Meringue Nests with Lemon Curd

Meringue Nests with Lemon Curd and mini chocolate eggs, a fantastic treat for your Easter dessert menu. Nothing beats a good lemon curd and some scrumptious homemade meringue nests that are crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. Together they make a luscious dessert for all tastes.

With Easter just around the corner, lemon treats are the norm with us, as it makes us think of sunshine, bright days and gorgeous Spring days.

And these meringue nests or meringue shells are the perfect Easter dessert: we have a lovely meringue filled with lemon curd and mini chocolate eggs for that wow factor - it really can't get better than that.

Although making your own lemon curd isn't that complicated, shortcuts are more than welcome at times when we are really busy in the kitchen preparing a feast. And if you find a good-quality lemon curd, that's all you need.

Meringues can be tricky, but this really is a no-fail recipe - together with my Easter Pavlova, they are such a treat! If you worry about the meringues cracking, there are a few tips to help you get perfect meringues all the time. Believe me or not, you only need 2 ingredients: egg whites and sugar. That's it!

I only had two other previous attempts which resulted in a complete disaster. The meringues, although yummy, had cracks all over. Those bad experiences really put me off making meringues for quite some time. But, as they say, you live and learn. Now l know where l went wrong.

Jump to:

• Ingredients used
• Step-by-step photos and instructions
• Expert tips
• Meringue nests filling ideas
• Meringue Nests with Lemon Curd

Ingredients used

• egg whites - make sure there is no trace of egg yolk at all, as the meringue won't have the right texture
• caster sugar - or granulated sugar
• lemon curd - store-bought or homemade
• mini chocolate eggs - for decorating

Step-by-step photos and instructions

• preheat the oven to 100 degrees Celsius (200 Fahrenheit, 80 fan oven)
• add the egg whites to a mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to beat well until it holds soft peaks
• add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until you have shiny texture and stiff peaks - it can take anything between 5-10 minutes as we need the sugar to dissolve completely
• add the mixture to piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle
• line a baking tray with non-stick paper, and shape 4 nests
• bake for 1 and a half hours, then turn the heat off and leave the meringues in the oven for at least 2-3 hours until they cool down completely

• once the meringue shells are ready - they should peel off the paper easily, fill them with lemon curd and decorate with mini chocolate eggs

Expert tips

• Firstly, it is crucial to have the egg whites at room temperature - this really is the golden rule in baking.

You will find that, with most recipes, ingredients must be taken out of the fridge at least an hour before you start rolling up your sleeves.

• Then, you must get the oven temperature right - too high, and the meringues will crack in an instant. Just set the oven at 100 degrees Celsius (200 degrees Fahrenheit) and leave the meringues bake undisturbed for one hour and 30 minutes.

After that, turn the oven off, but no matter how tempting it may be, do not open it for at least two or three hours, ideally overnight, so that the meringues can cool down completely.

Opening the oven door straight away will ruin the meringues, due to the difference in temperature. So, patience, and your meringues will turn out just perfect! Pretty amazing, isn't it?

Meringue nests filling ideas

Once the meringues are ready, you can fill them with lemon curd, as I did, or whipping cream, sweetened double cream/heayy cream or creme fraiche.

I opted for mini chocolate eggs to give them a more Easter touch, but you can also fill them with fresh berries or any other fruit of your choice. Do add them to your Easter menu ideas!

If you’ve tried my MERINGUE NESTS WITH LEMON CURD or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.

Enjoy!

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