When berries become abundant, you know Christmas is just around the corner.
2 egg whites
120g castor sugar
Pinch of salt
2 pinches ground star anise
1 vanilla bean
600g fromage frais
80g castor sugar
10 blackberries
10 blueberries
15 raspberries
6 mint leaves, shredded
For the meringue
Preheat oven to 70C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and salt, and continue whisking for another 3-5 minutes until meringue is stiff and glossy.
Fold through star anise. Tip meringue onto prepared baking tray; use a palette knife to spread it out as thinly as possible, about 3 millimetres thick. Bake for 3 hours or until meringue is crisp and completely dry.
Scrape seeds out of vanilla bean, mix with fromage frais and sugar and whisk until well mixed. Place half the berries in a bowl and roughly crush with a fork.
Mix mint and a few whole berries through the mashed berries, keeping some berries for garnish. Place a tablespoon of fromage frais in the centre of each plate and spread a little with the back of a spoon.
Spoon berry mix onto fromage frais, garnish with whole berries on top and finish with broken meringue shards.
For more berry dessert recipes, check out our photo gallery.
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