Meringue Dessert Cups

Serves 6

Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the macerated strawberries

300g chopped strawberries

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

80g caster Sugar

For the cream layer

430g dollop cream

½ lemon zested

¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

25g pure icing sugar (sieved)

For the Candy Stripped Meringue kisses

60g icing sugar

15g corn starch

2 egg whites 

Pinch cream of tartar

60g caster sugar

Red food dye

Method

Combine the chopped strawberries, vanilla and sugar in a bowl and leave them at room temperature while you prepare your meringues. Then combine all the cream layer ingredients and set them aside in the fridge until ready to assemble. 

Preheat the oven to 140°C. Sift the icing sugar and corn starch. Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar and gradually add in the caster sugar. Continue whisking to enable the sugar to dissolve then remove from the mixer. Fold through the sieved icing sugar and corn starch. 

Take one-third of the meringue mixture and fold the red colour gently through. Marble this back into the meringue mixture by gently folding large spoonfuls of the coloured meringue into the white meringue base without completely mixing together. 

Place the marbled mixture, without overworking it, into a piping bag with a 25mm or large plain piping tube. Pipe the mixture onto a tray lined with baking paper or a baking mat approximately 10mm apart, 25mm in diameter and 30mm high. If you don’t have a piping bag teaspoon small amounts onto a lined tray approximately 10mm apart.  

Bake at 140°C in a fan-forced oven for approximately one hour or until the meringue is crunchy right through to the centre. If the meringues begin to discolour you can turn the oven down to 100C.  Leave at room temperature to cool. Once cooled place the meringues in an airtight container until you are ready to use.

Place the cream layer in the base of the glass. Top it with a meringue, spoon the strawberry mixture onto the cream around the edge of the meringue.