174 Pepper meringues with vanilla pepper Oven setting: CircoTherm® and FullSteam METHOD Preheat oven on CircoTherm® to 100°C. Line an enamel tray with baking paper. Serves: 6 Preparation time: 30 minutes Place egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer; using the whisk attachment, Cooking time: 1 hour whisk egg whites and cream of tartar on a low speed until frothy; increase the Level of difficulty: Medium speed to high, whisking until soft peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar and pepper, beating well after each addition, to ensure sugar has dissolved before adding more; continue beating for 3–4 minutes. Evenly spoon into 6 individual INGREDIENTS rounds onto prepared tray and cook for 1 hour. Allow to cool in the oven. MERINGUE Meanwhile, prepare the cherries. Put water, sugar, vanilla bean pod and seeds, peppercorns and cherries in a small solid stainless tray. Preheat oven on FullSteam 3 egg whites, room temperature 100°C. Steam the cherries for 5–10 minutes, or until tender. Time will depend on 1/8 tsp cream of tartar firmness of cherries. Transfer cherries to a bowl with half of the poaching liquid; 1 cup caster sugar cover and chill in the refrigerator. Remember to remove peppercorns before ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper serving. CHERRIES Combine mascarpone, cream, vanilla and icing sugar in a bowl. Whisk until thick ¾ cup water and soft peaks form. Cover and refrigerate. ½ cup caster sugar, extra To make chocolate and pistachio crumble, place sugar and water into a small 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped saucepan; cook over a low heat (Induction level 4), stirring continuously, until 15 black peppercorns sugar dissolves. Increase the heat (Induction level 5–7) and bring to the boil. 400g fresh cherries, pitted Cook without stirring until a golden edge forms (sugar syrup in the centre will still be clear with no colour) and there is a smell of toffee. Remove immediately WHIPPED MASCARPONE CREAM from the heat and with a whisk, quickly stir in the chocolate. Keep stirring until a 125g mascarpone cream fine crumble forms. Stir through the pistachio nuts. ½ cup thickened cream To serve, sprinkle chocolate and pistachio crumble on individual serving plates. ½ tsp vanilla extract Place a teaspoon of mascarpone in the centre of the plate to secure the 2 tsp icing sugar meringue. Top the meringues with a dollop of whipped mascarpone cream and A few extra fresh cherries to garnish poached cherries. Drizzle with a little of the sugar syrup and garnish a few fresh CHOCOLATE AND PISTACHIO CRUMBLE cherries. ½ cup caster sugar 2 tbsp water NOTE 75g 70% cocoa dark chocolate, finely chopped Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese. To wow your friends, pipe meringue 2 tbsp finely chopped pistachio nuts mixture into the shape of mushroom caps and stems before cooking to make your dessert looklike the ‘forest floor’. Join the mushroom cap and stem with melted chocolate. Meringues can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container. THE NEFF AUSTRALIA COOKBOOK DESSERTS