Chocolate meringues with vincotto strawberries

Crisp on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside, these chocolate meringues make an scrumptious yet simple dessert. You’ll only need 4 meringues for this recipe but the remainder will keep perfectly well in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g strawberries, hulled and halved, or quartered if large
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) vincotto
• 1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted
• 300 ml double cream
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Chocolate meringues

• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 pinch salt
• 200 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dutch cocoa, sifted, plus extra, for dusting
• 3 tsp cornflour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 120°C.

For the meringues, using an electric mixer, place the egg whites and salt in a spotlessly clean bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Whisk until thick and glossy, then add the vinegar and combined cocoa and cornflour, and whisk until just combined. Place 8 large spoonfuls of meringue on a baking tray lined with baking paper, dust lightly with a little extra cocoa and bake for 1 hour or until crisp. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues to cool, with the oven door ajar.

Half an hour before serving, toss the strawberries, vincotto and icing sugar together, and stand at room temperature.

To assemble, lightly beat the cream and vanilla bean paste until well combined. Coarsely break 4 of the meringues and layer in wide-rimmed serving glasses with the strawberries and cream.

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Jerrie-Joy Redman-Lloyd. Serving dish, Vincino; tiles, Onsite Supply & Design; fork, The Bay Tree.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.