Fabulous, light and crunch pistachio meringue, covered with raspberries and smothered in rose scented cream makes for a very pretty, decadent pudding!
Pistachio Meringue Bar
Serves 8 -10 | Preparation time 30 mins | Baking time 1 hour plus cooling
Ingredients
For the meringue:
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- 6 large egg whites
- 300g caster sugar
- 100g ground pistachio nuts
For the filling and topping:
- 150g mascarpone cheese
- 300ml double cream
- 30g icing sugar, sifted
- 2 tsp rose water
- 200g fresh raspberries
- 2 tsp ground pistachio nuts
Method
- Preheat the oven to 140˚C/120˚C fan/gas mark 1. Line three large baking trays with baking paper and draw a 12x25cm rectangle on each piece of baking paper.
- Place the egg whites in a large clean bowl and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. Add half the sugar, whisk again on high speed until the mixture is thick and glossy then gradually add the remaining sugar 1tbsp at a time, whisking continuously until all the sugar is incorporated and the meringue is thick and stiff. Gently fold in the pistachio nuts using a metal spoon until evenly distributed.
- Divide the mixture equally between the three prepared baking trays and spread out evenly over the rectangles you have drawn. Bake for 1 hour then turn the oven off but leave the meringues in the oven for a further two hours to cool and firm up. Remove from the oven then peel off the baking paper.
- Place the mascarpone cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until soft. Whisk the double cream, icing sugar and rose water in another bowl until soft peaks form. Add the mascarpone to the cream mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. Fit a large piping bag with a 1cm plain piping nozzle and fill with the cream.
- Transfer one meringue to a serving plate and pipe rows of peaked circles on top until covered. Arrange half of the raspberries on top of the cream then carefully place another meringue on top of the raspberries. Pipe cream on top of the meringue as before and add the remaining raspberries. Add the final layer of meringue, pipe the cream on top then sprinkle with chopped pistachios to finish.
TIP:
- To reduce the chance of the meringues sticking, bake them on silicone coated baking paper.
- This recipe also works well with hazelnuts and any summer fruits.
