Meringues and fruit make for the perfect summer dessert in my books. They are light in taste, and pair well with fresh whipped and cold fresh fruit. I really wanted to create a refreshing summer dessert with this recipe, so I took things one step further here. Rather than serve fresh fruit, I decided to make blended a mixture of frozen forest berries with whipped and cream cheese and drizzle it all with a vanilla-blueberry sauce (which incidentally can be used on pancakes as well). The dessert should be enjoyed as soon as you make it, but this shouldn’t be a problem. In my experience, this dessert disappears rather quickly once served! Enjoy.
Level of Difficulty: 2/5
Preparation Time: 25-30 minutes
Cooking Time: about 45 minutes
Serves: 6-8 persons (6 large meringues)
ingredients from foodhaus
For the frozen berry cream
250g Ardo Fruitberry Mix
60g Arla Natural Cream Cheese
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup Arla Fresh Whipping Cream
1 tbs powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
For the meringue
6 fresh egg whites at room temperature
1.5 tsp cornflour
320g White Sugar
Dash of salt
For the blueberry sauce
1 cup Ardo Blueberries
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cornstarch
Dash of salt
recipe
1. Make the meringues. (You can make these a day ahead if you wish, but ensure that they are kept in a cool, dark place). Preheat the oven to 140C. In a large bowl add the egg whites and beat at high speed until the egg whites become frothy. Add the cornflour and dash of salt. Then continue to beat and slowly add the sugar, a little bit at a time (about 1 tablespoon). Continue to beat until the meringue appears glossy and forms stiff peaks. This usually takes me about 12 to 17 minutes.
2. Once the meringue has formed stiff peaks, use a spatula and place large scoops of the meringue on a baking tray covered with baking paper. You will want each meringue to be about the size of a small side plate and about 2 inches high.
3. Bake for about 1 hour. When finished baking, leave the meringues to cool in the oven, opening the oven door slightly and allowing some of the hot air to escape.
4. Make the blueberry sauce in a small pot, on medium heat. Add the water and cornstarch and mix together until the cornstarch disappears. Then add the blueberries, white sugar, vanilla, and dash of salt. Heat and continue to stir until the mixture begins to thicken. It will thicken a little bit more once you remove the blueberry sauce from the heat, so you want the sauce to be sort of thick and runny. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the lemon peel and lemon juice. If making the meringues the next day, place the blueberry sauce in the fridge overnight and warm it on the stove before serving the next day.
5. Make the frozen berry cream cheese filling. Take the frozen berries out from the freezer but only let them thaw for about ten minutes. In a food processor, add the berries and puree until the mixture looks like small beads. Put the cream cheese in a large bowl and beat it until it is smooth. Add the frozen berry mixture, mix well and then stir in the lemon juice.
6. In another bowl, beat the cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla powder until very stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the frozen berry mixture.
7. Put together the completed meringues. Take 1 meringue and place a few spoonfuls of frozen berry cream on top. Drizzle the meringue and frozen berry cream with blueberry sauce and enjoy! (If you have any extra frozen berry cream you can also enjoy it on its own as a pudding, but ensure that you enjoy it when ready-made!)