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Tonight I am going to hug my son for the first time in a year. Hopefully I won’t break a couple of his ribs in my longing to make up for a hug-less year. Really though, my sacrifices have been small and the daily revelation of my privileged life has been eye-opening for me. Like a lot of us, I turned to cooking and though we couldn’t eat our meals together, we shared ideas. This blog has been a way for me to share the love, so to speak, by passing on stories and memories of meals and recipes. Tonight I will be sharing this celebration dessert and I hope you get a chance to make it for someone you love.

This cake is luscious both in texture and appearance. Though it is only a single layer, the look of the slightly charred swirls of meringue elevates this cake to a special celebration dessert. It is just so pretty! The cake is dense and very moist thanks to the sour cream and though the meringue frosting is more than an inch high it is airy and light. There are three kinds of meringue, Swiss, French and the one for this cake, Italian. The main difference between these meringues is how the sugar is added. I like working with Italian meringue because it is so forgiving. You can experiment making curls with a spoon or an offset spatula. If you don’t like your swirl, flatten it out and try again. It is important to read the instructions completely and measure out the ingredients before you start—especially for the icing because it comes together quickly and timing matters here.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 4 eggs—room temperature

• 4-5 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest (Meyer lemons if you can get them)

• 1 ¼ cups of granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• ¾ cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°

Directions:

Butter an 8 x 12” baking pan and then line it with parchment paper, leaving a couple inches of paper hanging over the edge to help with lifting the cake out of the pan after it cooks.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside. Add eggs and sugar to your mixing bowl and beat at high speed until thick and lemon-colored: about 4 minutes. Add the flour mixture, butter, zest, and vanilla and mix until just combined. Finally, incorporate the sour cream. Pour into pan, flatten out the top and bake about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for ten minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely before frosting.

You can now wrap the cake up tightly in plastic wrap and it will keep for one day.

Meringue:

• 1 1/3 cups of granulated sugar

• ½ cup water

• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

• 4 egg whites at room temperature

Put egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer with whip attachment.

In a saucepan over medium heat fitted with a candy thermometer, combine water and sugar and stir until the mixture starts to simmer then stop stirring. When the temperature reaches 230° start whipping the whites to a frothy texture. When the sugar syrup reaches 240° (it happens quickly so keep an eye on it), increase the mixer speed to high and pour the syrup down along the inside of the bowl. This way the syrup gets incorporated into the whites before it has time to harden. Continue to beat the egg whites for 8 minutes. You want a stiff glossy texture that will spread easily onto the cooled cake. Use a blowtorch or your broiler to finish off the icing with a bit of fire for the marshmallow effect!

The finished cake is best eaten the same day. But I had some for breakfast the following day and it went down easily with my coffee