Coconut Crusted Meringues

An endless supply of free-range eggs and an Aga oven meant that meringues were definitely a pudding last week. I had been inspired to make big meringues after seeing some on a food stall while walking along Brick Lane in London. We rushed up the country to begin a week-long house sit in north Yorkshire which came with a small brood of hens. We house sat here a couple of times last year and it was nice to open the door to the cosy old-fashioned kitchen with its Aga.

These meringues are very simple, I decided to cover them with a sprinkle of toasted coconut to make them more interesting which then lead me to serve them with pineapple in a rum butter sauce. This pudding whisked me away from the rural Yorkshire to more tropical shores…..

I’ve made the meringues with golden caster sugar, I love it’s slightly toffee flavour but you could use white sugar if you prefer. The cream of tartar is added to stabilise the egg whites, it’s not totally necessary but I like to cut the risk of the beaten white collapsing

Coconut Crusted Meringues

oven 140 C / gas 1 / 275 F / Aga simmering oven lowest shelf

1 baking sheets / Aga cold plain shelf  lined with parchment

makes 4 large meringues

• 4 free-range egg whites, approx 125 g
• 250 g { 2/3 cup } golden caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 30 g { 1/4 cup } desiccated coconut

Firstly, toast the coconut in a dry, oil-free frying pan over a fairly high heat until it turns golden brown, shaking or stirring often. It will only take a minute or so. Transfer to a small dish and set aside.

Separate the egg whites from the yolks taking care not to taint the whites with any yolk. Place into a spotlessly clean mixing bowl, ideally not a plastic one so you get maximum volume when you whip them.

Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites to fairly stiff peaks then beat in the cream of tartar. Begin to add the sugar in spoonfuls, beating it in before adding the next. Slow and steady is the secret, don’t be tempted to add the sugar all at the same time.

Spoon four large mounds of meringue onto the prepared baking sheet and use the spoon to create swirls on the top. Gently sprinkle the toasted coconut over the meringues then pop into the oven. Set your kitchen timer for 2 hours.

After the two hours are up, check the meringues, they should feel firm and peel off the parchment pretty easily. They will still be damp inside. Turn the oven off, open the oven door ajar and leave the meringues, still on the baking sheet, in there to dry out. This will take a few hours, or better overnight. The Aga simmering oven, with the door ajar is a perfect place for perfectly dried out meringues. They may not dry out completely with a regular oven, they will just be deliciously chewy at their core.

Quick rum butter pineapple

• 1 tin of pineapple chunks in juice or 1 cup of fresh chopped pineapple, drained
• 75 g { 2/3 a stick } butter
• 75 g {1/3 cup } light muscovado sugar, or light brown sugar
• rum
• greek yoghurt to serve

Put the butter and sugar into a frying pan and heat until bubbling, stir in the drained pineapple and lower the heat. Cook the pineapple in the buttery sauce for a few minutes until it softens a bit then stir in a splash or two of rum to taste.

This sauce does tend to separate a little but that doesn’t bother me one bit, what’s a bit of butter between friends!. Sometimes I add sliced banana too.

Serve with a meringue and a dollop of greek yogurt.