Coffee
Over the weekend we had a few friends round for a dinner party feast, we made curry in abundance with all the usual Indian trimmings, for dessert we couldn’t muster an elaborate pudding as i would have liked but we bought some chocolates instead. Which got me thinking about the ole dinner party season that’s coming up- Christmas. Instead of coffee and chocolates how about combining the two into a dessert, with Nutella…some roasted hazelnuts…some meringue…oh and some whipped cream. My natural thought process.
I was lucky enough to try out this Delonghi coffee machine which can be bought from Argos, which was a miracle really as my husband and i were looking at this exact one about to put on our christmas list this year. The great thing about this coffee machine is that, when you’ve got past the rather confusing Ikea type instructions it is super easy to use. It’s like, who needs a Costa or a Starbucks anyway? And if you’re like me and prefer all the sugary milky drinks they tend to offer, it comes with a milk steam arm which (after one spluttered attempt) produces very nifty frothy cappuccino milk- Which i am more than happy to drink by itself with a dollop of honey. We also loved how we don’t have to be restricted by coffee pods but can also use our favourite ground Illy coffee 🙂
Go Nuts
This Coffee-Nut Nutella Meringue dessert goes amazingly well with strong coffee, although it already has a bit of coffee in it the sugar and cream really will balance this out so it sits aside espresso very nicely. If you don’t want to make the ‘stack’ approach i’ve taken you can make these into big wheels, or if it’s a heavy meal make little bitesize ones!
Gluten Free Coffee-Nut Nutella Meringue Stacks
Serves 6 in tall glasses or Serves 3 in Wheels
If you’re making these in advance for a dinner party: Make the meringues first and store in an airtight container as soon as they are cooled. Stack before serving.
The Meringue
2 Large Egg whites ( From Large Eggs that should weigh between 126g-146g)
100g Caster Sugar
2 Heaped Teaspoons of Instant Espresso Powder
70g Nutella
25g of Hazelnuts Roughly chopped in a Food Processor
Heat oven to 120 Degrees and line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Mix together well the instant espresso powder into the Nutella in a small bowl and set aside.
Using a stand mixer or hand electric whisk beat until firm peaks form when you raise the whisk.
Keep beating on a low-medium speed and gradually add in your caster sugar a bit at a time (I do this by the tablespoon.)
After the sugar is all incorporated you should get a shiny meringue mixture that you can hold above your head without it falling on you!
Add in the Nutella Espresso mixture that you set aside along with the Roughly ground hazelnuts, mix very slowly making sure that everything is evenly distributed. Make sure you leave some shiny lines of nutella in the mixture.
Blob or pipe (I prefer to go for the blob method) on your mixture into even-ish amounts onto the baking tray- making sure to not be too neat about it all! Should make about six-eight, dependent on how big you make them.
Pop them into the preheated oven for around 45-60 minutes. Keep an eye on them around the 35 minute mark. Take them out of the oven when they are firm to the touch and leave to cool on the tray.
Stack/Wheel Ingredients
25g of Hazelnuts Roughly Chopped with a knife
250ml of Whipped Double Cream
100-150g Nutella
Tall Glasses (to serve for stacks)
Roast your chopped hazelnuts by putting them into the oven on 180 degrees for 15 minutes whilst your meringues cool.
To make the stack, smash up a few of the meringues- they should be nice and fragile on the outside and chewy on the inside. Get a tall glass and start with layering with the roasted hazelnuts on the bottom, then a dollop of nutella, then the meringue, then the whipped cream and so forth until it is piled up high.
To make the wheels, grab two of the whole meringues that are evenly matched in size and use a spatula to spread the nutella on the flat side, then use a spoon to dollop the cream on top. Press the other meringue on top and squeeze together lightly. Sprinkle the roasted hazelnuts around the outside.
Serve with some strong espresso and long spoons!
I was given the Coffee Machine to review complimentary but this did no way impact my review of the product itself.
