By Frances
This is by far the easiest and most decadent of Nigella's desserts I've come across. No cooking skills required! It's not even gelato, more like a meringue ice creamy thing. Any berries or cherries would work, flaked almonds too, and experiment with different liquers if you're using them.

for the meringue gelato cake

  • 300 ml double cream
  • 30 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
  • 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (and/or rum)
  • 100 grams shop-bought meringue nests
  • 250 grams raspberries (to serve, optional)
  • I added some toasted dessicated coconut

for the chocolate sauce

  • 250 ml double cream
  • 125 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (and/or rum)

For the Meringue Gelato Cake:

  1. Line a 450g / 1lb loaf tin with clingfilm, making sure you have enough overhang to cover the top later.
  2. Whip the cream until thick but still soft.
  3. Chop the chocolate very finely so that you have a pile of dark splinters, and fold them into the cream, along with the liqueur.
  4. Now, using brute force, crumble the meringue nests and fold these in, too.
  5. Pack this mixture into the prepared loaf tin, pressing it down with a spatula as you go, and bring the clingfilm up and over to seal the top, then get out more clingfilm to wrap around the whole tin. Freeze until solid, which should take around 8 hours, or overnight.
  6. To serve, unwrap the outer layer of plastic wrap, then unpeel the top and use these bits of long overhanging wrap to lift out the ice-cream brick. Unwrap and unmould it onto a board and cut the frozen meringue cake into slabs to serve. I like to zig-zag a little chocolate sauce over each slice, and sprinkle a few raspberries alongside on each plate.

For the Chocolate Sauce:

  1. Pour the cream into a saucepan and add the tiny bits of chocolate.
  2. Put over a gentle heat and whisk as the chocolate melts, taking the pan off the heat once the chocolate is almost all melted. If the mixture gets too hot, the chocolate will seize, whereas it will happily continue melting in the warm cream off the heat.
  3. Add the liqueur, still off the heat, and whisk again to amalgamate the sauce completely. Pour into a jug, whisking every now and again until it cools to just subtly warm.