A Lovely Mess on St. Valentines Day

Here I go again, being cheeky with desserts steeped in tradition.

There is nothing I would rather do less on a day like valentines day then spend hours fussing over some fiddly tart or cake. For starters, it is summer in Australia and secondly, well valentines is all about me!

I have been a long time fan of the deconstructed strawberry pavlova that is the Eton mess, this is my cherry chocolate version which I have named the lovely mess. Don’t pay too much mind to the measurements, if you want more fruit, go for it, more meringue..no worries.

Lovely Mess

• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1 heaped tbsp canned red cherry pie filling (I just wanted mine with a bit of liquid, fresh cherries would be acceptable)
• 50ml cream (must be full cream, the low fat kind doesn’t thicken when whipped)
• cherries to garnish

For the  meringue:

• 4 egg whites
• 220g white sugar
• 1heaped tbsp cocoa
• 1 pinch salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120c & line 2 cookie sheets with baking paper
2. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form & add the salt then sugar while whipping one teaspoon at a time
3. Continue whipping until smooth & silky & add the cocoa
4. Pipe into batons on the baking paper
5. Place into the oven & reduce the heat to 90c & cook for 1.5 hours
6. While the meringues are cooling, chop the strawberries & combine with the raspberries & cherry pie filling
7. Whip the cream until thick & fluffy
8. In a dessert bowl layer fruit, crumbled meringue & whipped cream
9. Top with a single cherry & serve to your beloved on valentines day

Serves 2 (with lots of extra meringues which store in an airtight container for approx 3 weeks)

 Happy Valentines Day <3