My youngest son loves meringue and always requests some sort of meringue cake/Pavlova for his birthday. This version is out of this world.

The meringue is made with brown sugar. The crisp layers are covered with whipped cream and a sweet toffee sauce. Crackly shards of caramel add crunch and a fun decorative touch. The PC on the cake are for my boy’s first and middle name, but it could stand for ‘Perfect Cake’.

Toffee Meringue With Caramel Shards

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
1 cup light brown sugar
300ml softly whipped cream
Toffee Filling (recipe follows)
Caramel Shards (recipe follows)
Berries, to serve (optional but such a good pairing)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300℉. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk egg whites and brown sugar at full speed of an electric mixer until mixture forms stiff peaks.

3. Form a large circle of meringue on one of the prepared sheets using about 1/2 of the egg mixture. Form a medium sized circle and a small circle on the second prepared sheet using the remaining egg mixture.

4. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until crisp. The meringues should peel off the paper easily. Allow to cool.

5. Place large meringue circle on a serving platter. Spread a generous layer of whipped cream over the meringue circle. Spoon some toffee filling on top. Cover with medium meringue circle. Add some more whipped cream and toffee sauce. Top with the remaining meringue circle.

6. Transfer whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Decorate Meringue with rosettes of whipped cream and the caramel shards.

Serves 6

Toffee Filling

Ingredients:

1 oz butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 cup sugar
2 oz golden syrup
60ml cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Melt the butter with the sugars and golden syrup. Simmer for 2 minutes.

2. Stir in the cream and the vanilla and cook on low heat until smooth. Remove and allow to cool.

Caramel Shards

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Line a baking tray with a Silpat liner or parchment paper.

2. Put sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is melted. Allow to caramelize briefly until a pale chestnut color. Remove from the heat and cool for about 4 minutes.

3. Drizzle the caramel over the prepared baking sheet in squiggles, shapes or letters…whatever you feel like.

4. Allow the caramel to harden then peel off and use to decorate.

Recipes from Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cookery Course by Darina Allen

Upbeat. Uplifting.

“Epiphany” is exactly what you want to be listening to when eating something as divine as meringue. It’s new from Sweden-based band Lionfly Secrets.

Check out Lionfly Secrets on Facebook. You can buy their music here.

Cheers!