Brown sugar meringues with gooseberry compote

Take a break from strawberries and try this twist on pavlova, with added depth and chew from brown sugar and hazelnuts.

■ Serves 8 ■ Prep 30 mins plus cooling ■ Cook 1 hr 15 mins compote only

300ml pot double cream

FOR THE MERINGUES

4 large egg whites squeeze of lemon juice

225g light muscovado sugar

50g toasted chopped hazelnuts

FOR THE COMPOTE

400g gooseberries, topped and tailed 6 tbsp golden caster sugar

1 lemon, juiced

1 Line a large baking sheet with parchment and heat the oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. For the meringues, put the egg whites and lemon juice in a large clean bowl (metal or ceramic is best) and whisk until the whites stand in stiff peaks, but are not at all dry or fluffy around the edges.

2 Add 1 tbsp of the sugar and whisk the mixture again until back to stiff peaks. Repeat until all the sugar has been used and the mixture is thick and glossy. Sprinkle in the hazelnuts rather than stirr them in.

3 Spoon eight, egg-sized mounds of the meringue onto the lined baking sheet. As you push the meringue off the spoon, the hazelnut will ripple its way through the mixture. Make a small dip in the top of each meringue to hold the cream and fruit later. Bake for 1¼ hrs or until pale golden and crisp. Leave to cool in the oven, the door ajar. 4 For the compote, gently heat everything together in a pan until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 3 mins or until the fruit collapses but is still recognisable. Leave to cool. Will keep in the fridge for a week or two. Assemble the meringues just before eating. Whip the cream and top the meringues with it, then add spoonfuls of the compote.

PER SERVING 406 kcals, fat 22g, saturates 12g, carbs 49g, sugars 49g, fibre 2g, protein 3g, salt 0.1g