Light, crisp, and topped with fresh strawberries, this hazelnut meringue is a beautiful dessert that’s simple to make and perfect for special occasions or summer gatherings.
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It's Sweet Adventures Blog Hope time again and this time I'm first in which makes a rather nice change from forgetting a few months in a row. I felt rather special when I was asked to host this month's hop and went straight to theme brainstorming.
I went back and forth on lots of ideas then I just thought 'Claire, what's your favourite?' Well the answer to that was a pretty quick pavlova (although chocolate mud cake ties but that theme had already been used) and so Meringue Mania was born.
I had what I thought was a very creative idea to make meringue cupcakes, spreading the raw meringue into cupcake cakes before baking. I even made them chocolate on the bottom and piped pink meringue on top to look like icing. It was a meringue fail.
While they looked kind of cute they cooked really strangely and it seems cupcake liners and meringue get a long a little too well. So well in fact there was no amount of bribery that could get the two to separate.
Luckily I had a backup meringue recipe up my sleeve. We had Will's family over to dinner last week seeing as everyone was in town for his sister's wedding and as there are a couple of gluten-intolerant members of the family, I used it as an excuse to serve up a twist on my favourite.
It was so good that when I was cleaning up I may have disposed of the leftovers in my mouth. Adding hazelnut meal to a plain meringue made it into something seriously special with a lovely extra layer of texture. Of course you can't go wrong when you combine cream and strawberries and I added a little yoghurt. I'm not sure what it does but somehow it makes the cream taste even better (thank you to Bill Granger for that tip).
I covered mine in strawberries because they're such a bargain at the moment and I can't get enough of them but you can use whichever berries you like. Enjoy!
I can't wait to see everyone else's Meringue Mania creations.
Recipe
Hazelnut meringue with strawberries - Meringue Mania
Ingredients
- 2 free-range egg whites
- 115 g 4oz caster (superfine sugar)
- 4 tablespoon ground hazelnuts
- 290 ml 10fl oz whipping cream
- 3 heaped tablespoon Greek yoghurt plain or vanilla
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 450 g 1lb chopped strawberries or other berries
- Icing confectioner's sugar to serve
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 130C fan-forced (330F) and cut two sheets of baking paper.
- On the underside of each one, draw a 20cm (8in) circle - I traced around a cake tin - then place them on two baking trays.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
- A tablespoon at a time, with the motor running, add the sugar and keep beating until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is stiff and glossy.
- Take the bowl off the stand and fold through the ground hazelnuts.
- Divide the mixture between the two trays, spreading it out to fill the circle then flatten them out on top.
- Bake for 40 minutes then turn off the oven and open it a tiny bit then leave the meringues to cool completely in the oven. This will take at least 3 hours.
- Whip the cream with the vanilla then fold through the yoghurt.
- To serve, place one meringue on a serving plate and spread with half the cream and berries.
- Top with the second meringue, cream and berries and dust with icing sugar.
- Leave for 15 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
plasterer bristol says
Oh wow this recipe looks delicious, love anything hazelnut. Thanks for sharing.
simon
Sugar et al says
What an amazing combination of ingredients! And looks fabulous too. Thanks for coming up with such a lovely theme.
Chris says
Oh, I could I possibly miss that hop. Anyways, that hazelnut meringue with strawberries it's absolutely delicious, I reckon.
Monica @ Gastromony says
This look divine! I think for everyone meringue success I've had, there's been at least 3 meringue fails beforehand lol. Thanks for hosting a great hop :)
Claire says
Ok I'm glad I'm not the only one!
Swah says
This looks absolutely delicious and I love the addition of hazelnut meal! (In fact if I remake my Nutella pavlova, I might use that idea for extra nutty-ness). Looks divine :)
Claire says
Ooh imagine a combo of our two recipes? YUM!!!
Mary @ beyondjelly says
Hey Claire, Love your idea for the meringue! Sadly, I can't link up because linky doesn't seem to think I have linked to you... any chance you can help me link up? http://www.beyondjelly.com/2013/09/mud-cake-with-raspberry-meringue.html
Thanks!
Claire says
Hi Mary. I've emailed your details on to JJ chief host and she'll set you up. Sorry you had trouble!
Sophie - thestickyandsweet says
Thanks for hosting a fabulous hop theme! Bring on the meringues! :)
Claire says
Bring them on!
Lisa the Gourmet Wog says
I'm loving these meringue recipes Claire, thanks for hosting this wonderful series x
Claire says
Thanks Lisa!
Sally says
looks lovely Claire; can't go past nutty meringue, berries and cream :)
Claire says
It's a great combo isn't it?!
erin @ she cooks she gardens says
I had a similar mishap with my cake which resulted in what I can only describe as chocolate lava. It didn't matter how long I cooked out for, the damn thing wasn't going to set. Thankfully all was well second time around.
I like the idea of adding hazelnut meal to your meringue, kind of a macaron vibe, yeah? Delish!
Claire says
Hmm that still sounds like a pretty tasty mishap to me :-) Yes it is a bit macaron like!
My Kitchen Stories says
Ah yes, I make a frozen meringue using hazelnut meal and was going to do just that before changing my mind at the last minute. It looks beautifully cooked and quite delicious Claire. They say meringue sticks like s*** to a blanket, and this is true
Claire says
Ooh that sounds wonderful Tania you'll have to make it another time. I wish I'd known that saying!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
Oh well! I guess it's better to experiment and find out about the meringue and cupcakes than to not have tried at all :)
Claire says
That is very true!
JJ @ 84thand3rd says
Ah I was wondering what happened to the cupcakes on IG - they looked so pretty though! Thanks again for hosting and love the sound of the hazelnut meal in your meringue stack :) Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!
Claire says
Thanks for asking me to host!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
I like Chris's advice but I'd also like to see photos of the cupcakes. It would make me feel so much better next time I have a fail. :)
I really like your hazelnut meringue - sort of like a giant macaron and then.. not. :)
Claire says
Haha ok I'll show you! It is a bit like a giant macaron.
The Café Sucre Farine says
Sorry about your mishap with the cupcakes Claire! Scott says unless we try things, we never come up with wonderful new creations. He's so good about encouraging me when things flop! So that's what I'm telling you. :) And it looks like your alternative is wondeful!
Claire says
Well that is very true Chris!