My sister and I recently spent a lazy Sunday afternoon in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. It was lovely to catch up and chill and have a decent, uninterrupted conversation minus our children! Oh and to drink wine mid-afternoon, how so very non-maternal and decadent is that?

Anyhow after hitting our usual haunts - Kleins Perfumery, Brunswick Street Bookstore, Flowers Vasette and Il Papiro we finally ended up at Mario's for coffee and cake. My sister insisted that I try some of the meringue, nut, and fruit torte thingy that she was having. Upon tasting the torte I then insisted that I needed just one more mouthful so to confirm that it was in fact *amazing*!

It was so incredible that I shamelessly hailed down the nearest unsuspecting waitress and enquired as to whether or not 'there were any eggs in the mix'? She stared back at me blankly, unaware of my surreptitious attempt to garner a list of ingredients so that I could replicate this little beauty at home at a later date.

 
The dear waitress admitted to being none the wiser to my 'egg query' but kindly offered to go ask the maitre d'. She returned moments later with tales of meringue being whipped into stiff peaks, and nuts, chocolate and dried fruits gently folded into the mix.

I smiled and thanked her for being such a darling!

A couple of days later I quizzed Gillian about Mario's exceptional torte as it was still plaguing me. She told me that she had never tried it, but that she did make something similar, minus the dried fruit. So the recipe below is inspired by Mario's heavenly torte with a dash of Gillian and a fair bit of tweaking from moi!

Spiced Chocolate & Hazelnut Meringue Cake

I think that for a better result you should make this meringue cake the day before you intend to serve it. The cake will rise slightly when cooked and will then fall and crack slightly upon cooling.

Ingredients

300g roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

100g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70% cocoa solids)

1½ cups of brown sugar

6 organic egg whites (save the yolks for ice cream)!

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom



Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F Gas Mark 4 and line the base of a 9 inch or 21cm spring form pan with baking paper.

2. Place the egg whites in a large metal or glass bowl and beat until firm peaks form. Gradually add the brown sugar and spices, beating well between each addition.

3. Using a metal spoon gently fold in the hazelnuts and dark chocolate until the mixture is just combined. Then spoon the mixture into the spring form pan and smooth the surface with the back of the spoon.

4. Cook for 40 minutes and then turn the oven off and allow the meringue to cool in the oven to room temperature. Remove the cake from the oven and cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.

5. Serve with thick fresh cream or zabaglione ice cream.