Midnight Blue - Meringue Crown with Fresh Cream Blueberries and Blueberry Compote

Midnight Blue

Serves: 6

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the meringue:

5 large egg whites

200g caster sugar

1 ½ tsp activated charcoal powder

½ tsp blue gel food colouring

For the filling:

400ml double cream, whipped until soft peaks form

200g blueberries, crushed

For the blueberry compote:

150g blueberries

200ml apple juice

150g caster sugar

Method:

• 1.Pre-heat the oven to 100C.
• 2.For the meringue, whisk the egg whites until they have doubled in size. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer if you have one.
• 3.Gradually add in the sugar one spoonful at a time, until the mixture is glossy and whipped to stiff peaks.
• 4.Add in the activated charcoal and blue food colouring. Fully incorporate until the mixture remains in the bowl when turned upside down.
• 5.Take a piece of baking paper and draw a circle with approximately 180mm diameter. You can use a side plate to measure this. Turn the baking paper upside down and place on a baking tray.
• 6.Spoon the meringue mixture within the circle. Smooth the top and sides into a cylindrical shape with a spatula.
• 7.With a clean spatula, start at the bottom of the cylinder and pull the meringue directly upwards to create ridges around the sides. Repeat process all around the meringue crown.
• 8.Place the tray into the oven and bake for 1 hour. Then turn the oven off and leave the meringue crown in there until the oven is fully cooled. This should take another hour.
• 9.Next, make the blueberry cream filling. Whip the double cream and crushed blueberries until stiff peaks form.
• 10.For the compote, add the ingredients into a pan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the blueberries have broken down. Leave to cool before serving.
• 11.Compile the meringue crown. Pipe or spoon the whipped blueberry cream into the centre of the meringue. Drizzle with the blueberry compote and finish with a sprinkle of blueberries.