Summer berry meringues
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Summer berry meringues

Gordon Ramsay gives us a masterclass in meringues – the perfect prepare-ahead pudding

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

Freezable

Method

  1. Heat oven to 110C/fan 90C/gas ¼. Tip the egg whites and lemon juice into the clean bowl of a food mixer. Whisk until the whites double in volume and hold a peak when the whisk is drawn through them. Keep the whisk running and add the sugar a tbsp at a time, incorporating completely before adding the next. Whisk until all the sugar has been added and the whites are glossy.
  2. Place a square of baking parchment on a large baking sheet. Pencil nine circles, about 7cm each, onto the parchment. Spoon the meringue into a large piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe concentric rounds to fit each drawn circle, piping two or more rings around the edge to form a nest. Bake for 2 hrs until they are crisp and lift off the paper easily. Leave to cool completely.
  3. Whisk the crème fraîche until stiff, then fold in the yogurt. Set 2 strawberries and 9 raspberries aside and roughly chop the rest. Tip the chopped berries, mint and ginger into a bowl. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar and use a wooden spoon to mash to a rough purée. Gently fold the berries into the yogurt mix, adding icing sugar to taste.
  4. To assemble, cut the remaining strawberries into 9 slices and place a slice inside each meringue case. Generously share the rippled cream between the cases, then top with a raspberry and a mint sprig. Dust with a little icing sugar just before serving. ( Meringues keep in an airtight container for 2 days.)
Try

Use week old egg whites

Older egg whites are better for whisking than fresh - about a week old is ideal. The older they get, the more they liquefy and become easier to whisk.

Clean equipment

All the equipment you use to make meringues must be scrupulously clean, dry and grease-free. Even the slightest smudge of oil on the bowl or pin-drop of egg yolk in the whites will stop them from whisking properly. It's best to use a metal bowl as plastic retains traces of fatty substances on the surface.

Low temp and slow cooking

The lower the heat the better, so use your oven's 'keep warm' function if it has one. An Aga's lowest warming oven is ideal for meringues. The lower the heat, the longer the meringues are going to take to cook, so if cooking on a lower heat than stated, they can take up to 8 hours.

Per meringue

217 kcalories, protein 3g, carbohydrate 32g, fat 9 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 1g, sugar 32g, salt 0.13 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, August 2007.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Domi194

    29 February 2008

    Domi194 rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Domi194

    29 February 2008

    Domi194 commented on this recipe

    I love it Everything was perfect but what else can you expect form a millionare chef

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  • Binder photo Zot the Bot

    03 April 2008

    Zot the Bot rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    These were just lovely. The tartness of the filling works wonderfully with the sweetness of the merginue. I made two batches and ate three before anyone else got a chance to see them! I did cheat the first time however and used shop bought meringue nests. I made proper ones in next batch and these were lighter but either way, they were lovely.

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  • Binder photo Mira.Z

    22 May 2008

    Mira.Z rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely stunning - I made these for a special birthday dinner for 18 people. Easy to prepare the meringues up to 2 days in advance and the filling the day before. Very light and just the right thing after a large meal! Will definitely do them again!

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  • Binder photo Lizzy

    03 August 2008

    Lizzy commented on this recipe

    The strawberry cream mix was a bit runny and didn't sit on the meringues. It tasted great but didn't look that great. Any tips?

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  • Binder photo Patrick

    18 October 2008

    Patrick commented on this recipe

    it looks amazing

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  • Binder photo Kcm13

    04 November 2008

    Kcm13 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    These are perfect and would look great at buffets or dinner parties. I made them just because I liked the look of them one night and they are gorgeous... though I did buy the meringues instead of making them - bought ones definately dont hold as much filling as the made ones! YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY

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  • Binder photo Kiwi

    19 March 2009

    Kiwi rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I agree with Lizzy about the consistency.... I made these for a dinner party & although they tasty nice the mixture was very runny! I whisked the creme fraiche for ages (about 10 mins with an electric whisk), thinking maybe this was her mistake but it never seemed to get to quite stiff enough. Any help greatly welcome.

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  • Binder photo Elly

    15 June 2009

    Elly commented on this recipe

    Anyone know if you can freeze these?

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  • Binder photo Gunnar Hakonarson

    28 June 2009

    Gunnar Hakonarson commented on this recipe

    Answering Elly, yes you can freeze these. You can see it in the section on every recipe where they tell you the cooking time and preperation time. If there is a blue symbol for with a snowflake on it, then you can freeze it.

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  • Binder photo minnietai

    25 September 2009

    minnietai commented on this recipe

    lm going to try this today , hope it will look as great since my inlaws are coming over

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  • Binder photo vcvdp

    04 June 2010

    vcvdp commented on this recipe

    I am using these as a dinner for 30 people (using shop bought nests to save time). I have the very same problem with consistency of the rippled cream. I even tried to drain some of the juice from the fruit. I have added gelatine but its now giving the creme a jelly like consistency -this is not good considering the quantity i am making!!! Help please!!

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  • Binder photo jools

    03 July 2010

    jools commented on this recipe

    I meant runnier, not funnier!!

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  • Binder photo jools

    03 July 2010

    jools commented on this recipe

    I meant runnier, not funnier!!

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  • Binder photo jools

    03 July 2010

    jools commented on this recipe

    Sorry! My iPad flipped to a different recipe! Please ignore earlier comments!

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  • Binder photo valerie

    05 August 2010

    valerie commented on this recipe

    Can anyone please tell me how many meringues this recipe makes.

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  • Binder photo Gerda

    09 September 2010

    Gerda commented on this recipe

    It makes 9 nests, Valerie

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  • Binder photo Clarey

    07 January 2011

    Clarey commented on this recipe

    I did this last night, but due to increased numbers decided at the last minute to make it one big meringue nest instead of little ones -- 2 hrs at 90c in my fan oven was definitely not enough ... perhaps because of the one large nest. Also had same prob as everyone else -- creme fraiche beautifully stiff before adding yoghurt/berries. Going to up the proportion of creme fraiche to yoghurt next time and see if that helps. Also have to say I don't think I really noticed the ginger - so will try grating a much larger bit next time. Anyway, due to taking it out of oven before ready it was all a big disaster looks-wise, but in the end I broke up the large nest and just made a large gooey Eton mess with it, which seemed to go down ok with everyone. Not a fail-safe recipe, but will try again, because it was yummy.

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  • Binder photo Poletta

    02 February 2011

    Poletta rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo sailorgirl

    18 June 2011

    sailorgirl rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this last night, the meringues were the best. I did not use a food mixer however, I used my trusty electric whisk which did the trick. For the filling I halved the recipe. I did find that the creme fraiche was stiff before I began to whisk, but the more I whisked the softer it got, so next time I would just fold in the yoghurt and fruit mix and not whisk beforehand.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

Freezable

Stunning dinner party finale

Ingredients

FOR THE MERINGUE NESTS

  • 3 egg whites
  • ½ tsp lemon juice
  • 150g caster sugar

FOR THE RIPPLED CREAM

  • 200ml tub crème fraîche
  • 200ml natural yogurt
  • 300g strawberries , hulled
  • 250g raspberries
  • small bunch mint , leaves stripped and finely chopped
  • small knob fresh root ginger , peeled and finely grated
  • 5 tbsp icing sugar (you may not need it all)
  • 9 little sprigs of mint and icing sugar, to decorate
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Per meringue

217 kcalories, protein 3g, carbohydrate 32g, fat 9 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 1g, sugar 32g, salt 0.13 g

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