Nigel Slater’s recipes for hazelnut meringues with chocolate and berries, plus an aubergine confit

Spend an autumn afternoon in the kitchen, toasting nuts for a seasonal dessert and preserving aubergines for a silky compote to have with bread and cheese

There is a tray of meringues quietly crisping in the oven, coffee-coloured and speckled with hazelnuts, that I will bring to the table with blackberries, a bowl of whipped cream and a jug of melted chocolate. It is not often we go for a full bells-and-whistles, sugar-and-cream dessert in this house, but the smell of new season’s nuts toasting in the kitchen on an autumn afternoon is something I find irresistible.

The hazelnuts were toasted (which doesn’t take long and yet gives a much deeper flavour) and ground, and the meringue was further enhanced by a little strong coffee added to the thick white cloud of sugar and egg at the last minute. The nuts and slightly bitter coffee go some way towards calming the excessive sweetness of the meringues. The blackberries bring a welcome tart note.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/0wha1AK