Meringhette al gelato di cioccolato. One story about the origin of Meringues is that they were invented in the Swiss town of Meiringen by an Italian chef named Gasparini. I quite like this story as I am biased because I also have strong links to Switzerland :-) I needed to use up the egg whites left over from a Tiramisu so I did a bit of searching and came up with this from Sale & Pepe magazine.  The idea came from the magazine, but the recipe for the meringues is slightly different as I wanted to be more precise with the measurements. The quantities are one part caster sugar, one part icing sugar and one part egg white. Serves 6

• 400 g chocolate ice cream
• 120g caster sugar
• 120g icing sugar
• 120g egg whites (about 4 eggs)
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Beat the egg whites and Lemon Juice with an electric whisk while gradually adding the caster sugar. When the mixture has risen and is shiny and quite dense, carefully fold in the icing sugar.

Make small meringues by placing  teaspoons of the mixture on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper.

Bake at 90°C with the oven door propped open to allow the moisture to escape. It should take about an hour and a half.

When the meringues are ready, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely.

Serve them by making a sandwich with two meringues and some Ice Cream.