Cakes are all about celebrations. Or in other words, it’s not a celebration without cake.
When it comes to cakes, I’ve tried them all; I particularly love to bake big cakes to share with my loved ones. It’s hard to pick a favorite; I think every cake has a place in this world.
Having said that, the icy wind cake, with its fresh fruit is, and bright colors are as festive as you can get. Fresh fruit, whatever is in season, is the star of this recipe. Along with a meringue cake and a delicious cream between layers, that makes the natural fruit flavors shine through.
Now’s the time to get creative, decorating with fruit or meringue, as I did, is the perfect way to make this cake look as pretty as it tastes.
What goes into my Icy Wind Cake?
The most significant ingredient is fruit, fresh, seasonal fruit. I used strawberries and kiwi, but anything goes.
The custard cream we’ll be layering is also essential. Based on eggs, butter, and sugar, this creamy mixture will give height to our cake and keep the flavors separate.
You always want to add a form of acid when whipping egg whites. You can use cream of tartar, lemon juice, or in this case vinegar. The acid helps the foam develop; it allows your egg whites to achieve their full potential and airiness.
What you’ll need
To make this fresh fruit cake, you’ll be needing a couple of mixing bowls, a medium pot, standard plastic wrap, parchment paper, and 12x16inch baking pan.
Pro tips
Try different combinations of fruit, thinking both, about the flavors and the color. Pineapple and strawberries are great, blueberries and peach are amazing too, try your own combinations and tell me which work best in the comments below.
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Fresh Fruit Meringue Cake, AKA Icy Wind Cake (VIDEO)
Ingredients
10 eggs (separated)
3 cups sugar (divided)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons butter (softened, kept at room temperature for at least three hours)
1 cup of corn starch
3 cups of milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1lb fresh strawberries (put several aside for decoration)
3 kiwis, medium size
For the top:
1 cup of heavy whipping cream + 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
1 cup chocolate chips + 3 tablespoons of oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F.
- Separate eggs. Mix egg whites until foamy.
- Gradually add 1.5 cups sugar. Keep mixing until soft peaks.
- Add vinegar and mix until stiff peaks form.
- Spread over the baking pan (12″ x 16″) lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 1 hour. Turn off the heat and leave the cake in the oven to cool.
- Pour two cups of milk into a pot and add 1.5 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil.
- Mix egg yolks with cornstarch. Add remaining 1 cup of milk and vanilla extract. Mix well.
- Add the yolk mixture to boiled milk and cook stirring constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat, transfer into a mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap; cool completely.
- Mix softened butter until creamy.
- Mix cooled custard cream until smooth. Gradually add butter into the custard cream while mixing on high speed.
- Cut up the strawberries and kiwis.
- Divide the meringue into three parts.
- Put some of the cream in a separate bowl to use later for the top and sides of the cake.
- Put about a half of the remaining cream on the first layer. Line up strawberries and then cover with a second layer. Spread the rest of cream, line kiwis over and then cover with the third layer. Use cream saved to cover the top and sides.
- Mix whipping cream with powdered sugar and spread over the whole cake.
- Microwave chocolate with oil for 1 min. Mix well until smooth. Drizzle over the cake.
- Decorate with fresh fruits.