With the warmer weather here at the moment, and British strawberries on sale in an abundance, what better dessert to serve alongside them than meringues. My boys and their Daddy both love meringues and while it is easy to buy a packet from the supermarket, and less faff because there are already made and ready to eat, they do not taste as good as homemade meringues.
Making meringues is actually very easy – well as long as you have an electric whisk (it would be much harder with a hand whisk of course!). it is the time they take to cook that can be a little frustrating if you fancy a meringue in a hurry! However, they are worth the wait and keep fine in a tin for a few days once made.
I decided to add some silver edible glitter to my meringue mixture, this is optional I just thought it might add some extra sparkle to my otherwise crisp white meringues.
When baking meringues, it can be tricky removing them from your baking tray or sheet once they are cooked, because they can stick unless your are careful. However, if like me, you have a lovely non stick baking tray to hand, then cooking and removing your meringues is very easy, a pleasure in fact! Plus the tray just needs a quick rinse under the tap, and it is clean again.
I piped the meringue mixture onto my baking tray, and the holes in the tray made perfect sized nests for a single portion. I served them simply by slicing off the top of each meringue, and then I added some whipped double cream, and topped each one with a fruit flower using strawberries and blueberries because….. well just because really!
And then I placed the meringue tops back onto of the fruit ready for serving.
Meringues with cream and fruit are always a delicious combination and a perfect summer dessert
Here is the recipe:
- 2 egg whites
- 115g caster sugar
- 1 tsp silver edible glitter (optional)
- *Decoration*
- 200ml double cream
- 4 strawberries, sliced
- 4 blueberries
- silver edible glitter for dusting
- Preheat the oven 110oC / 100C (fan)
- Place the 2 egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl and beat them on a medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture stands up in stiff peaks when the whisk is lifted.
- Turn the speed up and gradually add the sugar slowly, just a spoonful at a time.
- Do not over whisk!
- When it is ready, the meringue mixture should be thick and glossy (see my photo)
- If you are adding a little edible glitter carefully fold it on now
- Add the meringue mixture into a piping bag and pipe nests on to the holes of the yorkshire pudding tray (if you have one - if not use a nows tick baking tray)
- Bake for approx 1 1⁄2-1 3⁄4 hours until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath
- Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack.
- Store in a tin with a lid until ready to serve
- *To Serve*
- Whip the cream until thick but not stiff
- Carefully remove the tops of the meringue nests
- Spread the cream thickly on to each meringue
- add the sliced strawberries and a blueberry to each meringue as per my photo
- add the top of the meringues back on top and enjoy.
Plus with their colours of red, white and blue they could be served as a pudding for the Queen’s birthday celebrations at the weekend – a very British dessert for a right British royal celebration.
Yummy.
I was sent a Yorkshire Pudding Baking Tray for the purpose of a review from British Bakeware
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Hosted this week by Sarah
These look yummy! I love meringue!
I love meringues and these look perfect Jenny! Loving the fruit combination, perfect for this time of year! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
These look so summery – I could eat meringues in all seasons to be honest though! Great idea to use the Yorkshire Pudding trays #BakeoftheWeek
Jenny, this looks delicious. My last attempt at meringue went horribly wrong but this recipe has inspired another attempt. Thank you!
thank you and I hope they work for you x