Serves:  8

Preparation Time:   45 minutes

Cooking Time:  1.5 hours, plus cooling time

INGREDIENTS

Meringue:

• 100g 70% dark chocolate
• ¾ cup egg whites, room temperature
• 3 tsp corn flour
• 1 ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 ½ cup castor sugar

Boozy Cherries:

• 1 cup bourbon
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 stick cinnamon  
• 1 cup cherries, fresh or tinned if not available

Vanilla Mascarpone:

• 250ml whipping cream
• 30g icing sugar
• 250ml mascarpone
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Chocolate Garnish:
• Melted chocolate for drizzle
• Chocolate flakes
• Gold glitter
• Gold candyfloss/spun sugar

METHOD

Meringue:

• Chop tchocolate into small pieces. Place into a microwave friendly bowl and melt in the microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring between each, until melted. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate. Put aside to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 120C. Line a large tray with baking paper.
• Using a stand / hand mixer, whisk the egg whites on a low-medium speed until soft peaks form.
• Sift in the corn flour and cream of tartar, whisk for a few seconds until combined.
• Start adding the castor sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Allow it to mix for a while between each spoon to ensure it dissolves.
• Once all the sugar is added, you can increase the speed on the mixer and allow it to mix until the sugar has completely dissolved – rub some of the meringue between your fingers, it should not feel grainy. Whisk until smooth.
• Pour the melted, cooled chocolate into the meringue and fold through until you have beautiful swirls.
• Using a big spoon, spoon 8 dollops of meringue onto the lined tray. Roughly shape them and using the back of a spoon to create a slight indent in the center.
• Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and allow them to sit in the oven for a furthur 2 hours.

Boozy Cherries:

• Add bourbon, sugar and cinnamon to a pot and simmer over a medium heat. Stir the mixture occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to sit for 10 minutes then discard the cinnamon.
• Add cherries into a glass jar, then pour over the bourbon mixture.
• Allow to mull sit overnight, giving the jar a shake every now and again, before using them.

Vanilla Mascarpone:

• Whisk cream and icing sugar together until soft peaks form.
• In a separate bowl, mix the mascarpone and vanilla together. Add this to the whipped cream and continue whisking until firm peaks form.

To plate:

Put a meringue on each plate, spoon a dollop of the mascarpone on top, followed by the drained boozy cherries. Garnish as you please with melted chocolate, chocolate flakes, glitter and candy floss or spun sugar.