These Romanian Meringue Brownies (Negrese) are a decadent cocoa brownie with a sweet and fluffy meringue topping.
Meringue brownies are a soft, moist cake topped with sweet and delicious meringue and sprinkled with chocolate. Super easy and quick to make, a recipe I often bake with my children.
And if you like brownies just as much as I do, have a look at these Cherry Brownies. The meringue brownies and the Romanian Biscuit Salami were the first cakes I baked myself when I was still a child.
The brownie part is amazing, dense, slightly moist, sweet, and chocolatey, but what I like most is this light topping which really adds a new dimension to an otherwise regular brownie. Give it a try; you won't be disappointed!
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What do you need?
The basic brownie ingredients:
- Eggs, sugar, flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, butter, milk, baking powder, vanilla extract, and some dark chocolate to sprinkle on top.
- All regular and rather cheap ingredients.
How to make meringue brownies?
Cake:
- Separate the eggs. You will use the egg yolks to make the batter and the whites for the meringue. Set the whites aside in a clean bowl.
- Beat the yolks, sugar, and pinch of salt together until light and fluffy.
- Add butter and mix.
- Add the milk and mix.
- In another bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder and add them to the eggs.
- Bake the cake for about 15-20 minutes.
- Check after 15 minutes; the batter should have formed a crust and should not be very jiggly in the middle when pushed with the finger. If it is still too jiggly, bake for another few minutes.
Meringue:
- Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt on high speed until quite stiff.
- Very slowly add sugar and vanilla extract and continue beating until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius/ 320 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spread the mixture on top of the cake and continue baking for about 10 minutes until the meringue has risen and is slightly golden.
- Grate the chocolate and sprinkle it on top of the hot cake.
Tips
- Always use a digital kitchen scale when baking; it guarantees for best results (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
- Make sure that the beaters of the mixer are very clean before you start beating the whites. Any trace of fat will stop them from becoming stiff.
- Use grated chocolate and not chocolate chips for topping the cake. The chips are too large and will not start to melt as nicely as the grated chocolate.
- Sprinkle the chocolate on the cake as soon as you take the cake out of the oven. The heat will cause the chocolate to melt slightly, and that is really nice.
- I always use dark chocolate, but milk chocolate is fine as well.
More brownies
Recipe
Meringue Brownies
Romanian Meringue Brownies – Negrese: a decadent cocoa brownie with a sweet and fluffy meringue topping.
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Servings: 12
Calories: 320kcal
Ingredients
- Brownies:
- 6 eggs separated
- 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ ¾ cup sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ ⅔ cup unsalted butter soft
- 300 ml/ 10.1 fl.oz/ 1 ¼ cup milk
- 160 g/ 5.6 oz/ 1 ⅓ cups flour
- 40 g/ 1.4 oz/ ⅓ cups cocoa powder unsweetened
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- Meringue:
- the egg whites left from above
- pinch of salt
- 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ ¾ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 50 g/ 1.7 oz dark chocolate
Instructions
Brownies:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking tin (approximately 23x33 cm/ 9x13 inches) with baking paper.
- Separate the eggs. Set the egg whites aside for the meringue.
- Beat the egg yolks, sugar and pinch of salt together until light and fluffy. Add the very soft butter and mix well. Add the milk and mix as well.
- Mix together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and incorporate into the egg mixture.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Check after 15 minutes, the batter should have formed a crust and should not be very jiggly in the middle when pushed with the finger. If it is still too jiggly bake for another few minutes.
Meringue:
- In the meantime prepare the meringue. Beat the egg whites and the salt on high speed until quite stiff.
- Slowly start adding sugar and vanilla extract and continue beating until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius/ 320 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spread the meringue on top of the cake and continue baking for about 10 minutes until the meringue has risen and is slightly golden.
- Grate the chocolate and sprinkle on top of the cake as soon as you take it out of the oven.
Notes
Use a digital kitchen scale for weighing the ingredients, it guarantees for best results.
Nutrition
Serving: 1square | Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 210mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g
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Gabriela Popescu says
Hi, I too loved to cook and to eat, of course !, this exceptionally delicious cake. As a variation we used to spread on the top of the hot brownie base apricot or sour cherry jam ( both were really sour) in a thin layer, before adding the meringue topping. It was sensational! I will bake it again. Thank. You Adina for reminding me sweet memories!
Adina says
I am so happy you liked this recipe. Thank you for the feedback.
Balvinder says
Does black chocolate means dark chocolate?
Adina says
Yes, I just translated that word for word from Romanian or German, in both cases black chocolate. 🙂 I will change it.
Balvinder says
These look amazing! I mean who can resist brownie with a bonus meringue! mmmmm!
Monica says
I've never had a meringue topped brownie. Sounds and looks so good! I'm thinking that meringue is better than frosting!
Marvellina says
Meringue brownies just sound so luscious!! I love the "wet" part of brownies too
Ritu Ahuja says
These meringue brownies look irresistible. Too tempting and yummy. 🙂
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
I love a good brownie. And the meringue topping makes it even more tempting!
Daniela Anderson says
Un deliciu, arata tare bine! Chiar am pofta de ceva bun, negresele astea sunt desertul ideal!
Adina says
Multumesc, Daniela. 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
Oh yum, love that light meringue, what a wonderful contrast to the rich brownies!
Kate @ Framed Cooks says
Meringue and brownies, two of my most favorite things! Love this combo, Adina! 🙂
Sissi says
It's incredible! A cocoa-based cake is also one of the first cakes I've ever baked as a teenager or a child maybe.... I don't remember if it was a success or not but even now I sometimes forget a crucial ingredient in a cake.... Too distracted!
Anyway, the cake I know doesn't have this extraordinary meringue layer on top. It makes the cake amazing, no longer a normal brownie or cocoa cake...