Pretty, simple and sweet. Turn some meringue nests into mini Pavlovas with a rich cream filling and top off with seasonal fruit and a sprinkle of chocolate shavings. For a special kick, this elegant dessert is laced with cherry or kirsch liqueur — a great way to end your “adults-only” dinner parties.
This recipe calls for black cherries and kiwi fruit, but you could of course fill them with whatever fruit is in season. The traditional fruits for a Pavlova are strawberries, peaches, bananas, kiwi and passion fruit. You could also enjoy all sorts of creative variations, such as adding roughly chopped pistachios.
These melt-in-your-mouth cherry liqueur cream meringue nests are the perfect combination of textures and flavours.
To speed up the process and simplify your life, buy some good-quality French meringue nests from a shop or bakery. That way you do not actually have to go through the trouble of baking them yourselves.
Easy yet impressive dessert enough to dazzle family and friends’ taste buds. An impressive, thoroughly delicious dessert.
If you don’t want to use liqueur, use two additional tablespoons of cherry or another fruit juice. Replacing the cream with mascarpone or cream cheese, lends it a fresh, slightly tangy flavour that offsets the sweetness of the meringue and cherry liqueur perfectly.
Fill the hollow in each meringue with some of the cream (either dollop it in or put it in a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe dollops in), top with some of the cherries and a drizzle of syrup and sprinkle with chocolate shavings then top with a fresh cherry. Serve immediately.
CHEF’S TIP
- If you’re having cocktails with your treats, don’t get rid of the cherry juice in the jar or tin. It’s a great cocktail sweetener.
Ingredients
- 6 ready-made meringue nests
- 300 ml fresh cream
- 15 ml cherry liqueur
- 1 tin black cherries
- kiwi fruit
- flaked chocolate
Instructions
- Beat the cream lightly
- Add the liqueur
- Pour the cream into a piping bag
- Fill the meringue
- Garnish with cherries, fruit and chocolate.
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