Lavender Meringue with Violets, Turkish Delight & Blueberry Cream
Welcome my fellow foragers, Victoria here with my midweek musings. I woke this morning to an ephemeral mist settling over Sydney Harbour casting a violet hue to everything it touched. It put me in a blue mood – lets clarify – not a drag your feet on the floor, heave and sigh all the time mood, but just set indigo, violet and midnight on the mind.
My husband has been a dream this last week as I hurt my back and he well deserves a huge thank you in the form of some delicious dessert. With indigo and mist on the mind I settled on a lavender meringue with violets, Turkish delight and blueberry cream. He says he wants to eat healthy, that might just have to wait another week……or lifetime!
Recipe
Serves 8
Prep time 30 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes + 3 hours
8 egg whites at room temperature (free range please – come on ladies, we need to stick together)
2 cups caster sugar
3 drops of lavender essence or 3 tbsp of fresh flowers ground by mortar and pestle
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp cornflour
500ml thickened (whipping) cream
2 Tbsp icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
4 pieces rose turkish delight, thinly sliced
2 cups frozen blueberries, defrost and mash 1 cup
16 violet flowers (use regular violet varieties not African violets which are not consumable)
Preheat oven to 100°C/225°F. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Beat the egg whites into a clean, dry bowl with an electric beater until soft peaks form. Over 10 minutes, slowly add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time. The mixture will become thick, glossy and have no grainy feel between the fingertips. Beat in the vanilla, vinegar, cornflour and lastly fold through the lavender. Divide the meringue into 8 high mounds on the lined baking tray. Sprinkle with dried lavender. Very gently place the tray in the center of the oven and cook for 45 minutes at 100°C. After this time turn the oven off but leave the meringues sitting in the oven for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight. The meringues should be white, crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, giving a hollow sound when knocked on the base. Transfer the meringues to a rack to cool.
Whip cream with vanilla and icing sugar till soft peaks form. Plate individual meringues with a large dollop of whipped cream, drizzle mashed blueberries, scatter loose blueberries and Turkish delight over. Sprinkle dried lavender to finish.
Enjoy, savour and devour!