Passover Or Spring Dessert: Layered Meringue Cake With Mascarpone & Strawberry Filling

A few weeks ago I was watching The Chew and saw Pati Jinich make a Meringue Cake with mascarpone filling and strawberries. The cake looked beautiful and relatively easy to make, and I decided to bring it to my friend Laetitia's house for Easter brunch.

I'm not going to retype the recipe here, because I followed Pati's instructions with only a few minor changes:

1) I made mini meringue rounds (18 total) instead of 3 large ones
2) I did not mix strawberries into the mascarpone cream: instead, I mixed the berries with a bit of sugar and layered them on top of the mascarpone cream
3) Finally, I used reduced balsamic vinegar to drizzle on top of the cakes and then a bit of fresh basil as a garnish

Passover Or Spring Dessert: Layered Meringue Cake With Mascarpone & Strawberry Filling

I highly  recommend you make the meringues the night before. They aren't hard to make, but require a long time in a low oven. So why rush?

How gorgeous are these peaks? Pati used a bit of lime juice in her meringues and then added cornstarch at the very end. Apparently some Jews aren't into using cornstarch during Passover, and I've heard you can use potato starch instead.

The meringues stay pure white and are not overly sweet. They look like little clouds!

How gorgeous are these? The filling is a simple combination of mascarpone, whipping cream and vanilla. No need to add sugar!

This was such a success! I brought the dessert in parts and assembled it at Laetitia's right before serving.

Have a great weekend!