Apple-Pear Meringue Layer Cake without the layer and the cake – SHF#15.

What I prepared is this Apple and Pear Meringue something, a really quick and easy option. We actually have a great Hungarian dessert that was originally in my mind, it’s called „Máglyarakás” –the dish looks like on this picture. It’ basicly a rich bread pudding layered with apples, walnuts, apricot jam and topped with meringue mixed with one part of that jam. It’s delicious! So basicly that particular dessert was my inspiration for this lighter version but I deconstructed it so much and skipped almost all ingredients (like the bread, eggs, apricot jam, sugar) that I don’t dare to call it even a pseudo-Máglyarakás, otherwise my Hungarian readers would kill me.

This is what I did: I poached the apple and pear pieces in some water infused with lemon, cinnamon and cloves. I took them out of the liquid (I kept the liquid, it tasted great when I soaked a tea bag in it), mixed the fruit with some good quality Hungarian honey (did you know that Hunarian honey is one of the best in the world?) and ground cinnamon, put in an individual ring mould. While the fruit was cooking I whipped up the egg white – I sweetened this with some fruit sugar (fructose). I topped the fruit basis with the meringue and put it in a 160C (325) oven for about 10 minutes ( alittle less in fact).

I absolutely love how this dessert looks, I mean it almost looks like a real fancy cake with a huge dollop of whipped cream, doesn’t it? OK, I admit it would probably taste thousend times better if the apples were cooked with sugar and butter – because the lack of these results that you don’t get that caramelized sticky effect – but you still have a great taste through the spices and the meringue. I think it’s a nice one for winter afternoons and I would anytime serve it for guests.

Recipe (1 serving)

1 apple, peeled and cored, cut in bite size cubes
1 pear, peeled and cored, cut in bite size cubes
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
juice and peel of a ½ lemon
2 tbsp good quality honey

Preheat oven to 160C /325F

Put about 150ml water in a saucepan, bring to boil. Add the spices, the juice and peel of half a lemon. Let simmer. Peel and core the fruits, cut them into bite size pieces. Put in the spicy liquid and cook for about 5 minutes until softened but not overcooked. In the meantime whisk the egg white until stiff , in the last phase add the fructose. Mix the fruit with honey and ground cinnamon and put in a small cake ring (individual size or a big one if you make a big batch). Top with the meringue and place in the oven for about 10 minutes until the meringue gets a nice dark golden colour. Serve immediately. (With some low sugar vanilla ice cream maybe:)