Coffee cream meringues

Crisp meringues, delicate coffee cream and raspberries – a perfect afternoon treat. This classic flavour combination is simple to prepare, especially if you have disposable piping bags and a large open-star piping tip. These meringues with coffee cream are simply wonderful served with a cup of coffee!

Note: To create the shape of the meringues, I used an 18 mm open-star piping tip.

Makes approximately 10 large sandwich-style meringues.

Ingredients for the meringues:

• 4 large egg whites* (about 40 g each)
• a pinch of salt
• 240 g caster sugar

Ideally, the egg whites should be at room temperature, as they whip up to a greater volume, although this is not essential.

Place the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer and begin whisking. Once slightly foamy, add the pinch of salt and continue whisking on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously after each addition. Note: The most common mistake is adding all the sugar at once. The sugar needs time to dissolve and stabilise the meringue; otherwise, the mixture may become runny and the meringues may fail. Most of the sugar should dissolve into the meringue. You can test this by rubbing a little of the mixture between your fingers. The finished meringue should be thick, glossy and stiff.

Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats.

Transfer the meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large decorative piping tip. Pipe elongated meringues about 4 cm wide and 10 cm long, leaving a little space between them, as they will expand during baking.

Bake for approximately 45–60 minutes at 140°C. The finished meringues should be crisp on the outside and marshmallowy or slightly chewy in the centre. If your oven causes the meringues to turn beige rather than snowy white at this temperature, lower the temperature and increase the baking/drying time. Allow to cool completely before filling.

It is best to prepare the cream and assemble the meringues just before serving.

Ingredients for the coffee cream:

• 200 g mascarpone
• 300 ml double cream
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 1 tablespoon finely ground coffee

All ingredients should be well chilled.

Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk together until a thick, pipeable cream forms.

To finish:

• fresh raspberries

Sandwich the meringues together generously with the coffee cream and add fresh raspberries.

Enjoy!