Just Lauren

This recipe is mostly based off of the one found at Baked by Clo, but I also used Prue’s recipe from Great British Bake Off as inspiration and help. It’s extremely important that you get the garbanzo beans with no salt added. I found mine at Sprout’s. I would also highly encourage you to use a stand mixer, the hand mixer didn’t work nearly as well. This recipe is absolutely delicious and I love it so much and am beyond thrilled that I have this in my repertoire now. It does take five to six hours total, but most of it is you just waiting around so if you have the time, you’ll look fancy as hell taking this to any event. Definitely the best with kiwis, but if you like other fruit, you go for it.

Ingredients

• 2 cans of garbanzo beans NO SALT ADDED – aquafaba, reduced to around 110 grams
• Heaping ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract plus an extra dash
• ¾ cup white sugar
• Vegan whipped cream of choice
• 5 kiwis, peeled and diced
• 1 pack of strawberries, diced
• Any other fruit of your choice

Instructions

1. Prior to making the meringue, reduce your aquafaba. Do this 3 to 4 hours before making the meringue so it has time to chill in the fridge (or make a day before):
   1. Weigh your aquafaba prior to simmering so you know what you’re aiming for. You’re aiming for around 110 grams of aquafaba (to start with you should have twice that or more). I weighed my pot without anything in it first, then I added the aquafaba to know what to calculate out every time I put the warm pot on the scale to determine if I had reduced the aquafaba enough.
   2. Simmer the aquafaba on the stove over medium heat until it looks thick and weighs about 110 grams. This should take around 15 minutes.
   3. Put the reduced aquafaba in the fridge and let cool for 2 to 3 hours (or overnight).
2. When you’re ready to make the meringue, preheat your oven to 265°F and line a large tray with parchment paper.
3. Place the cold reduced aquafaba into a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer or stand mixer until frothy and pale (about 30 seconds to a minute).
4. Add the cream of tartar and vanilla and mix for another 30 seconds to a minute.
5. Keep the mixer on and slowly start adding in the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time. Make sure the first 2 tablespoons of sugar are completely mixed in before adding the next 2.
6. Keep mixing until there’s no more sugar to add and the mixture forms very stiff peaks. The stiffer the better
7. Spoon the mixture onto your lined baking sheet. Form a circle with slight walls on the outside and a dip on the inside. This little dip will allow the meringue to hold cream and fruit if you so choose.
8. Bake in the oven on the lowest rack for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
9. After the time is up, do not open the oven. Just turn the oven off and let the meringue sit in the oven for another hour (or longer if you have the time to spare).
10. After the meringue is cool, take it out and top with whipped cream and fruit. Enjoy! (You can also forgo topping with cream and fruit and let people top their own individual portions.)

Serves: I mean, I could eat the whole thing by myself but it can serve 3-4 people if you want to share.

Leftovers: I ate some the next day and it was just as good. I’m not sure if it’ll hold up longer than that but honestly it’s so good I can’t imagine leftovers will be a problem.

Note: As I mentioned above, you can use a hand mixer but I didn’t have nearly the same success with that as I did with the stand mixer. It also took 10 minutes for me to whip up mostly stiff peaks (see picture to the left). If you can use a stand mixer, do it, it’s better.