Meringue with Strawberries

It's summer and I'm in a desert kind of mood!

Meringue is so simple to make at home; with an electric whisk the mixture takes just minutes to prepare.

The addition of a little lemon juice helps to keep the meringue shiny.

You then pop it in the oven on a low temperature for several hours and go and do something else while the meringue slowly cooks. ( Look at your phone or tablet...Read an excerpt of a book... Read my other two blogs.)

This is a large meringue nest; if you prefer to make smaller nests, cooking time would be reduced by about half. It makes a delicious dessert topped with Italian zabaglione and some fresh strawberries.


INGREDIENTS:


For the meringue
•3 egg whites

•1 pinch salt

•250 g caster (superfine) sugar

•0.5 tsp lemon juice

•10 g icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted

•200 g strawberries, hulled and quartered


For the zabaglione

•4 egg yolks

•100 g caster (superfine) sugar

•3 tbsp Marsala wine

DIRECTIONS:

1.Preheat the oven to 75°C/165°F/gas mark ¼ or as low as it will go. Line a 24cm/9½-inch diameter round baking sheet with baking parchment.

2 Put the egg whites and salt in a bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the caster sugar, whisking all the time. Add the lemon juice and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.

3 Put the mixture into a piping bag (pastry bag) and pipe a large nest onto the baking parchment. Alternatively, if you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a large spoon. Sprinkle with icing sugar and immediately place in the oven for 4 hours.

4 Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before carefully removing from the baking sheet, and then leave the meringue to cool fully.

5 Meanwhile, make the zabaglione. In a small heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vin santo. Place over a saucepan of gently simmering water, whisking all the time until the mixture begins to boil and thicken. 6 Remove from the heat, whisk well to get rid of any lumps, and leave to cool. 7 Put the meringue on a serving plate, fill the middle with the zabaglione and decorate with strawberries.

Another nice cool treat for a summer day...Enjoy! Eat Well My Friends!