Mini Meringues With Smooth Chocolate Sauce And Ground Almond Praline

A delicious treat that both kids and adults can get stuck into! This is a pudding with a three separate components but the rewards you reap when eating is so worth the while. I love this dish because for adults the flavours interesting and it looks beautiful while for kids, meringues and chocolate…you will receive no complaints!

Meringues:
3 free range egg whites
6oz golden caster sugar (I have done this measurement in ounces because its easy to remember each egg white measures to 2oz of sugar. Now you’ll be able to make meringues anywhere without a recipe!)

Chocolate Sauce:
35g good quality cocoa powder
100g golden caster sugar
150ml water
15g unsalted butter

Almond Praline:
150g flaked almonds
150g golden caster sugar
Knob of butter
Thick double cream to serve

To make the meringues, set the oven to 150c.
In a large, clean bowl place the egg whites and beat with an electric whisk until soft peaks form. Now gradually whisk in the caster sugar, about 2oz at a time. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and using a teaspoon add blobs of the meringue mix to make little mounds. You can go as small or as large as you like. I like quite small ones that can be popped into my mouth all in one go! Making smallish mounds, you should make a minimum of 20 meringues. Pop the meringues into the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 140c and gently bake for 45 – 55 minutes. When cooked, they should be lightly golden, firm on the outside and wonderfully chewy and toffee-like on the inside.

To make the almond praline, put the flaked almonds, sugar and butter in a roomy saucepan over a medium heat. Let the sugar dissolve and caramelise and the almonds colour and roast. You will need to check them and stir often to stop it catching and burning. Once the sugar and almonds have turned a deep golden remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool. Once cool, pop the almond praline into the food processor and blitz until you have a crunchy, grainy powder. Pop into a bowl ready for serving.

For the chocolate sauce, in a small pan place all the ingredients and gently heat so everything has dissolved and you have a glossy chocolate sauce. Pour into a jug ready to serve.
Assemble all the ingredients, along with a thick, gooey double cream and tuck in.