Spiced meringues with coffee-soaked prunes

600 kcal or less budget recipes caster sugar cheap desserts double cream economical egg white egg whites entertaining indulgent instant coffee low cost mains make ahead meringue nests mixed spice over an hour pavlova prune prunes puddings

N/A

Source

Ingredients

3 egg whites (left over from the fish pies, see 'Goes well with', below)

175g caster sugar

½ tsp mixed spice

2 tbsp instant coffee

50g caster sugar

250g pack ready-to-eat pitted prune

285ml and 142ml pot double cream

Method

Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Put the egg whites in a clean bowl and beat with an electric whisk until thickened and frothy. While whisking, add sugar 1 tbsp at a time until the mix is stiff and glossy. Fold in the spice.

Working quickly, pile 8 big spoonfuls of the meringue onto the baking sheets, spacing them evenly apart. Then, with the back of a spoon, lightly flatten them and hollow out the centres to make nest shapes. Bake for 45 mins, then turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside to cool for 4 hrs or overnight. Can be made 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container.

Put the coffee and sugar in a pan with 200ml water. Add the prunes, bring to a simmer, then stir to dissolve the coffee. Leave to simmer for 10 mins until most of the liquid is absorbed, then take off the heat and cool. Can be made 2 days ahead and chilled.

To serve, whip the cream until it holds its shape. Spoon onto the meringues, then top with the prunes and a little of their juice.