Ingredients
2 large eggs
4 oz( 110g) Caster sugar
Basic meringue is a component in many desserts, and can lift and develop texture, eg Eton mess, or a sundae with fruit and ice cream. The shapes do not need to be uniform. Create a large meringue base for a luscious Pavlova desert.
I am often ask for tips to produce lovely white crisp meringues with a slightly soft chewy interior – just how they should be. By using the slow cooker setting to gradually dry out the mixture this can be easily achieved without having to constantly watch them to check they are not browning.
1.Set oven on 150°c on conventional oven setting while preparing mixture let it get up to temperature.
2.Separate eggs to keep the whites for meringues, it is imperative not to get any yolk mixed in and use a very clean bowl, any fat/grease present will affect the whisking of the egg whites.
3. Whisk white for 3 minutes, add sugar a little at a time, whisk for another minute until the mixture is stiff and shiny.
4.Line a baking tray with baking paper best to use a silicon type .spoon or pipe onto this tray for shape required.
5.Before the meringue goes into the oven drop temperature to 50° and set to the low element ( slow cooker function), leave for 4-6 hours.
6. After 4 hour they are soft and gooey on the inside with a crunchy outer shell.
Add fruit , ice cream and cream to develop a delicious sundae.
To make a Pavlova base, you may wish to increase to 3 eggs and another 2 oz/ 55g of caster sugar, mark a circle on the baking silicon and create a round large meringue. I did feel you needed to leave the temperature on 150 degrees C for 15-20 minutes to ensure you get the crisp shell being larger then the smaller individual ones, reduce to 50 degrees C and just leave. It can be left for a few hours and will not colour, then switch off oven and leave in as the oven cools down.
I used whisked double cream with 1 oz/25g icing sugar and a tub of Mascarpone cream cheese, with 1 teasp of vanilla extract, then piled with fruit and dusted with icing sugar. It was delicious!
Darrell and Sue
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