Meringues with Poached Apples and Sorbet

Makes: 4

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 110g caster sugar
• 1 oven tray lined with baking parchment
• 4 apples each cut into 8 wedges, cored and sliced into 5mm pieces
• 100g caster sugar
• 100 ml water
• softly whipped cream to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/160C/fan oven 150. Put the eggs whites in a bowl with a pinch of salt and whisk until soft peaks form when the whisks are lifted. Add the sugar a few tablespoons at a time whisking well between each addition until stiff and glossy. Put a small blob of meringue at each corner of the oven tray to secure the paper. Put four mounds of meringue on the paper and using the back of a spoon push into an approximately 10cm circle making a slight indent in the centre. Bake for 10 minutes, lower oven to Gas mark 1 /100C fan oven 100 and bake for one hour until they lift off the tray easily. Cool on a wire track and store in an airtight container. Meanwhile to make the sorbet and poached apples, put the apple slices in a large pan with the sugar and
water. Cook covered on a medium heat for 10 minutes until soft. Remove 24 apple slices, put in a bowl and reserve. Tip the rest of the apples into a processer and blitz to a puree. Freeze the puree overnight. Blitz again in the processor until smooth and paler and refreeze for a minimum of four hours. To serve spoon some softly whipped cream over each meringue and top with the reserved apple slices and add a scoop of sorbet.