Walnut Meringue

the meringue layer before baking

The finished product

A Pavlova or Meringue is mainly egg whites and sugar whipped up together and baked in the oven. I like the lightness of the meringue and a good meringue is crunchy on the outside and has a  marshmallow like texture on the inside.

To make sure your meringue is formed to perfection, dry equipments must be used to whisk the egg whites and sugar. When separating the eggs, make sure the yolk does not accidentally gets mixed into the egg whites.

In Australia, this dish is more popularly known as the Fruit Pavlova and is a firm favourite in the summer where berries and fruit are aplenty to use for the topping. This recipe has an added crunchiness to the meringue as chopped walnut is folded into the meringue mix.

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

225g caster sugar

75 g chopped walnuts

Filling & Topping

300ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsbp icing sugar

plus extra for dusting

350g strawberries 

250g blueberries

(raspberries, mangoes, bananas are good alternatives)

1.Preheat the oven to 140 C/275 F . Draw a 9 in circle on each of 2 pieces of non stick baking paper (see above photo). Place them on 2 separate baking trays. 

2. Whisk the egg whites in a large, clean dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, whisking until the whites are stiff and shiny. Fold in 50 g of the walnuts.

3. Divide the meringue mixture evenly between the 2 circles on the baking trays and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts on top of the meringue

4. Bake for 75 minutes or until the meringue is crisp, swapping the position of the two baking trays halfway through the cooking time. Turn off the oven and let the meringue circles cool inside.

5. Whip the cream in a large bowl until it forms soft peaks then fold in the vanilla essence and icing sugar.

6. Carefully sandwich the meringue together with half of the cream & half of the blueberries. Top with the remaining cream and berries. Dust lightly with icing sugar and serve.

Bon Apetite!