Danish Frozen Chocolate Torte
An easy dessert made with meringues, pecans and chocolate flavored whipped cream.
Servings 8
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup pecans chopped
- 2 cups ice cream
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream divided use
- 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- chocolate syrup & pecans for garnish, maybe some caramel syrup too
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. With a pencil, draw or trace two 6 inch circles. A 6 inch cake pan works well for tracing.
- Beat egg whites until frothy. When frothy, add the cream of tartar and continue beating until foamy. VERY gradually add the sugar as you continue beating on high until whites are very stiff. Add vanilla, then fold in the pecans.
- For the two big circles, you won't need all of the egg white mixture. Spoon egg white mixture into the circles you drew and spread to make two 6 inch circles a little over an inch thick. You'll have used maybe a little more than ¾ or so of the meringue. Spoon gobs of whatever meringue you have left around the edges of the pan for some meringue cookies.
- Bake the circles (and the cookies) for 45 minutes at 275, then turn off the oven and leave them in the oven with the door closed for another 45 minutes.
- Let the meringues cool while you prepare the cream. They won't take long to cool because they've just been sitting in a warm oven.
- Soften some ice cream and spread it evenly over one of the meringue layers. Luckily the meringues are sturdier than they appear due to the nuts. Stack the second meringue on top, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze while you make the chocolate whipped cream.
- Whip 1 cup of the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the chocolate syrup. Take your frozen ice cream and meringue cake out of the freezer and cover it with chocolate whipped cream. Wrap very loosely and put back in the freezer. Check after about 40 minutes to see if the cream has firmed up a bit (frozen), then wrap tightly and chill overnight or for about 6 to 8 hours.
- If you did a messy job of putting on the chocolate whipped cream, you may want to make a second batch and touch up the frozen cake with the new round of cream. Let's assume you didn''t make it messy and proceed Okay, whip up the remaining 1 cup of cream and flavor with 3 tablespoons of sugar and a little vanilla. Pipe it around the edges of the cake. If you are tired of whipping cream you can just use Cool Whip for this part.
- Pour chocolate syrup (and maybe some caramel syrup too) over the top of the torte. Garnish with mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings if you feel like it., Cut and serve.
Notes
Junior League Variation: Make the meringue as directed, but draw 9 inch circles instead of 6 inch circles. Omit the ice cream completely and make your chocolate whipped cream with 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and ⅓ cup of chocolate syrup. Put the chocolate whipped cream on the top of each meringue and stack. The sides stay unfrosted, and the whole thing is garnished with chocolate shavings (and maybe some syrup).
