Meringue layer cake

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the December festivities and that 2011 is your best year yet.

During December I hosted a number of Christmas parties and found myself resorting to layered meringue cakes for the dessert on most occasions. Meringue is so easy to make and you can do so many things with it. Here's what I came up with:

So yummy...............this is a triple layered meringue cake, filled with berries. If you want to make one for yourself, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 9 eggwhites
• 400g caster sugar
• 150g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
• 500ml thickened cream
• 350ml mascarpone
• 2 punnets of strawberries (sliced)
• 2 punnets of raspberries
• 2 punnets of blue berries

Method
Preheat oven to 120°C. Line 3 trays with baking paper. Trace a 26cm circle on each one.Beat eggwhites with an electric mixer until stiff (takes about 10 minutes). Next add half the caster sugar and icing sugar, and beat to incorporate. Gradually add remaining sugars in a slow stream, beating until glossy. Spread meringue evenly on each circle to make 3 flat discs of equal thickness. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 100°C and bake for a further 1 1/4 hours or until crisp and dry. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool inside (leave the oven door ajar).

Whip cream and mascarpone together. Leave a third to one side. Fold in some of the berries into the rest of the cream mixture. To assemble, place a circle of meringue onto a serving plate, then top with half the cream and berry mixture. Next add another layer of meringue and top with the rest of the cream and berry mixture. Place the last meringue disc on top then cover with plain cream mixture. Decorate with whole berries and dust with icing sugar if desired.

Happy baking x