Meringue-apés

winter berry meringue--apés

mincemeat meringue-apés

Here are some little bite-size meringue-apés that I made. The top set are filled with a one-off compote of redcurrant, pomegranate and cranberries in a quince sauce while the bottom set are filled with Smy Goodness mincemeat. I love making meringues as a desert because they are delicious and best prepared the night before which means more time to focus on further cooking, drinking, hosting or all of the above. I had also made a set filled with lemon curd but they disappeared before I could photograph them. There will always be more meringue-apés, full size meringues and over-sized meringues as I have so many different delicious preserves to fill them with.

I recommend and use Delia Smith's recipe of 110g caster sugar and the egg whites of 2 large eggs. For these meringue-apés I used the whites of 6 organic large eggs and 330g caster sugar which yielded 40 meringues roughly 6cm in diameter. They were two-bite meringue-apés and obviously would have resulted in lots more bite-size meringue-apés. Preheat the oven to 150°C and prepare a baking tray lined with baking paper. Using a glass bowl you whisk the egg whites on a lower speed and increase the speed until the egg whites create stiff peaks. Then add in a heaped tablespoon of the caster sugar into the egg whites and whisk until combined and then repeat with another tablespoon until they are all gone and the mix has gone glossy with strong peaks and if your bowl is turned over the mixture stays put. I used an ice cream scoop to place evenly sized balls of the meringue-apés mix onto the baking paper and then used a teaspoon to make little depressions into the balls. For smaller sized meringue-apés a melon baller is perfect for even sized balls and then a knife can make a little hole in the mixture. Give up the ghost of getting them to all look identical, part of the charm is in their uniqueness and individuality with different peaks. Pop the meringue-apés in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature of your oven to 150°C and leave them in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes turn the oven off and leave them inside until the oven completely cools down. I tend to make my meringues in the evening and then leave them overnight to completely cool down. Just be careful to not forget them and then preheat the oven for something else the following day. You can store your meringues in an airtight tin for roughly a week or even freeze them but I do prefer to have made them a day earlier than I plan on eating them.

Meringue-apés are tasty, glamorous and a crowd-pleaser as they are fat-free, gluten free and you can mix and match what they're filled with to please the varied taste buds of your guests.

Canapés: can I get a canapé-men?

Feast your eyes on a range of canap

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s that I made for a recent gathering. They were the prelude to an Italian-made porcini risotto starter, roast beef and caramelised onion main and lemon curd ice cream that I made for dessert.  The canap

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s were a hit and starting from the right of the photo and moving left they were:

• Brie topped with banana & date chutney
• Cream cheese topped with six-pepper jelly
• Goat's cheese topped with jamón Serrano and black cherry and black pepper conserve
• Rocket topped with pan-seared duck breast and plum gumbo
• Grilled mackerel topped with greengage chutney
• Stilton topped with black cherry and clack pepper conserve.

The top three favourites were the mackeral and greengage chutney, duck with plum gumbo and rocket and the classic banana & date with brie.  The stilton was meant to be paired with a red onion marmalade but we ended up serving it as another accompaniment to the beef with the carmelised onions.  I used Nairn's mini oatcakes for the

canap

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s but I prefer to make my own and add different seeds and spices to complement the

canap

é

or they are nice to eat on their own as an alternative to crisps.

Close up of (from bottom to top) duck, rocket & plum gumbo; jam

ó

n, goat's cheese and black cherry; cream cheese and six-pepper jelly. 

Close up of (from bottom to top) stilton and clack cherry and black pepper compote; mackerel and greengage chutney.

Mohammed vs Smy Chutney: banana & date canapes

Watch Mohammed sample Smy Chutney: banana & date for the first time in the form of a delightful canape. I say canape, it's really just a Tuc biscuit, bit of cheese and a dollop of Smy Chutney. The results speak for themselves. Big thanks to Mohammed and Smy Chutney Uber-fan, Emma and her mad presenting skills.