Merveilleux (dessert)
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The “merveilleux” (marvelous) is a little Belgian cake.
It is prepared with two light meringue welded with whipped cream, all covered with whipped cream and surrounded by chocolate chips. A candied cherry often decorates the cake.
There are variants to the original cake: cake topped with ganache, cherry replaced with another fruit or chocolate chips.
This cake was revisited by famous confectioner and chocolatier Pierre Marcolini, and more recently by the French confectioner Frédéric Vaucamps.
A French cake is also sometimes referred to "merveilleux", but with different names: "tête de nègre", "boule choco", "boule meringuée au chocolat" or "arlequin", by regions. However, the recipe and presentation are slightly different: whipped cream is replaced with chocolate butter cream. The cake is completely surrounded by chocolate chips and has the shape of a ball.
Bibliography
- Willy Bal et al., Belgicismes : inventaire des particularités lexicales du français en Belgique, Louvain-la-Neuve, Duculot, 1994, 93 p. (ISBN 2-8011-1083-3), page 90
- Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, « Ce que manger belge veut dire », La Revue Nouvelle, no Numéro 05/6, mai-juin 2009, p. 105 (ISSN 00353809)
- Pierre Marcolini, Chocolat Café, Laymon, 2012, 78 p. (ISBN 978-2-919548-00-2), recette du Merveilleux