HAZELNUT MERINGUE TOWER
Guests are always impressed by home-made meringues, especially when presented with a towering chocolate cream sandwich like this. There are all sorts of theories about how to make the best meringues – using icing sugar instead of caster, adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the egg whites – but the most important thing is to bake them very slowly in a low oven. You’re not really cooking them as such, just drying them out.
Servings
8
Servings
8
Ingredients
FOR THE FILLING
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 140°C/Gas 1. Line three baking sheets with greaseproof or baking paper.
  2. Whisk the egg whites in a large, scrupulously clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. Whisk in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the mixture is glossy and holding its shape. Finally, fold in the ground and chopped hazelnuts.
  3. Put a dab of the meringue mixture under each corner of the paper on the prepared sheets to keep it in place. Now spoon equal amounts of the mixture into the middle of each sheet and shape each mound into a circle about 18cm wide.
  4. Bake in the oven for 1½ hours, or until crisp on the outside and still a little soft in the middle. Turn off the oven and let the meringues cool inside with the door slightly ajar. When completely cold, they can be stored in an airtight container for a week.
  5. When you’re ready to serve, make the filling. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (it must not actually touch the water) and warm until melted. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
  6. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks. Mix three-quarters of the melted chocolate into the cream and fold in quickly and thoroughly, being careful not to overwork it.
  7. Choose the best meringue for the top, then place one of the other meringues on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread half the chocolate cream over it with a spatula. Place the second meringue on top and cover with the remaining cream mixture. Sit the final meringue on the stack and drizzle the remaining melted chocolate over it.
HOW TO SPREAD MERINGUE NESTS EVENLY
  1. Put four blobs of meringue on the corners of a baking tray to anchor the greaseproof paper in place. It then makes it much easier to spread out the meringue in uniform nests.