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 large eggs (separated)
3 cups (600g) sugar (divided)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (250g) butter (softened, kept at room temperature for at least three hours)
1 cup (100g) of corn starch
3 cups (750ml) of milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1lb (450g) fresh strawberries (put several aside for decoration)
3-4 kiwis
For the top:
1 cup of heavy whipping cream + 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F.
- Separate eggs. Mix egg whites until foamy.
- Gradually add 1.5 cups sugar.
- 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.
- Mix egg yolks with cornstarch. Add 1 cup of milk and mix well.
- Pour remaining 2 cups of milk into a pot and add 1.5 cups of sugar and vanilla extract.
- Bring milk mixture to a boil.
- 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. Leave to cool.
- Once the cream cooled down but it is still just a little warm beat with a mixer until smooth.
- Gradually add soften 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.
- Decorate with fresh fruits. You can also drizzle the cake with melted chocolate.
