep them at room temperature, but yes, I agree that is a long time to keep your oven on if you have to do three separate batches. Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you! Thank you for your sweet comment 🙂
Can I make the layers a day ahead and store it somewhere or wrap it? Or will it not work?
Hi Alena, you can make the layers a day ahead of time and store them at room temperature (in a cool, dry place like the pantry). Do not store in the refrigerator since the humidity of the refrigerator can ruin it.
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ve made it a long time ago but can’t find old recipe! I believe you can make creme brûlée with the leftover egg yolks… (Vanilla bean flavor would be a nice flavor )
Hi Zhanna! Which old recipe are you looking for? Boccone Dolce or the creme brulee? I updated this boccone dolce recipe (this is the original post with new pictures and improved instructions (I detailed the changes towards the top).
Hi Natasha! You are the best , like always!!! I never liked this kind of cakes but desided to try and…. That’s the one of the best cakes I ever tried! Thank you!!! I’d recommend everybody to make it!!!!
That’s just awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your fantastic review! 🙂
Hi Natasha can I make this cake with out tartar cream?
Hi Alla, it will still work without cream of tartar. I’ve made it without the cream of tartar before with good results but I do think the cream of tartar helps to make it more “fail proof.” If your whites are at room temp and you beat with sugar the same amount of time, you shouldn’t run into any issues. Another good test for when meringue is ready is if you rub a little bit between your fingers, you should hardly feel any of the sugar grains – it should feel pretty smooth. I hope that helps! :). Enjoy!
Is it ok if I don’t use chocolate between the layers? Will it effect the meringue in any way?
No it will work fine without the chocolate.
Hi Natasha do you know why the bottom of the cake sticks to the parchment paper? I broked one of the layers because it wouldn’t come off the parchment paper.
Hi Mayya, They should stick to the parchment. Just to be sure, were you using parchment paper and not wax paper? They would stick to wax paper. Did you rotate the cake layers while baking? If you have a layer to close to a heating element, it could start to melt the sugar at the bottom – I haven’t had that happen but that’s my guess of what else could have happened.
Do you know anything sweet that we could do with the yolks that are left over from the cake recipe?
My custard cake uses alot of egg yolks. https://natashaskitchen.com/2015/05/22/poppy-seed-sour-cream-cake-with-custard-cream/
Use the yolks for Tiramisu Italian way http://wishfulchef.com/classic-tiramisu-recipe/
I’ll definitely have to check that out. Thanks for sharing!
This is such a yummy dessert, we love it!
As for the yolks you can make homemade noodles:-) my kids love them or maybe it’s the fact that they see it being done with the help their little hands ;-).
That is a great idea about making homemade noodles! thank you so much for sharing that with me :). Is there a good recipe you like to follow? I’ve never made my own noodles :-O. 😉
Thing to make this cake tomorrow and I was wondering what do u mean by rotating the cake in oven?like turning it upside downs couple times?thx:)
What I meant was to place the cake layers from the top rack to the bottom rack and vice versa. No need to flip them over.
This cake is so delicious. I’ve made it 3 times already and everytime I make it everyone loves it ! I also made ur moms spartak cake about 5 times already it’s almost everyone’s favorite cake here ! My in laws said they can never go buy a cake again after trying my homemade cakes ! Thank you for ur recipes !
I love finding new favorite recipes and it sounds like these have become favorites for you! That makes me so happy :). Thank you so much for the great review; it’s incredibly encouraging 🙂
Did you take the layers of the parchment paper right away or did you let them cool and then take the parchment paper off?
I let them cool to room temperature before taking the paper off :).