Wipe a stainless-steel bowl and the whisk attachment, of a standing mixer, with a paper towel moistened with lemon juice.

This step is done to eliminate any trace of grease, which would hinder the egg whites from stiffening.

Preheat your oven to 200 C° / 392 F°

Line two large baking trays with a silicone mat, or use parchment paper and set aside.

Prepare the standing mixer, by wiping the standing mixer bowl and whisk with a paper towel moistened with a little lemon juice to eliminate any trace of grease.

Line a medium baking tray with baking parchment, pour in the sugar and warm it in the oven for 7 minutes. ( use a timer)

A soon as the sugar is in the oven, right away pour the egg whites into a mixer and whisk them slowly for some minutes, allowing small stabilizing bubbles to form, then increase the speed to medium so the meringues become stiff peaks.

When you have 30 seconds left of the sugar being in the oven, turn your mixer up to high speed.

Take the sugar out of the oven, and turn the oven down to 225 F° (100 C°)

With your mixer on full speed, very slowly add one teaspoon of the hot sugar into the beaten egg whites, take your time when you do this, and don’t be tempted to add more than one teaspoon at a time. (She means it...don't lose your mind and start adding more sugar)

Make sure the mixture comes back up to stiff peaks after each teaspoon of sugar

Once you have added all the sugar, add the seeds of the vanilla bean pod, and continue to whisk on full speed until you have a smooth, stiff and glossy mixture and all of the sugar is incorporated.

Add the espresso powder and continue to mix for one minutt more.

You will need a disposable piping bag and a wilton 1M nozzle, place the nozzle in the bag and cut the tip-off.

Spoon your meringues mixture into a large piping bag.

If you are using parchment paper to pipe the meringues on, you will need to add some meringues mixture underneath the parchment paper below so it sticks to the baking tray.

Pipe out your meringue swirls, ( watch the video https://youtu.be/ovia5m9JhEE)

Bake for about 50 minutes or until the meringue bases come off the parchment paper clean.

These mocca meringues keeps well for 2 weeks, in a container or wrapped in plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Line a 9-inch (24 cm) round springform pan with parchment paper, grease the sides and set aside.

Combine one cup of the confectioners’ sugar with the ground almonds in a bowl and set aside.

Place the egg whites into the bowl and beat on low speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. increase the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form about 1 minute.

Increase the speed to high then add the remaining powdered or confectioners’ sugar, one spoonful at a time.

Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form and the meringue is glossy and thick.

Add the vanilla and combine with a spatula.

With a silicone spatula, fold in the ground almonds and powdered /confectioners’ sugar mixture.

Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.

Use your spatula to spread evenly and to eliminate any air bubbles.

Bake on the middle rack of oven for 25-30 minutes.

Do not over bake this cake! )Manuela bakes her cake base 25 minutes because she loves her almond cake gooey on the inside. I over baked mine but it still tasted great!)

Let cool completely. Meanwhile, proceed to make the Mocha ice cream.

Pour cold heavy cream into a bowl, whisk until fluffy, and cold sweet condensed milk and with a spatula combine.

Add vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract and with a spatula combine. (you can skip this step if you don’t have vanilla)

Add the cold strong espresso coffee, followed by the crushed mocca meringues and blend together with a spatula.

Have a taste if you feel you want more coffee flavor, add a spoonful cold espresso coffee, and with a spatula combine.

Pour the mixture over the cooled almond crust, tap the pan on the counter a few times to make the ice-cream layer is even.

Freeze for at least 5 hours or overnight, covered well.

This ice cream cake can be kept in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.

20 minutes before serving, take the ice cream cake out of the fridge.

Slice and enjoy!