MrsDangermouse
Guru
This is quick and easy to throw together once you have the first 2 elements prepared. Steps 1 & 2 can can be made the day before (you could even buy ready-made meringues if you wanted to).
1. Rhubarb
- Chop the rhubarb up and gently stew it down in little water with a teaspoon or so of vanilla essence
- Add sugar if you prefer things sweet - I tend to leave the sugar out to keep the rhubarb nice and tart as it makes a better contrast to the sweetness of the meringue
- Once the rhubarb is pulpy and most of the liquid has evaporated remove from heat and leave to cool
2. Meringue
I generally use 1 egg white - this gives enough meringue for 4 or 6 servings depending on how generous you are
(store any unused meringues in an airtight box)
First weigh your egg whites (so you can work our how much sugar you'll use)
Golden caster sugar: twice the weight of your egg whites
- Whisk your egg white to stiff peaks and then gradually whisk in your sugar
- Dollop it out onto a lined baking sheet (teaspoon size dollops) - if you want to be posh you could pipe it, but as we'll crumble the meringues later I tend to stick to the rustic look
- Bake in a cool oven around 120C/100C fan for 30 mins to an hour (depending on the size of your meringues)
- Remove from oven and leave to cool
3. Make the mess
- Whip up about 100ml of double cream per person - you want it to be stiff enough to hold its shape, but don't over-whip
- Gently fold through a few spoonsfull of the rhubarb - you can add as much or as little as you like. You're looking to distribute the rhubarb fairly evenly through the cream, but don't mix totally - you should have a kind of ripple effect
- Crumble up some of the meringues and gently fold those through as well, sprinkle meringue crumbs on top for decoration if you have any left
Can be served immediately, or will keep in the fridge for a couple of hours.
1. Rhubarb
- Chop the rhubarb up and gently stew it down in little water with a teaspoon or so of vanilla essence
- Add sugar if you prefer things sweet - I tend to leave the sugar out to keep the rhubarb nice and tart as it makes a better contrast to the sweetness of the meringue
- Once the rhubarb is pulpy and most of the liquid has evaporated remove from heat and leave to cool
2. Meringue
I generally use 1 egg white - this gives enough meringue for 4 or 6 servings depending on how generous you are
(store any unused meringues in an airtight box)First weigh your egg whites (so you can work our how much sugar you'll use)
Golden caster sugar: twice the weight of your egg whites
- Whisk your egg white to stiff peaks and then gradually whisk in your sugar
- Dollop it out onto a lined baking sheet (teaspoon size dollops) - if you want to be posh you could pipe it, but as we'll crumble the meringues later I tend to stick to the rustic look
- Bake in a cool oven around 120C/100C fan for 30 mins to an hour (depending on the size of your meringues)
- Remove from oven and leave to cool
3. Make the mess
- Whip up about 100ml of double cream per person - you want it to be stiff enough to hold its shape, but don't over-whip
- Gently fold through a few spoonsfull of the rhubarb - you can add as much or as little as you like. You're looking to distribute the rhubarb fairly evenly through the cream, but don't mix totally - you should have a kind of ripple effect
- Crumble up some of the meringues and gently fold those through as well, sprinkle meringue crumbs on top for decoration if you have any left
Can be served immediately, or will keep in the fridge for a couple of hours.
