Strawberry Meringue Cake

This is an easy recipe which, if it goes wrong, can be passed off as Eaton Mess!

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 2 punnets or 500g of fresh strawberries
• 310g caster sugar separated into portions of 2 x 140g and 1 x 30g
• A pinch of salt
• 300ml whipping cream
• A dash (20ml) of Cointreau (optional)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 120°C (fan).
2. In a bowl, whisk the egg whites with the pinch of salt until firm enough to stay in the bowl upside-down.
3. Lightly sprinkle 140g of the sugar evenly over the egg whites while folding the mixture with a large spoon or spatula. Don’t mix as this will remove the air from the meringue.
4. Whisk again to return to the original stiffness.
5. Fold in the second 140g of sugar and whisk for a final and third time.
6. Cover a baking tray with flour-dusted greaseproof paper and using a spatula, scrape the contents of the bowl onto the centre of it.
7. Spread the mixture evenly and gently in an oblong or round shape but maintain an even height of roughly 2 inches (from the tip of your finger to the second joint!)
8. Bake in the oven for 2 hours keeping a close eye on it for the last 30 minutes to ensure it doesn’t go brown (it should ideally be golden). If it does start to brown, remove it from the oven. Don’t worry if there are cracks as these will be concealed by the cream.
9. Mash about 10 strawberries, add a dash of Cointreau and the remaining 30g of caster sugar and set aside.
10. Whisk the cream until thick but still pourable, then add the mashed strawberry mix and whisk until stiff enough to stay in an upside-down bowl.
11. Spread evenly over the cooled meringue and completely cover with the remaining chopped and/or sliced strawberries.

You can use a variety of fruits with this recipe (see pic) but I think the contrast between the strawberries and the sweetness of the meringue works really well.