Marvellous Meringue Marshmallow Mashup

I'm heading into my third year at university and for me this means that a number of my friends are heading off for their "Year Abroad". The first of my friends to leave set off for Australia just over a fortnight ago and to celebrate/say goodbye we had the first BBQ of the summer. To pitch in I decided to bring a dessert and since it was such a momentous occasion I brought out the big guns - my super duper marshmallowy meringue boulders bound together by lightly whipped cream and covered in salted caramel sauce! Suffice to say it worked, and I walked into to kitchen to find that they had all but been demolished by my friends in record time!

These meringues are like no others you have ever tasted and I can say with confidence that once you've tried my recipe you won't go back! They provide just the right balance between crispy outside, gooey middle and a texture that literally melts in your mouth. To. Die. For.

Marvellous Meringue Marshmallow Mashup
Makes 12 MASSIVE ones or 24 big ones!

8 large organic egg whites, at room temperature

230g caster sugar

230g icing sugar

350ml double (or whipping) cream

Salted Caramel Sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to fan 100C/ conventional 110C/gas 1⁄4. Line 2 baking sheets with baking or parchment paper (meringue can stick on greaseproof paper and foil).

Tip the egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl (not plastic). Beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture resembles a fluffy cloud and stands up in stiff peaks when the blades are lifted.

Now turn the speed up and start to add the caster sugar, a dessertspoonful at a time. Continue beating for 3-4 seconds between each addition. It’s important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later. However, don’t over-beat. When ready, the mixture should be thick and glossy.

Sift one third of the icing sugar over the mixture, then gently fold it in with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time. Again, don’t over-mix. The mixture should now look smooth and billowy, almost like a snow drift.

Scoop up a heaped dessertspoonful of the mixture. Using another dessertspoon, ease it on to the baking sheet to make an oval shape. Or just drop them in rough rounds, if you prefer. Bake for 1¼ hours in a fan oven, 1½ hours in a conventional or gas oven, until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale coffee colour. Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack. (The meringues will now keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for a month.)

Whisk the cream until it just holds its shape. Do this by hand as it is very easy to over whisk. Serve two meringues sandwiched together with a generous dollop of the softly whipped cream and pour over the salted caramel sauce.