300g| 10.5oz | 1 1/2 cups caster or granulated sugar
1/2tspcream of tartar
a little cornflourcornstarch to dust the trays
For the filling
300g| 10.5oz | 1 1/4 cup doubleheavy cream
150g| 5.3oz | 1 cup 2 tbsp chilled coconut milkoptional you could replace with more cream
100g| 3.5oz | 1 cup icing sugarmore or less, to taste
1tspvanilla paste
1/4tspcoconut extract
Mulled berry coulis
150g| 5.3oz | 1 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
6tbsptawny port or red wine
2-3tbspgranulated sugar
1/2tspground cinnamon or a cinnamon stick
To assemble and decorate
150g| 5.3oz | 1 punnet fresh raspberries
white chocolate trufflesoptional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 150C | 300F and set two shelves in the middle of the oven.
Trace three circles on greaseproof paper - mine where 16,11 and 7cm, but you can trace them wider as long as the are decreasing in size so that they can be stacked to create the 'tree'. You will have enough meringue to create duplicates of the smaller layers plus a few kisses. Base your biggest circle on the diameter of the cake stand or plate you plan on using.
Place your tracings on two baking trays and dust with a little cornflour.
Put the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Start whisking at medium-low speed and gradually increase the speed to maximum until you have soft peaks.
Start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, while whisking. Continue whisking for several minutes until all the sugar is added and meringue forms firm peaks. Beat it the vanilla paste until combined.
Fill the circles you traced with meringue using a spoon to shape it. Pipe any extra merigue into kisses using a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
Reduce the oven temperature to 120C (250F) and bake for an hour and half to two hours, rotating the trays halway through, until dry to the touch.
Turn the oven off. Leave the meringues in to cool completely with the door closed.
Make the coulis: put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes until the fruit is softened. Leave to cool then strain the syrup and set aside.
Beat the chilled coconut milk and double cream until you have soft peaks. Add the icing sugar, vanilla paste and coconut extract and whisk until you have firm peaks. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
Assemble the meringue tree by piping the whipped cream over the base layer and dotting with raspberries and white chocolate truffles (if using).
Repeat with remaining layers. Top the tree with a meringue kiss or the smallest circle and drizzle with the coulis just before serving.