Soft Fruit Gateau.

My Nan and Grandad are down this weekend from Wales, and we are doing Christmas day early with them. So to celebrate I have been put in charge of dessert for 17 of us.. this doesn't make 17 portions but another family member is making something too so we are good to go. At Christmas the puddings are real show stoppers, real indulgent puddings and face it they will be stuffed with cream, ice cream or custard. Things that make us put on the pounds this time of year and we all love it! This isn't the classic Gateau that you might expect but was so easy to make and you don't have to cook anything, so fuss free and can be made Christmas eve and put into the freezer over night to save you hassle on Christmas day.



Equipment
2Lb Loaf Tin
Clingfilm
2 x Mixing Bowls

Ingredients 
400g Mixed small red berries
2 Tbsp Icing sugar
750ml Vanilla ice cream
6 Meringue nests crushed
2 Meringue nests whole


1. Dampen the loaf tin and line it with clingfilm.

2. Put the fruit into a bowl, I used frozen fruit as the dessert is going to be frozen but you can use fresh fruit, if using strawberries chop them into small pieces.

3. Sprinkle the icing sugar on top of the fruit and mix together gently as you do not want the fruit to go mushy.

4. Take your ice cream and put into a separate mixing bowl and break up with a fork. Place the crushed meringue and berries in with the ice cream and fold together gently so you start to get a slight marbled effect. Place into the loaf tin and pat down so it is even and compact.

5. Take the other meringue nests and crush them on top of the ice cream mixture, this should create a layer of meringue, this will be your bottom layer when you turn the gateau out tomorrow. Cover with the clingfilm and place in the freezer overnight.

6. Transfer the tin to the fridge for about 30 mins before serving, to serve turn upside down so the meringue layer is on the bottom on to a plate and peel away the cling film. To make it extra special sprinkle some silver edible glitter on top and serve some berries on top. Cut into to slices to serve.