We Love Cooking!:
meringue

I was honoured this year to be included in the line up chefs demonstrating at two of the Irish summers top foodie events Taste of Dublin and Bord Bia's Bloom in the Park. Shamefully I had never been to either events, so it was fantastic to finally have my eyes opened to massive amount of work that goes in to creating such amazing displays and stands. I have had the experience of demonstrating in front of large crowds before and a brief stint in the musical world has meant that I no longer suffer too badly from nerves, but this was a little different. When you are included on the lineup with well established people who you have watched cooking growing up the pressure is really on! For my demonstration at Bloom I did a selection of dishes based around in season produce and one of them was this mouthwatering Summer Berry Pavlova.

Summer Berry Layered Pavlova
This mix makes a chewy, marshmallow meringue, which goes perfectly with the cream and berries. Layering the meringue discs gives this beautiful summer dish fantastic texture! If you haven't tried making meringues before, don't be scared as this mix is fairly fool proof, just pop the icing sugar and egg whites in a mixer and whisk till you have stiff glossy peaks, add in the cornflour and white wine vinegar, pop in the oven and you're sorted.

Serves 8
250g icing sugar
4 egg whites
2 teaspoons of cornflour
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
500ml of cream, whipped
250g of mixed berries

Preheat the oven to 150oC/Gas Mark 2
Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Draw a large circle 25cm/10inch on each piece of parchment paper.
Place the icing sugar and egg whites in a standing food mixer and whisk on high for 10 minutes until glossy white peaks form.
Using a spatula, gently fold in the cornflour and the white wine vinegar.
Divide the meringue mixture between the two baking trays and using a tablespoon, form two large meringue discs.
Bake for 45 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Assemble the pavlova, by spooning half the cream onto the first layer of meringue, adding half the berries and topping with the other meringue layer, remaing berries and cream.

I thought I should really post this sooner rather than later, as I would imagine the remaining blackberries on the bushes have only a matter of days before they are all completely gone. So go out and get picking before it's too late! This is my recipe for this month's Irish Tatler magazine to which I now regularly contribute, this month's edition is out now, so check it out!

If you can't get your hands on blackberries you could just as easily use frozen mixed berries which are a great freezer stand by and just allow them to thaw before you add them. Boylans fruit farms have a great selection of frozen berries and you should be able to find them in most Irish supermarkets. They should work wonderfully in this recipe if your stuck!

Good Mood Food Blackberry Mess

This is my take on the classic English recipe "Eton Mess" which originally uses strawberries. You can really use any fruit here and just adapt on the cream and meringue mixture. The recipe takes minutes to throw together and is a super last mintue dessert.

Serves 4
200g of blackberries
6-8 tablespoons of blackberry coulis
4-5 meringues
250ml of cream
4 glasses for individual servings

In a bowl, whip the cream until it becomes thick.
Crumble the meringues into the cream and stir to combine.
Gently fold half the blackberry coulis into the cream and meringue mix until you get a nice marbled effect.
Place a few blackberries in each glass and layer with the cream and meringue mixture. Repeat the process.
Serve with an extra drizzle of coulis and a few more blackberries on top of each. Delicious!