Hazelnut Meringue with Blackberries
A delicious crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle, hazelnut meringue. Adding toasted nuts to meringue not only gives a marvellous flavour boost, but it makes it less tooth-achingly sweet. A little brown sugar adds a beautiful golden hue. Top with a mix of cream and yoghurt, blackberry sauce and fresh blackberries and you have a gorgeous autumnal dinner party dessert.
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How To Make Hazelnut Meringue With Blackberries
Hazelnut meringue, also known as hazelnut dacquoise, is one of the cornerstones of French patisserie. Essentially it’s a simple French meringue, but enriched with roasted hazelnuts. You can add finely ground nuts, finely chopped nuts or roughly chopped nuts. A mixture of all three is particularly good.
Blackberries make a striking and beautiful contrast to the white cream and golden meringue. And they’re in season right now.
The dacquoise is simple to make, especially if you have electric beaters or a stand mixer to hand. Follow my step-by-step guide and you’ll have a stunning and delicious dessert to serve at your next special occasion.
Step 1. Prepare Hazelnuts
If you haven’t got ready roasted hazelnuts, it’s easy to toast your own. Head over to my dukkah recipe to find out how to do it.
Once they’ve cooled grind them roughly in a spice grinder or small food processor. It’s nice to have a mixture of finely ground and small pieces.
I attended a passionfruit chocolate truffle making workshop with award winning chocolatier Miss Witt at the weekend. It was great fun and informative. As well as a couple of boxes of passionfruit truffles, I came home with some gorgeous ready roasted hazelnuts from Italy.
Miss Witt uses fabulous ingredients, including the aforementioned hazelnuts. Her chocolate comes from a variety of fine chocolate producers. We worked with Cárdenas Chocolate which is made from Cacao grown on Leonardo Andrade’s vintage trees in Upper Manabi, Ecuador. If ever you’re in the vicinity of the New Forest, why not book yourself onto one of her chocolate workshops?
Top Tip
Don’t grind the hazelnuts for too long or they will go oily and start to turn into nut butter.
Step 2. Whisk Egg Whites
You can whisk egg whites by hand with a hand whisk, but it takes time and a strong arm. It’s easier to use electric beaters* if you have them. Either way, whisk the egg whites in a very clean bowl until they’re starting to form peaks.
Add the caster sugar a tablespoonful at a time and whisk well in between each addition. You want the sugar to dissolve and the meringue to look glossy. Add the brown sugar and vinegar and whisk again until you have stiff peaks.
Top Tip
You know the egg whites are stiff enough when you can turn the bowl upside down and the meringue stays exactly where you left it.
Step 3. Bake Hazelnut Meringue
Set the oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan, 400℉, Gas 6).
Fold in the hazelnuts so they’re thoroughly combined, but try not to lose any of the air from the meringue.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Scrape the meringue out onto the paper, then use a flat bladed knife to form the meringue into a rectangle, or round of about one and a half centimetres thick (just over half an inch).
Once the oven is up to heat, place the meringue on the middle shelf. Close the door and then turn the temperature down to 140℃ (120℃ fan, 275℉, Gas 1). Bake for thirty to forty minutes or until the meringue is golden and crisp all over.
Transfer the hazelnut meringue on its baking paper to a wire rack and leave to cool.
Top Tip
- Make sure you use baking paper not greaseproof paper, or your meringue will likely stick.
- The dacquoise will keep well in the freezer for a couple of months. You can also store it in a suitably sized airtight container for a couple of days, though it may lose some of its crunch. Either way, it lends itself well to a make ahead dessert. Just whip the cream and assemble at the last minute.
Step 4. Make Blackberry Sauce
Whilst the meringue is baking, get on with making your blackberry sauce. It’s very easy, but unless you want a seedy sauce, you need to pass it through a sieve. This can take a bit of time.
The blackberry season is usually long and plentiful, but if you’re unable to find any wild blackberries, cultivated ones are usually easy to buy these days.
Rinse in cold water then leave in a sieve or colander to drain.
Whizz the blackberries up with the sugar and crème de mûre, or whatever fruit liqueur you choose to use instead. I use my homemade cassis. A blender, food processor or stick blender all work well for this.
Sit a sturdy sieve over a bowl. Scrape the blackberry purée out into the sieve and press it through with the back of a spoon. Keep going until you’re left with just the seeds in the sieve. Discard.
Drizzle some of the sauce over the cream (step 5) and decant the rest into a jug so that people can help themselves to more, as required.
Top Tip
If the blackberries are foraged place them in a bowl of cold water and leave for five to ten minutes. Any unwanted debris and insects should float to the top. Just tip out the water, rinse again, then drain.
Step 5. Whip Cream
Whip the cream with electric beaters* until you get soft peaks. Be careful not to over whip or you’ll get very stiff cream that more resembles butter than soft airy cream. You can use a hand whisk for this, but again it takes longer and you’ll need a fair bit of elbow grease.
Carefully stir in the yoghurt until just mixed. The yoghurt not only lightens the cream, but gives it welcome tangy notes and a few probiotics.
