How Do I Make The Whisked Frosting For The Tropical Chocolate Cake Without The Bowl Slipping In The Saucepan?

Our answer

Nigella's Tropical Chocolate Cake (from FEAST) is a moist chocolate cake that gets its tropical tilt from a combination of canned pineapple plus coconut flavouring. The cake is coated in a whisked meringue-like frosting, sometimes called "7-minute frosting".

The egg whites for the frosting are whisked over hot water as the heat helps the sugar dissolve more easily, lets the meringue get a good volume and also partially cooks the egg whites, giving a more stable meringue that will hold for a few hours (regular meringue will tend to deflate fairly quickly). As long as you have a bowl that fits fairly snugly inside the rim of the saucepan then it should not slip that easily, though make sure that the bottom of the bowl is not in direct contact with the water. You can hold the bowl with one hand (use an oven mitt on your hand in case the bowl gets too warm) to stabilise it. But if you are still worried, fold a tea towel (kitchen towel) into a large square and put it on a work top. Bring the water to a good, rolling boil, then set the saucepan on to the folded tea towel (use a pot rest as well, if neccesary, to protect the worktop). Put the bowl over the saucepan and whisk. The water should stay hot enough in the for the time needed to whisk the meringue into frosting.