Plant-based Christmas recipes: Mont Blanc meringues

Here at Northern Soul, we’re gearing up for the festive period and, not surprisingly, starting to think about our annual yuletide feasts.

This year, star of the meat-free world and Welsh cookbook author Gaz Oakley has partnered with plant-based food company Merchant Gourmet to encourage more people to include meatless meals as part of their Christmas celebrations. 

During the countdown to Christmas, we’ll be sharing delicious plant-based scran guaranteed to spark your appetite. This week, we’ve got a recipe for Mont Blanc meringues.

Mont Blanc meringues

Cooking time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Serves 12

Ingredients

Liquid from a 400g tin of chickpeas (about 135ml) 
175g caster sugar 
1 tbsp cornflour 
1 x 200g Pouch Merchant Gourmet Chestnut Puree 
50ml maple syrup 
150ml plant based cream 
20g chocolate, peeled or cut into shavings 
Icing sugar, to dust 

Method

• Preheat the oven to 110C (90C fan) and line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
• Put the chickpea liquid into a large mixing bowl. Using an electric whisk, beat the liquid on the lowest setting for 2 minutes, or until bubbly and starting to foam. Whisk on a medium speed for a minute, then increase to the highest speed and whisk until stiff peaks form (up to 10 minutes). Add the cornflour and whisk again. Once the mixture is stiff, add the sugar a tablespoon at a time until fully combined and the meringue is thick and glossy.
• Form or pipe the mixture into 3-4inch wide meringues on the greaseproof paper, leaving a dip in the middle of each meringue. Place in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the meringues are crisp and cooked through. Set aside to cool.
• In the meantime, push the chestnut puree through a sieve into a bowl and stir through the maple syrup until smooth. Using a clean electric whisk, whip the cream until stiff. 
• To assemble the meringues, put a spoonful of chestnut puree into the dip of each meringue. Place the cream into a piping bag and pipe on top to create a cone shape. Once piped, clean out the piping bag and fit a very small nozzle on the end. Fill with the remaining chestnut cream and pipe little squiggles over the top. 
• Dust with the icing sugar, then top with chocolate shavings to serve. 

Credit: Merchant Gourmet