Meringue & Curd Custard Stack with Berry Coulis

WRITTEN BY

SERVES:

4 PORTIONS

Prep Time:

15 MINUTES

Cook Time:

15 MINUTES

Want a showstopper dessert for your Christmas table but bored of serving the same old pavlova? Then a meringue tower is the one for you!

While keeping with the same flavour and texture notes of a pav, you can create a cascade of meringue and curd cream custard, a lava trail of berry coulis, crunchy almonds and slivers of fresh basil.

_INGREDIENTS:

_{CUSTARD (CAN USE STORE-BOUGHT):}

350ml full fat milk
40g caster sugar
3 large egg yolks
5 Tbsp cornflour

_{BERRY COULIS:}

250g blueberries, 2 punnets
2 Tbsp water
½ lemon, juice only
2 Tbsp caster sugar

_TOWER:

2 packets meringue twirls
½ cup lemon curd
150ml cream
40g sliced almonds
3-4 basil leaves

_{INSTRUCTIONS:}

NB: This dessert needs assembling just before you serve to keep the meringue crunchy. So, you can make your custard and berry coulis a few days ahead. Just leave them, covered, in the fridge until everyone's ready for dessert.

To make the custard: pour the milk into a medium saucepan, stir in half of the sugar and bring to a gentle simmer on a medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. When you start to see steam coming off the surface and bubbles forming around the edge, remove from the heat.
In a heatproof bowl, whisk the remaining sugar together with the cornflour and egg yolks. Add a small ladle of the hot milk into it, whisking vigorously, then continue to add hot milk, a little at a time while whisking, until all the milk has completely mixed in.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and gently heat up again on a medium-low heat, whisking continuously for about 10-15 minutes until it has thickened. Allow to cool, place into a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use.
To make the berry coulis: add the berries to a saucepan (keeping a handful back for decoration) with the water and lemon juice, and bring to the boil on a medium-high heat. Stir and cook for about 4-5 minutes. Once the berries start to break down, gently mash and then add the sugar, stirring and simmering for a further 4-5 minutes. Allow to cool, place in a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Assemblage: take the custard and coulis out of the fridge 30 minutes prior to using. Dry toast the almonds in a frying pan until slightly browned. Fold the lemon curd through the custard and whisk the cream until peaky.
Plate a layer of 5-6 meringues on the base of your serving plate, spoon over some curd custard, then whipped cream, drizzle over some coulis and scatter some almonds over. Repeat in this order, using fewer meringues each time, until you have run out of meringue.
Finish with fine slivers of basil leaves and extra almonds, topping off with the reserved whole berries, allowing them to cascade down.

Recipe by Kylee Newton, author of The Modern Preserver