As it’s Christmas Eve, I’m going to keep this blog post short and sweet. I hope you’re all having a wonderful time, whatever you’re up to and thank you so much for being brilliant readers of my small space on the internet this year. This salted caramel, clementine, cream and hazelnut meringue traybake is a delicious show-stopper of a dessert. Gluten free and FODMAP friendly it packs a punch when it comes to flavour and is fully worthy of a space on your dinner table this festive season.
Perfect for feeding a crowd, you can scale up and down the recipe depending on how many hungry mouths you’re feeding. Swap the salted caramel sauce for melted chocolate if you prefer and use whichever seasonal FODMAP friendly fruit takes your fancy.
Ingredients
For the meringue:
250g caster sugar
6 egg whites
1 tablespoon cornflour
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
75g chopped hazelnuts, toasted
For the salted caramel sauce:
175g light soft brown sugar
300ml double cream, lactose free if needed
50g butter
½ teaspoon salt
For the topping:
300ml double cream, lactose free if needed
5 clementines, peeled and thinly sliced.
Method
Find a shallow-sided baking tin, roughly 32 x 22 cm and line with baking parchment. Set the oven to 200C.
Put the egg whites into a deep mixing bowl and beat gently, starting with small bubbles. Increase the speed until you edge closer to stuff peaks. Add the sugar to the egg whites, one tablespoon at a time, beating all the time. Once all the sugar is added, keep mixing for a good five minutes, until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Mix in the cornflour and the vinegar, followed by 50g of the chopped, toasted hazelnuts.
Scrape the meringue mixture onto the baking tray and level it out, pushing it right up to the edges. Place the meringue in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 140C. Bake for 45 minutes, until crisp and marshmallowy.
While the meringue cools, make the salted caramel sauce by combining all the ingredients in a saucepan set over a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved then turn the heat up and bubble the sauce for 2-3 mins until golden and syrupy. Leave to cool for 10 mins before using.
Whip the cream until thick. When the meringue has cooled, press the crust lightly with a big spoon to make 6 shallow holes. Fill the holes with the cream, slices of clementines and drizzle over the salted caramel sauce. Finish by sprinkling over the remaining hazelnuts.
