I have been caught. Caught by the peach bug. I have become obsessed with peach iced tea and now peach everything! They are just coming in to season here in England so they are not as sweet as they can be in their height however I left mine out for a few days so they softened up a little and became slightly sweeter, hooray peach needs attended too! I know its a strange obsession to have but ever since I first had peach ice tea and Wagamama's a few months ago I can't stop craving it .. and now I've realised Costa Coffee do it, well lets just say my bank is taking a hit! So I wanted to combine my love for peach into something sweet and delicious, after searching the internet and Pinterest for hours on end (seriously, I spend my life on there) I eventually found a recipe for Peach Melba.
Traditionally, Peach Melba is an ice cream based dessert with a raspberry sauce. Although that sounds amazing and I would kill for some creamy vanilla ice cream, which as you may be aware I am lactose intolerant and I still haven't found the perfect non dairy ice cream, suggestions please? I wanted to take the traditional taste and make it into something a little different. So this meringue creation was born. I haven't made meringue in such a long time, mainly because I'm not very good at making them but today was the day I mastered meringues. I looked at every possible way of making meringues, what temperature the oven should be, how long to cook them for, do you leave them in the oven after or take them out, the ingredients... I think I turned into a meringue at the end of it! The recipe and method below is a mixture of all things I found out and it worked amazingly well! Meringue points for me...
You want to take the peaches out of the fridge or let them soften for a day or so to make them as sweet as they can be in order to make this scrummy pud. Also, I made my own raspberry coulis which I will post below but if you want to take a short cut, shop bought is just as good. Also, I used a lactose free cream for my needs but use a normal double cream if you are lucky enough to eat it!
Ingredients
5 Large egg whites
225g Caster sugar
1 tsp Corn flour
300ml Double cream
2 Peaches cut into slices
Handful of fresh raspberries
Raspberry Coulis
250g Raspberries
1 Tbsp Icing sugar
Firstly if you are making your own raspberry coulis then pop all the ingredients into a saucepan on a high heat. When the raspberries start to break down take of the heat and put into a food processor and blend until smooth, pass through a sieve to remove the pips. Set aside until ready to serve, I popped mine in the fridge to thicken up slightly.
Now to make the meringue, make sure that all your equipment is clean and non greasy as this will effect the meringues. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees and place two sheets of grease proof paper over the baking trays, making sure that it covers the whole tray.
To make two meringue nests the same size, I took a sandwich tin and drew around it onto the grease proof paper. Do this for both pieces as your meringues will then be the same size when you stack them together.
Place the egg whites into a large mixing bowl and whisk until stick peaks form. On a medium speed gradually add in the sugar a spoonful at a time leaving 10 seconds between each spoonful. It is important to add the sugar slowly at this point as it helps prevent the meringues from weeping later. Once all the sugar is added the mixture should look thick and glossy, keep beating on a low speed until it resembles the desired look. To see if all the sugar has dissolved take a piece between your fingers, if you can still feel grains of sugar keep mixing until the grains disappear. Add in the corn flour and fold it in gently as you do not want to knock the air out of the meringues.
Split the mixture equally onto the two baking trays and spread out with a palette knife into the circle shape drawled out. Once both meringues have formed shape place into the oven for 1 1/4 hours, until the meringues are crisp on the outside and sound hollow underneath. Turn the heat off and leave in the oven for 10 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Whilst the meringue is cooling, pour the cream into a mixing bowl and whisk until it just starts to form peaks, be careful to not over whip it. Take the coulis out of the fridge so everything is ready to be assembled.
Once the meringues have cooled completely place one circle onto a large plate, take half of the whipped cream and place on top, using a palette knife spread the cream across the meringue. Sprinkle over half of the sliced peaches over the cream, and then sprinkle over some of the raspberries. Drizzle over the coulis and then place the second meringue on top. Repeat with the cream, fruit and coulis.
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