Step 6. Assemble
Just before you’re ready to serve your hazelnut meringue, peel it off the baking paper and place it on a suitable serving platter. Spread the cream over the top, then drizzle on some blackcurrant sauce. Scatter with the remaining blackberries. Serve any remaining sauce in a jug alongside. Job done.
Top Tips
- For extra pizazz, scatter some chopped toasted hazelnuts over the top along with the blackberries.
- Swap the blackberries for raspberries and add framboise to the sauce instead of crème de mûre.
More Meringue Recipes You Might Like
- Brown sugar aquafaba meringues (vegan)
- Chestnut cream meringue cake
- Chocolate meringue with raspberry & strawberry cream
- Chocolate pavlova with rhubarb curd
- Rose meringues with white chocolate cream
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this hazelnut and blackberry meringue, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more hazelnut recipes or blackberry recipes, follow the links and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Hazelnut Meringue With Blackberries. PIN IT.
Hazelnut Meringue With Blackberries – The Recipe
Hazelnut Meringue with Blackberries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites (I used large eggs)
- 90 g golden caster sugar
- 20 g light muscovado sugar
- ½ tsp wine vinegar (I used sherry vinegar)
- 50 g hazelnuts roasted or toasted and skins removed
- 200 ml double cream (heavy cream)
- 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
- 150 g blackberries well rinsed
Blackberry Sauce
- 200 g blackberries well rinsed
- 25 g golden caster sugar
- 2 tbsp crème de mûres or other fruit liqueur (I use homemade cassis)
Instructions
- Set the oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan, 400℉, Gas 6).
- Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Add a tablespoonful of caster sugar and whisk some more. Keep whisking and slowly add the remaining sugar, finishing up with the muscovado. The meringue should be thick and glossy and shouldn’t budge when you turn the bowl upside down. Whisk in the vinegar.2 egg whites, 90 g golden caster sugar, 20 g light muscovado sugar, ½ tsp wine vinegar
- Roughly grind the nuts in a spice grinder or small food processor, then fold into the meringue.50 g hazelnuts
- Line a baking sheet with baking paper and spread the meringue out into a rectangle or round about 1 ½ deep (¾ inch).
- Place the meringue in the oven, close the door and immediately turn the heat down to 140℃ (120℃ fan, 275℉, Gas 1). Bake for about thirty minutes or until the meringue is crisp and golden, but not too dark. Place on a wire rack to cool.
- Once cool, remove the baking paper and place on a suitably sized platter.
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Stir in the yoghurt. Spread over the cooled meringue base.200 ml double cream (heavy cream), 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
- Drizzle some of the sauce over the top and scatter with the remaining blackberries.150 g blackberries
- Serve with the remaining sauce in a jug alongside.
Blackberry Sauce
- Blitz the blackberries in a blender or food processor along with the sugar and liqueur.200 g blackberries, 25 g golden caster sugar, 2 tbsp crème de mûres
- Press through a sieve to remove the seeds.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
I’m sharing this recipe for hazelnut and blackberry meringue with Sew White for #CookBlogShare.
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This hazelnut and blackberry meringue is a wonderful dessert! I love the use of fresh blackberries along with a blackberry sauce. It gives it so much flavor and additional texture.
Thank you Anaiah, so pleased you like it. It’s such a good recipe for this time of year.
This is one delicious and indulgent dessert – the combination of blackberries and hazelnut with the meringue is divine!
It’s definitely an indulgent dessert that shouldn’t be repeated too often, but you’re right, it’s a really delicious one.
The only ‘problem’ with this meringue is that it’s impossible to stop eating it! Such an easy and utterly delicious recipe! Definitely making it again soon!
Hahaha, I totally agree with you Natalia. Adding hazelnuts to meringue turns it into something altogether more delicious. Thanks for your feedback.
Yum! This hazelnut meringue was so delicious! A new favorite for sure!
Really pleased you like it Kayla. Thanks for letting us know.
This hazelnut meringue is truly unique! Perfectly sweet, tasty, and so flavorsome, a wonderful dessert that uses fresh blackberries. Love it!
Thank you Marinela, it’s a really good one for this time of year.
This is such a delicious way to use blackberries and such an indulgent dessert. Hazelnut meringue sounds absolutely divine!
Indulgent indeed, but it has to be done from time to time. It’s a really good one for special occasions.
It looks delicious and would be a great dessert for an autumn dinner party! I love the sound of the brown sugar in the meringue and the flavour that must add.
The brown sugar adds just a few caramel notes without being overwhelming and somehow very fitting for an autumnal dessert.
My husband would adore this dessert as he is a huge fan of black berries and nuts. This is really beautiful, delicious and so much healthier than the most desserts out there!
Well I’m not sure it’s particularly healthy Angie, but it’s not as sugary as most meringues. And it is absolutely delicious. I can feel your husbands anticipation!
That looks absolutely glorious, I do love meringue that’s crisp on the outside and just the right amount of chew in the centre.
Yes, I like my meringues crips and chewy too and the added hazelnuts here really help with that.