Meringues with lime curd

Meringues

Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff. Add half of the sugar, continue to beat using the whisk on a mixer until the mixture turns glossy. Add the remainder of the sugar, continue to beat until the egg whites are fine-textured, glossy and very stiff. Transfer the beaten egg whites to a piping bag with a smooth nozzle (approx. 14 mm in diameter).

To shape

Pipe 4 flat circles (each approx. 6 cm in diameter) onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Using the remainder of the beaten egg whites, pipe a wavy border all the way around, starting from the outside and working in.

To bake/dry

Slide the tray into the lower half of an oven preheated to 120 °C, reduce the heat to 100 °C and leave to dry out for approx. 2 hrs. Then switch the oven off and leave the meringues to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar. Remove from the oven, leave to cool on a rack.

Lime curd

Grate the zest of the limes, set aside, squeeze out all of the juice (yields approx. 100 ml), pour into a pan.

Add the cornflour and all the other ingredients up to and including the salt to the pan containing the lime juice. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk.

As soon as the mixture thickens and turns creamy, remove the pan from the heat, continue to whisk briefly. Pass the curd through a sieve into a bowl.

Place a sheet of cling film directly over the top and leave to cool completely, chill for 1 hr.

To serve

Stir the lime curd until smooth, add the reserved lime zest, mix. Fill the meringues with the curd. Top with the double cream and coconut chips.