This delicious meringue dessert is served with fresh fruit and an optional toffee topping.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 punnet strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
• extra caster sugar, for sprinkling
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 cup sugar for toffee topping (optional)

Method

1. Fill a wide, shallow pan with milk or water and bring to a gentle simmer.
2. To make the meringue, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually whisk in the 1/2 cup of caster sugar and the lemon juice.
3. Spoon the meringue in large egg shapes onto the gently simmering milk or water, and poach them for about 4 minutes on each side (ie, turn once). Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
4. Place the strawberries onto serving plates, top each with a snow egg and sprinkle heavily with icing sugar. Use a blow torch (or place under the grill) to caramelise the icing sugar.

Toffee topping

If you'd rather not bother with a blow torch, serve with a toffee topping instead. Simply place 1 cup of sugar in a clean frypan and melt until it's a rich, golden brown. (Careful, it's hot!)

Further information

Blow torches can be purchased from specialty kitchen shops or most hardware stores.

Copyright CTC Productions 2003