Meringue / Pavlova
To add to my many dessert recipes this one is great for Valentines (why not have after my pizza). After several unsuccessful attempts at meringue (opened the oven to find just liquid once) these came out perfectly and were still great stored in the fridge for a few hours.
Ingredients
Meringue
- 1 tsp cream of tarter
- 200 ml aqua faba (chickpea water) unsalted
- 200 g caster sugar I used granulated but ground it in my blender
Topping
- Vegan whipping cream I used Elmlea Plant double cream
- Fresh fruits
Instructions
- You can make one big meringue or smaller ones. I made 4 5" meringues with 1 can of chickpeas.
Serves 4-8 people depending on fillings and size of the meringue.
Preheat oven to 120oC/248oF (very important to preheat to the right temperature)
Method
Drain the liquid from a can of chickpeas. Pour into a large bowl and whisk on a high setting until it becomes thick and forms peaks. This can take 15-20 minutes (be patient, it's worth it).
Gradually pour in the sugar and cream of tarter and keep whisking for a few minutes. You want a light, fluffy, glossy mix that forms peaks.
- On parchment paper draw around a plate (I used 5" plates which made 7" meringues) Turn over paper (to stop the ink touching the meringue and place on a large baking tray. The meringues get bigger so be sure to keep a good 3-4" between the meringues.
Place in the oven and leave for 90 minutes. DO NOT open the oven to look at them during this time. After the 90 minutes are up turn off the oven leaving the meringues inside. As the oven cools it takes any moisture out of the meringues and will keep them crisp. After an hour remove from the oven and remove from the paper.
You can make a pavlova like I did (filling the meringue with whipped cream and topped with fruit) or get creative. I was originally going to make smaller ones and place one on top of the other with a cream center.
My top tip is to eat the meringues on the day you bake them as they can go soft. I stored this one in the fridge for a few hours and it was fine when I served it. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Tip: The success of this recipe is to whisk, whisk and whisk. Some recipes say to whisk for 6 minutes but I whisked for 15 minutes non stop to get the right consistency. Once the sugar and tarter is added I whisked again for another 5 minutes. You want the meringue to form stiff peaks and be glossy. See video for what to aim for. You can make one big meringue or smaller ones. I made 4 5″ meringues with 1 can of chickpeas.
Awesome stuff. Please keep writing more things like this. I really like the fact you went so in depth on this and really explored the topic as much as you did. I read a lot of blogs but usually, it’s pretty shallow content. Thanks for upping the game here!
Thanks!