Meringa Estiva

Italian Summer Pudding

This Italian summer pudding has to be my favourite dessert because it combines the essence of summer, embodied in a variety of berries, with the meringue, which gives a nice dry and sweet texture. I serve it regularly, but have to resort occasionally to using cultivated berries, although I can assure you that wild ones taste much better.

Ideally the meringue should be piped into the shape of a cornucopia, a tapering 'container' for the berries, but it's probably easier to make rounds with a depression in the centre.

Serves 4

Meringue
5 large egg whites
A pinch of salt
300g (10 1/2 oz) caster sugar (half could be replaced by vanilla sugar)

To start the meringues, preheat the oven to 110 / 225 F/ Gas 1/4, and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl with the salt and two tablespoons of the sugar. Gradually add more sugar as you continue whisking, until you have used up all the sugar and the mixture is stiff and glossy. Put the meringue carefully into a piping bag. Pipe cornucopia-shaped meringues on to the baking sheet; you should get about 10-12. Bake dry in the very low oven for four to five hours until perfectly crisp and white. Allow the meringues to cool, then keep in an airtight container until needed.

To make the sauce, place the berries in a saucepan with the water. Place over a low heat and allow all the berries to burst and release their juices, a few minutes only. Strain the berries and their juices through muslin into another pan. Do not force through, just allow to drip. Discard the berries, and add the sugar to the liquid. Heat gently until you have a syrupy sauce. Leave to become cold.

When ready to serve, put all the cleaned fruit for the filling into a bowl, and add the sugar and lime juice. Gently toss without damaging the berries. Put a meringue on each plate and divide the berries between them, filling the cornucopia shape and also allowing some to spill over on to the plate. Spoon some sauce on to each plate, and serve immediately.

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