Saturday tasty treat: Angie Batis Durrant’s merry cherry messes

Be ahead of the game by creating your festive season menus and dishes, and trying out all the delicious and yummy dishes and treats which you would like to serve and enjoy at your festive lunch or dinner parties.

Try out Angie Batis Durrant’s mouthwatering merry cherry messes this weekend which are the perfect treats for meringue and cherry lovers.

Angie Batis Durrant’s merry cherry messes

Ingredients

For the cherry syrup

• 1 cup of cherries, pitted
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

For the meringues

• 4 egg whites – room temp
• 220g of castor sugar
• 2 teaspoons of white vinegar

For the cherry cream

• 250ml of fresh cream
• 3 tablespoons of cherry syrup
• A big handful of cherries, sliced

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Instructions

1. In a pot over a medium heat, bring the cherries, sugar, water & lemon juice to a gentle boil. Reduce heat & simmer for 12 mins.
2. Remove from heat, then with a wooden spoon push down hard on the cherries before pouring the syrup through a sieve & into a bowl. Push as much liquid through the sieve as possible. Cool syrup completely.
3. How to make meringues: Preheat the oven to 130°C. Place a piece of baking paper onto a baking tray.
4. In a large bowl using an electric mixer/KitchenAid, beat the egg whites until fluffy, then SLOWLY add the sugar a tablespoon at a time.
5. Once you have a thick glossy mixture, add the vinegar & mix for 3 mins.
6. Spoon it into a piping bag fitted with whatever nozzle you like & start by making the bottom halves of your pavlovas. I piped out round flat circles about 10 cm wide.
7. For the tops, use 2 different star-shaped tips – pip out small meringues next to one another to form little constellations.
8. Bake everything for an hour. Once done turn off your oven & let the tray of meringues cool down inside.
9. How to serve – Beat the cream until stiff peaks form then gently stir in the syrup & sliced cherries.
10. Place a cooled meringue disc on a plate, add a big dollop of cream, then top that with a meringue constellation. Pour cherry syrup over them just before serving

This recipe was created by Angie Batis Durrant