Violas from my garden were used to decorate the meringues. The flowers can be crystallised, but on this occasion I thought they looked lovely just as nature intended them to be.
In past blog postings I have used flowers to decorate cupcakes and cakes and I always think just how pretty they look.
These filled meringues need to be eaten as soon as possible after assembling but the meringue shells can be kept for a week in an airtight tin.
Makes: 12 to 15 Sandwiches
You will need: a large, or two small baking trays, lined with baking paper.
2 egg whites, 100g caster sugar, food colouring, 300ml whipping cream.
1. Preheat the oven to 110°C, 100°C fan, gas ¼. Put the egg whites and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 10 minutes until the mixture is smooth, glossy and stands in firm peaks.
2. Whisk in the food colouring. Put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe rounds about the size of a walnut onto baking trays. Or alternatively, spoon walnut size blobs of meringue onto the lined baking tray.
3. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until the meringues are dry and firm. For drier meringues, switch off the oven and leave the meringues to cool inside.
4. Sandwich the meringues together with whipped cream and decorate with flowers.
5. The filled meringues will need to be served within two hours.
