Show your love with this delicious Meringue Girls Valentine's recipe... read more
If a home cooked dinner is on the cards for Valentine’s Day, why not make things even sweeter with this utterly adorable recipe from The Meringue Girls? Re-create these delicious Meringue Love Hearts with Rhubarb and Stem Ginger for that very special someone this Valentines Day…
Before you can get started constructing your hearts, you need to whip together our basic Meringue Girls Mixture. Our meringue to sugar ratio is very easy to remember – it is double the amount of sugar to egg whites. A medium egg white weights 30g – so use 60g of caster sugar. This is failproof mixture we use for both kisses, big meringues and pavlovas.
Ingredients
For the meringue:
– 150g egg whites (5 eggs)
– 300g caster sugar
For the whipped cream:
– 250ml double cream
– 1 ½ tbsp. icing sugar
To decorate:
– 2-3 stems of fresh rhubarb
– 2-3 balls of stem ginger
– A tbsp. of icing sugar
– A tbsp. of caster sugar
Method
1) Start by lining a large flat baking tray with baking paper.
2) Preheat oven to 200c. Line a deep roasting tray with baking paper, pour in caster sugar and put it in the oven for about 5 minutes until the edges are just beginning to caramelise. Heating the sugar helps to create a glossy, stable mixture.
3) Meanwhile, crack the egg whites into your Kitchen Aid bowl, or a non-plastic bowl. Make sure your bowl and whisk are free from grease. At first whisk slowly allowing small stabilising bubbles to form, then increase the speed until the egg whites form stiff peaks.
4) The sugar should be ready to take out of the oven at this point.
5) Turn your oven down to 100˚C.
6) While you whisk at full speed, slowly, big spoon by spoon, add the hot sugar to the meringue mixture. Once you have added all of the sugar, continue to whisk on full speed for about 5-7 minutes. Feel a bit of the mixture between your fingers, if you can still feel the gritty sugar keep whisking at full speed until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth, stiff and glossy.
7) Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 100˚C/gas ¼ , and line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Fill a piping bag with your meringue mixture and cut a 20p-sized hole in the tip, then dollop the corners of the baking paper with some mixture and use like glue to keep the paper nice and secure on the baking sheet.
8) Start by piping a medium heart shape, and then fill in the middle with more meringue mixture. Build up the walls of the heart by piping around the edges two more times. For a smoother, more natural shape, use damp fingers to smooth the base and edges before baking. Continue to pipe the rest of the hearts.
9) Bake for 45 minutes or until the meringues lift off the baking paper with their bases intact. If the bases of the hearts are still gooey, turn off the oven and place them back in the oven to cool for another 15 minutes.
10) Once cooked, leave to cool. If you’re not quite ready to serve them, store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
11) When you are ready to serve, preheat your oven to 180c, then chop the rhubarb into small fingers, place in a small roasting tray and sprinkle with 1 tbsp of caster sugar. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the rhubarb pieces are soft but still holding their shape.
12) Chop the stem ginger into neat slithers, then whip the double cream with some icing sugar until it holds soft peaks.
13) To finish then decorate your hearts with the pink rhubarb and fiery stem ginger.
The perfect way to win over your loved one’s sweet tooth! Let us know if you re-create this scrumptious recipe, we would love to see a snap on twitter @LauraAshleyUK.
If you fancy whipping up more Meringue Girls recipes check out their new book, jam-packed full of delicious creations.