About the bake
This recipe does take a while, but the results are more than worth it. Our Coffee Meringue is the perfect dessert for a dinner party with guests. We've taken the classic meringue recipe and flavoured it with a coffee extract and a hazelnut praline, which adds some serious crunch and an elegant decoration. We've also decorated ours with grated dark chocolate for an extra level of luxury. The key to this recipe is to get your stiff peaks right for the meringues, have a look at our video above for some tips.
Method
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Step 2:
Roast the blanched hazelnuts in the oven for 10 minutes. Then drop the temperature of the oven to 120°C (fan 100°C, gas mark 1/2).
Step 3:
In a thick-based saucepan, melt the sugar, stirring gently until it turns a nice caramel colour.
Step 4:
Stir in the nuts along with the coffee extract. Pour over a greased or oiled baking tray and leave to cool until hardened.
Step 5:
In a large bowl, use an electric whisk to whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Whisk in half the icing sugar, 1 tbsp at a time until the mixture is stiff. Carefully fold in the rest of the sugar and a teaspoon of coffee extract.
Step 6:
Use a rolling pin to break up the hazelnut praline and fold into the meringue mixture, reserving some to decorate.
Step 7:
Spread the mixture onto the lined baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 1.5-2 hours until the meringue is dry and lifts easily from the paper. Leave to cool.
Step 8:
Whip the cream with the vanilla extract and then spoon onto the cooled meringue. Grate some chocolate and sprinkle with the reserved praline to finish.
Ingredients
For the hazelnut praline
- 100g Hazelnuts
- 100g Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Coffee Extract
For the meringue
- 4 Egg white(s) (free range)
- 225g Billington's Unrefined Golden Icing Sugar
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Coffee Extract
For the topping
- 250ml Whipping cream
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
- 30g Dark chocolate (grated)
Utensils
- Baking tray
- Baking paper
- Saucepan
- Mixing bowl
- Electric whisk
- Rolling pin
- Grater
We'd love a slice of advice.
Was it yum? Did the recipe work well? Did you customise the recipe?
Ingredients
For the hazelnut praline
- 100g Hazelnuts
- 100g Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Coffee Extract
For the meringue
- 4 Egg white(s) (free range)
- 225g Billington's Unrefined Golden Icing Sugar
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Coffee Extract
For the topping
- 250ml Whipping cream
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
- 30g Dark chocolate (grated)
Utensils
- Baking tray
- Baking paper
- Saucepan
- Mixing bowl
- Electric whisk
- Rolling pin
- Grater