SUMMER BERRY CLOUD CAKE
HANDS ON TIME
25 minutes
HANDS OFF TIME
1 hour baking
1 hour cooling
INGREDIENTS (FOR 8–10)
Flavourless oil, for the trays
6 egg whites
1½ cups caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white wine vinegar
850ml (3½ cups plus 1 ½ tbsp) heavy whipping cream
150g (1 cup) blackberries
300g (2 cups) raspberries
300g (2 cups) blueberries
30g (1/2 cup) flaked almonds
Thyme sprigs, redcurrants and flowers, for decoration (optional)
An ode to the fruits of British summer. If you are catering for friends with dairy intolerance, you can also make this with whipped chilled coconut cream, which is every bit as good.
Heat the oven to 300 ̊F. Oil 3 baking trays and line with baking parchment. Draw a circle on each roughly 9in in diameter (I trace around a cake tin).
In a clean mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until they begin to peak, then add the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking all the while. When all the sugar has been added and the mixture is glossy, gently fold in the cornflour and the vinegar. Spoon the meringue on to the baking trays, spreading it out to make 3 discs. Bake for 1 hour, then switch the oven off and leave the meringues in there to harden for another hour. You want the meringue to be crisp so that it can support the weight of the cream. You can make the meringue up to 3 days in advance and store it in an airtight container.
To make the filling, whip the cream with an electric whisk until peaks form, but take care not to over-whip it, or it will lose that silky quality.
Take the first meringue disc and spoon roughly one-third of the cream on top, then sprinkle with one-third of the berries, half the flaked almonds and 1 tbsp caster sugar. Top with the second layer of meringue and repeat. Top with the third meringue, spoon on the last one-third of the cream and decorate with berries, thyme sprigs and flowers (just make sure they’re not noxious), if you like.
[Reprinted from A Table for Friends by arrangement with Bloomsbury Publishing. Copyright © 2020, Skye McAlpine]
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