You Will Need:
- The 'aquafaba' (water) out of one 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and strained
- 150g icing sugar
- 150g golden caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 400ml tin coconut cream, refrigerated
- 2 teaspoons of icing sugar, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Meringue nests with whipped coconut cream and fresh summer berries
You won't believe how good these egg-free meringues are.
A must try!
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 100 degrees Celsius, and line two short-sided trays with baking paper.
- Put the aquafaba into an extremely clean large bowl, and beat on high speed for around 5 minutes or until soft peaks form.
- While continuing to beat, gradually add in the icing sugar, then the caster sugar. You may not need all the sugar - stop if the mixture is getting too thick.
- Once all the sugar is incorporated and dissolved, sprinkle in the cream of tartar and the vanilla essence. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
- Scoop the meringue mixture into a piping bag. You may have to do this in two batches.
- Pipe nests of meringue onto the lined baking sheets. To do this, pipe a 'base' of concentric circles to about 10cm wide, then pipe around the outside edge about three spirals up to create a 'nest' shape.
- Bake in the preheated oven for around 2 hours (depending on the size of your nests it may be a little shorter or longer). Keep an eye on them to make sure they don't start to brown. Once cooked, switch off the oven and leave the meringues in there, with the door ajar, for an extra half-hour. They should be light and dry when you remove them from the oven.
- Make the whipped cream just before assembling your meringues.
- Being careful not to shake it, open the tin of coconut cream and spoon of the thick cream from the top. Discard (or drink!) the clear coconut water underneath. Put the thick coconut cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl, and whisk on high speed until thickened.
- Serve your meringues fresh, topped generously with whipped coconut cream.
- Adorn with fresh raspberries and blueberries, and serve with strawberries on the side. (The unfilled meringues will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container.)
Variation:
This and other recipes can be found at: WhyVeg.com/recipes
WhyVeg.com is an initiative of Animals Australia.
www.AnimalsAustralia.org