Chocolate Swirl Meringue Nests with Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Swirl Meringue Nests with Chocolate Mousse

Makes 9 Meringue Nests

Ingredients:

Chocolate Swirl Meringue Nests:

• 170g egg white
• 300g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or essence
• 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 50g dark chocolate

Chocolate Mousse:

• 140g dark chocolate
• 400ml double cream

Decoration:

• 20g dark chocolate
• fruit/chocolates

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 100 C (fan).
2. In a standing mixer, or with an electric whisk, whisk the egg whites to a stiff peak. 
3. Add the sugar 1 tsp at a time. This is really important so that you don't knock all the air out the egg whites you've just whisked! 
4. Add the vanilla and vinegar, and keep whisking until it reaches a stiff peak, and you can't feel the grains of sugar between your fingers.
5. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and leave to cool slightly. 
6. Fit a piping bag with a piping nozzle, and drizzle the chocolate into the inside of the piping bag, ensuring not all of it is covered. 
7. Transfer half of the meringue mixture to the piping bag, and pipe around 4 to 5 meringue nests about 3 inches wide onto a lined baking tray. I find the easiest way to do this is to pipe a circular swirl for the bottom of the nest, and then go over the outside of that circle to create the wall of the nest. Try to ensure there are not gaps.
8. If you want to get really neat chocolate swirls, use a new piping bag for the other half of the mixture, but if you want to reduce the number of piping bags your're using, just reuse the same one! 
9. Drizzle some more chocolate onto the inside of the bag, and fill it with the reamining meringue. Pipe the rest of the nests, then bake all of the nests for an hour and half. 
10. Turn the oven off and leave to cool fully. If you open the oven door and let the temperate change too quickly, your meringues will crack. 
11. Remove from the oven and they are ready to fill, or if using later, store in an air tight container until ready to use. 
12. Optional - melt the chocolate for decoration and either using a spoon, or a piping bag with a small hole cut at the bottom, drizzle it over the meringue nests and let it set. 
13. For the filling, heat the double cream to a simmer and pour over the dark chocolate, mixing until it is smooth and fully melted. Leave to cool. 
14. Whip the other half of the double cream to a firm peak, and once the chocolate mixture has cooled, mix it into the whipped cream to create a smooth airy mousse. 
15. Either dollop with a spoon, or pipe the mousse into the middle of the nests.
16. Top with fruit or chocolates, I also went for gold spray, because, why not! 
17. Enjoy! 

Head to my Instagram (@alice.fevronia) story highlights for the full bakealong video, and if you give these a go, please tag me I would love to see!